RacingNation.com
Home / IndyCar Series / Castroneves Leads Four AGR Cars To Green Flag At Mid-Ohio

Castroneves Leads Four AGR Cars To Green Flag At Mid-Ohio

LEXINGTON, Ohio ? Helio Castroneves might be starting from the pole for the inaugural Honda 200 at Mid-Ohio presented by Westfield Insurance, but he’ll quickly be the prey. The Andretti Green Racing quartet of cars are right behind.

Castroneves’ No. 3 Team Penske Dallara/Honda/Firestone topped the Firestone Fast Six qualifying with a lap of 1 minute, 6.8375 seconds (121.620 mph), thrice bettering his lap time during the 10-minute rally session. Castroneves’ sixth AAMCO Transmissions Pole Award of the season, tying Billy Boat’s 1998 record, was a surprise. He was sixth-quick in single-car qualifying (1:08.0951; 119.374) to be included in the extra session that set the first three rows.

The AGR cars of Danica Patrick (1:07.1257; 121.098), Tony Kanaan (1:07.1757; 121.008), Marco Andretti (1:07.3931; 120.618) and Dario Franchitti (1:07.4037; 120.599) are next on the grid for the 80-lap race. Target Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon (1:07.4742; 120.473), winner of the past two IndyCar Series races, will share Row 3 with the points leader.

“I was struggling to get into the top six,” said Castroneves, who has started from the pole in all three road/street course races this season. “When we got there, we made some adjustments to the car. Every time we stopped in the practice sessions here, we made adjustments. Those adjustments were key to making the car go faster. After that, it was almost too much. The car was very loose, but the team told me to stay out. What a great strategy by Team Penske.”

Strategy, speed and experience will be keys in the race on the 2.258-mile, 13-turn circuit, where Castroneves is a two-time winner in CART. Castroneves will be alone (teammate Sam Hornish Jr. will start seventh; bumped by Franchitti), while the AGR contingent will have time on its side to work to supplant the two-time Indianapolis 500 winner. Then they could race amongst themselves.

“Team effort is what we do every single day and every single session,” said Patrick, who posted her best starting position on a road/street course. “I’ve never talked about a race car and talked about driving more than when I came to this team. I think it pays dividends just in getting everybody up to speed and understanding more, so that when you want to make a change to a car you have your own suggestions and can help things along.”

Patrick, who advanced three positions in the Firestone Fast Six, said single-lap qualifying doesn’t match her style. But building momentum over five or six laps in the 10-minute session was the ticket.

“This is a big turnaround for us,” said Patrick, who tied her career-best finish of third last week at Nashville Superspeedway. “I’m really proud of my engineer, Martin (Par?), and I’m really proud of the team. It feels so good to have the Motorola car on the front row, and not on an oval, but on a road course. This is a big deal for me right now.”

Every driver but Andretti improved their time in the Firestone Fast Six, with Castroneves the only driver to break into 1:06 trough three practice sessions and qualifying. Aside from Castroneves improving five positions, Patrick moved up three spots.

“It’s been a bit of a struggle so far this weekend but you never know what can happen in a race,” Dixon said. “The key will be trying to get to the front or simply in front of Dario. We can’t let too many points slip through our fingers this weekend.”

Hornish (1:08.3693) will share Row 4 with Darren Manning (1:08.7000) in the No. 14 ABC Supply Co. car for A.J. Foyt Racing. Buddy Rice (1:08.8102) and Ryan Hunter-Reay (1:08.8743), making his debut in the No. 17 Team Ethanol car for Rahal Letterman Racing, will be on the fifth row. It was RLR’s highest start on a road/street course this season.

“We’re doing a great job for our first weekend out here together,” Hunter-Reay said. “The Ethanol car is very strong, the team has worked extremely hard and things are progressing well for us. We’re jumping in the deep end with no testing, but I’ve learned a lot from Scott (Sharp) and the engineers, and I’ve run here a lot so all that put together has really helped us.”

Sharp will start 15th in the No. 8 Patron Rahal Letterman Racing car. Vitor Meira will start 18th after recording no speed/time because the No. 4 Delphi Panther Racing car slid through the sand exiting Turn 13 and made light right-side contact with the cement barrier.

“I hit a bump and crashed into the wall,” he said. “It’s as simple as that. Trying to push in qualifying. With one lap, you have to either do it or not. I chose to do it and we didn’t do it.”

Share Button