Franchitti Speeds To Pole At Homestead

By Joe Jennings
- Tweet
- Pin It
Updated: October 9, 2009

Homestead, Fla. – During IndyCar Series qualifications at the Homestead-Miami Speedway on Friday afternoon, Dario Franchitti ripped off four rapid laps at a speed of 212.696 miles per hour to register his fifth pole of the season and his third on an oval track.

Winning the pole gave him one point toward the important championship tally, moving him to within four points of teammate Scott Dixon, who qualified second fastest. Dixon leads with 570 points, Franchitti is in second with 566 and third-fastest qualifier Ryan Briscoe has 562.

Franchitti and Dixon drive for Target Chip Ganassi Racing, and Briscoe wheels for Team Penske.

“We tested her and found problems with the car, and we weren’t happy with the car today,” Franchitti said. “We kept working on the car, and it turned out okay. The first three laps were darn near perfect, but I slipped a little bit on the fourth lap. This is one track where the driver can make a difference, and I was happy with the way it came out. One point makes me happy but tomorrow we have our work cut out for us.”

Dixon timed at 212.160 mph. “It was a dreadful qualifying attempt for us, as the car was really loose,” the New Zealand native said. “I changed things in the car, which made it more loose and a mistake on my part. Also, I nearly crashed a couple of times, and it wasn’t the smoothest run I have had in recent history.

“Starting outside the front row should be good, as the outside groove is pretty good here when you are trying to build up speed. Starting alongside my teammate is a positive for us. This morning everyone seemed to think the three of us would be out front, and I have no idea why. Everyone has put in the same amount of work.”

Briscoe’s qualified at 212.137 mph. Commenting on his run, he said, “I was trying to get the pole, and I am quite baffled how Dario (Franchitti) got his speed. I wasn’t even close to him. A lot of guys went faster when it was hotter, so maybe the track was faster then. The point was more important to me than those guys, but we’ll see at the end if it made any difference. We trimmed the car out for qualifying and it wasn’t that easy to drive.”

Ed Carpenter put the Vision Racing in the fourth spot at 211.769 mph.

Alex Lloyd pushed the Newman/Haas/Lanigan entry to the fifth position at 211.702 mph with teammate Graham Rahal grabbing sixth at 211.653 mph.

Teammates Danica Patrick and Marco Andretti earned the fourth row spots with Raphael Matos and Mario Moraes speeding into the fifth row.