HOUSTON — An IndyCar season that started with so much promise for Simona de Silvestro finally delivered a payoff for the Swiss driver. She scored the first podium finish of her career Saturday with a second-place finish in the Grand Prix of Houston, becoming only the third woman in IndyCar history to make the podium, alongside Danica Patrick and Sarah Fisher. For de Silvestro, it came in her 63rd career start. After all, her previous best finish was fourth in the 2011 season opener at St. Petersburg, Florida. This was supposed to be a big season for de Silvestro, who moved with sponsor Nuclear Clean Air Energy to KV Racing and began driving unquestionably the best car of her IndyCar career. She's been on a roll, though, of late. She drove from 22nd to ninth at Sonoma, California, and moved from 17th to fifth at Baltimore. On Saturday, she qualified fifth and finished second behind race winner Scott Dixon. Dixon closed the gap significantly in the IndyCar Series points standings by capturing the first of two weekend doubleheader races at the Reliant Park street circuit. Dixon's win combined with a season-worst 18th-place finish for Brazil's Helio Castroneves allowed Dixon to trim Castroneves' lead from 49 points to just eight. Justin Wilson of England finished third, followed by Frenchman Simon Pagenaud. Josef Newgarden of the USA rounded out the top five. Japan's Takuma Sato started from the pole but he stumbled to a 17th place finish. — Agencies
