RAHAL MAKES HISTORY AT HONDA GRAND PRIX OF ST. PETERSBURG

            ST. PETERSBURG, FLA., Sunday, April 6, 2008 - IndyCar Series driver Graham Rahal made history at the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, becoming the youngest driver to win a major open-wheel race at the age of 19 years, 93 days old.

            The race was the Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing driver's first in the IndyCar Series, after withdrawing last weekend from the season-opening race at Homestead-Miami Speedway due to damage to his primary car sustained during a test session at the track. Rahal, who started in ninth, overcame a setback on Lap 37 when he made contact with Will Power to win the IndyCar Series' first temporary street course race of the season.

            "It was tough," Rahal said. "After getting hit by Will (Power) in the rain and everything, it was going to be a tough start. It doesn't get any sweeter than this; to expect a win in our first race. We had the pace and we pulled away from them, so it wasn't like we lucked into it. This is just awesome."

            Rahal, the son of 1986 Indianapolis 500 winner Bobby Rahal, becomes just the fourth driver in history to win in his first IndyCar Series start and the fourth rookie to win in their first IndyCar Series season.       

            "Do you think he'll ever listen to any advice from me again?" said Graham's father Bobby Rahal, the 1986 Indianapolis 500 winner. "He really thinks he knows everything now. Slowly he will take advice from me. He drove a phenomenal race and the crew did a great job. The engineer gave him a great car. He was fast at the end. That's the best conditions, a lot of people banging each other, and he kept it together."

            Two-time defending race winner Helio Castroneves, driving the No. 3 Team Penske Dallara/Honda/Firestone, finished second and Andretti Green Racing's Tony Kanaan finished third. HVM Racing's E.J. Viso and Conquest Racing's Enrique Bernoldi, both rookies, rounded out the top-five.

            Also on April 6, Richard Antinucci, the nephew of 1998 Indianapolis 500 winner Eddie Cheever, won the Firestone Indy Light's St. Pete 100 Race 2. After the win, series officials penalized Antinucci 10 point for avoidable contact with teammate Ana Beatriz during the race.
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