The 2008 Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg was the second round of the 2008 IndyCar Series season and took place on April 6, 2008 at the temporary street and airport circuit on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida. The race was a time-limited race due to rain, with the race falling some seventeen laps short of full race distance. The race was won by Graham Rahal on his IndyCar Series debut, having missed the first round at Homestead-Miami Speedway, due to a lack of spare parts for his #06 Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing machine.

At 19 years, 93 days old, Rahal became the youngest driver ever to win an Indy-style race, as well as the youngest winner in IndyCar Series history breaking Marco Andretti's record of 19 years, 167 days from the 2006 IndyCar Series season. He also became the fourth driver to win an IndyCar Series race in his first start, joining Buzz Calkins, Juan Pablo Montoya and Scott Dixon. Rahal's record was later broken by Colton Herta in 2019.

Qualifying All cars are split into two groups of thirteen, with the fastest six from each group going through to the "Top 12" session. In this session, the fastest six runners will progress to the "Firestone Fast Six". The fastest driver in this final session will claim pole, with the rest of the runners lining up in session order, regardless of qualifying times. (Fast Six from 1-6, Top 12 from 7-12 and Round 1 from 13-26) Drivers can use as many laps as they want in the timed sessions.

Round 1

Group 1 Pos No. Driver Team Time Speed (mph) 18 Will Power (R)KV Racing1:02.6560103.422 211 Tony KanaanAndretti Green Racing1:02.7752103.225 306 Graham Rahal (R)Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing1:02.9581102.926 434 Franck Perera (R)Conquest Racing1:03.1453102.620 514 Darren ManningA. J. Foyt Enterprises1:03.1822102.561 617 Ryan Hunter-ReayRahal Letterman Racing1:03.1923102.544 727 Hideki Mutoh (R)Andretti Green Racing1:03.2757102.409 836 Enrique Bernoldi (R)Conquest Racing1:03.4568102.117 97 Danica PatrickAndretti Green Racing1:03.5766101.924 1020 Ed CarpenterVision Racing1:03.8007101.566 1119 Mario Moraes (R)Dale Coyne Racing1:04.1590100.999 1223 Townsend BellDreyer & Reinbold Racing1:04.3880100.640 1325 Marty RothRoth Racing1:07.704195.711

Group 2 Pos No. Driver Team Time Speed (mph) 102 Justin Wilson (R)Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing1:02.7341103.293 26 Ryan BriscoePenske Racing1:02.8910103.035 326 Marco AndrettiAndretti Green Racing1:03.0131102.836 43 Hélio CastronevesPenske Racing1:03.1560102.603 55 Oriol Servià (R)KV Racing1:03.1653102.588 610 Dan WheldonChip Ganassi Racing1:03.2095102.516 79 Scott DixonChip Ganassi Racing1:03.2365102.472 833 E. J. Viso (R)HVM Racing1:03.3067102.359 915 Buddy RiceDreyer & Reinbold Racing1:03.3591102.274 104 Vítor MeiraPanther Racing1:03.4480102.131 1124 Jay Howard (R)Roth Racing1:03.7447101.656 122 A. J. Foyt IVVision Racing1:04.4996100.466 1318 Bruno JunqueiraDale Coyne Racing1:09.385193.392

Round 2 (Top 12) Pos No. Driver Team Time Speed (mph) 18 Will Power (R)KV Racing1:02.1355104.288 211 Tony KanaanAndretti Green Racing1:02.4960103.687 36 Ryan BriscoePenske Racing1:02.5031103.675 402 Justin Wilson (R)Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing1:02.5393103.615 517 Ryan Hunter-ReayRahal Letterman Racing1:02.6864103.372 63 Hélio CastronevesPenske Racing1:02.6869103.371 75 Oriol Servià (R)KV Racing1:02.7427103.279 810 Dan WheldonChip Ganassi Racing1:02.7964103.191 906 Graham Rahal (R)Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing1:02.8122103.165 1034 Franck Perera (R)Conquest Racing1:02.8749103.062 1114 Darren ManningA. J. Foyt Enterprises1:03.0136102.835 1226 Marco AndrettiAndretti Green Racing1:03.2443102.460

Round 3 (Firestone Fast Six) Pos No. Driver Team Time Speed (mph) 111 Tony KanaanAndretti Green Racing1:02.5322103.627 28 Will Power (R)KV Racing1:02.6096103.499 302 Justin Wilson (R)Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing1:02.6426103.444 43 Hélio CastronevesPenske Racing1:02.6462103.438 56 Ryan BriscoePenske Racing1:02.7071103.338 617 Ryan Hunter-ReayRahal Letterman Racing1:03.0077102.845

Grid Pos No. Driver Team Time Speed (mph) 111 Tony KanaanAndretti Green Racing1:02.5322103.627 28 Will Power (R)KV Racing1:02.6096103.499 302 Justin Wilson (R)Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing1:02.6426103.444 43 Hélio CastronevesPenske Racing1:02.6462103.438 56 Ryan BriscoePenske Racing1:02.7071103.338 617 Ryan Hunter-ReayRahal Letterman Racing1:03.0077102.845 75 Oriol Servià (R)KV Racing1:02.7427103.279 810 Dan WheldonChip Ganassi Racing1:02.7964103.191 906 Graham Rahal (R)Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing1:02.8122103.165 1034 Franck Perera (R)Conquest Racing1:02.8749103.062 1114 Darren ManningA. J. Foyt Enterprises1:03.0136102.835 1226 Marco AndrettiAndretti Green Racing1:03.2443102.460 139 Scott DixonChip Ganassi Racing1:03.2365102.472 1427 Hideki Mutoh (R)Andretti Green Racing1:03.2757102.409 1533 E. J. Viso (R)HVM Racing1:03.3067102.359 1615 Buddy RiceDreyer & Reinbold Racing1:03.3591102.274 174 Vítor MeiraPanther Racing1:03.4480102.131 1836 Enrique Bernoldi (R)Conquest Racing1:03.4568102.117 197 Danica PatrickAndretti Green Racing1:03.5766101.924 2024 Jay Howard (R)Roth Racing1:03.7447101.656 2120 Ed CarpenterVision Racing1:03.8007101.566 2219 Mario Moraes (R)Dale Coyne Racing1:04.1590100.999 2323 Townsend BellDreyer & Reinbold Racing1:04.3880100.640 242 A. J. Foyt IVVision Racing1:04.4996100.466 2525 Marty RothRoth Racing1:07.704195.711 2618 Bruno JunqueiraDale Coyne Racing1:09.385193.392 Before the race, Marty Roth had a problem with his car and did not start. Bruno Junqueira therefore moved up to 25th on the grid.

Race Pos No. Driver Team Laps Time/Retired Grid Laps Led Points 106 Graham Rahal (R)Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing832:00:43.556291953 23 Hélio CastronevesPenske Racing83+3.51924040 311 Tony KanaanAndretti Green Racing83+5.513411535 433 E. J. Viso (R)HVM Racing83+8.8575151232 536 Enrique Bernoldi (R)Conquest Racing83+9.636018330 627 Hideki Mutoh (R)Andretti Green Racing83+10.007114028 75 Oriol Servià (R)KV Racing83+11.28717026 88 Will Power (R)KV Racing83+12.84932024 902 Justin Wilson (R)Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing83+14.359831822 107 Danica PatrickAndretti Green Racing83+16.729819020 112 A. J. Foyt IVVision Racing83+20.831924019 1210 Dan WheldonTarget Chip Ganassi83+24.78008018 1314 Darren ManningA. J. Foyt Enterprises83+45.860111017 1424 Jay Howard (R)Roth Racing82+1 Lap20016 1515 Buddy RiceDreyer & Reinbold Racing82+1 Lap16015 1619 Mario Moraes (R)Dale Coyne Racing82+1 Lap22014 1717 Ryan Hunter-ReayRahal Letterman Racing81+2 Laps6413 1820 Ed CarpenterVision Racing80Accident21012 194 Vítor MeiraPanther Racing75Collision17112 2034 Franck Perera (R)Conquest Racing75Collision10012 2123 Townsend BellDreyer & Reinbold Racing75Collision23012 229 Scott DixonTarget Chip Ganassi74Mechanical13012 236 Ryan BriscoePenske Racing56Accident51112 2418 Bruno JunqueiraDale Coyne Racing44Mechanical25012 2526 Marco AndrettiAndretti Green Racing41Mechanical12010 DNS25 Marty RothRoth Racing02605

Notes The race began under caution, due to the rain that was lying on the street circuit. The race would finally go green on lap 10. Due to a two-hour time limit, the race was curtailed after 83 of the original 100 laps.

References