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Power Zooms To Another IndyCar Pole

Leeds, Ala. – Will Power continued to show his prowess on road courses as he took the pole position for the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama at the pristine Barber Motorsports Park, doing so on Saturday morning. The quiet-spoken driver zoomed around the 2.3-mile road course at a speed of 115.878 miles per hour.

    Will Power zooms through turn five. [Joe Jennings Photo]


He drove the Verizon Team Penske, one of three Penske cars to qualify in the top four for Sunday’s Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama, the second IndyCar Series race of the new season.

For Power, he earned his 17th IndyCar pole award and his second consecutive at Barber and second in 2011.

“We definitely changed the car during qualifications, but it still wasn’t spot on,” he said. “It is hard to get the balance right.”

A year ago Power led 12 laps but ended up disappointing himself with a fourth-place finish.

“I am determined to get it right this year,” he added. “I am very focused on winning this race, and I feel like we have a better car than we did last year.”

Power has elected to start on the inside of the front row, seeking an advantage going into the first corner’s left turn. He described the track as being very technical and the track surface as being consistent.

Starting alongside Power will be teammate Ryan Briscoe in the Penske Truck Rental entry. His speed was 115.423 mph.

“I love this car as it is running great,” Briscoe stated. “We unloaded with a very good car, and we didn’t have to tune it much – just kept chipping away at it. And the front row is a great place to be.”

Scott Dixon put the Target Chip Ganassi car on the inside of row two with a speed of 115.188 mph, the final driver to break the 115 mark.

Said the New Zealander, “Today was tough, and our car was pretty loose. I couldn’t get into the corners and carry the speed. But I am pretty happy with the car. All in all it was a pretty good day.”

Driving the AAA Insurance Team Penske, 2010 race winner Helio Castroneves will start alongside Dixon. The flashy Brazilian’s speed was 114.801 mph.

“We struggled a bit and the track was starting to change,” he noted. “For us, the championship starts here, and I want to make sure I complete the first lap (referencing his first turn crash in the St. Petersburg race).

Justin Wilson put the Dreyer & Reinbold into the fifth starting spot with Oriol Servia beside him in the Newman/Haas entry.

Dario Franchitti and rookie James Hinchcliffe earned the seventh and eight spots followed by Marco Andretti and Graham Rahal.

Bringing up the rear of the field were Danica Patrick (22nd), Simon Pagenaud (23rd), Tony Kanaan (24th) and rookies James Jakes and Sebastian Saavedra (25th and 26th).

The second annual Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama will be telecast live by VERSUS on Sunday at 3 p.m. ET.

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