Show your support.
Buzz this article up.
IndyCar
PEAK PERFORMANCE POLE QUALIFYING NOTES:
•This is fifth Peak Performance Pole of the season for Dario Franchitti. His other poles came on the ovals at Texas and Richmond and road courses at Toronto and Infineon.
•This is Dario Franchitti’s 11 career IndyCar Series pole.
•This is the third time this season that Target Chip Ganassi Racing teammates Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon have swept the front row in qualifying. Franchitti won the pole and Dixon was second at Richmond, and Dixon won the pole with Franchitti second at Kentucky.
•This is the 28th IndyCar Series pole position for Target Chip Ganassi Racing.
•Ryan Briscoe has qualified fourth or better in nine of the 10 oval events this season. He qualified seventh at Kansas. The only other time Briscoe qualified third on an oval this season, at Kentucky, he won the race.
***
PEAK PERFORMANCE POLE QUALIFYING QUOTES:
HELIO CASTRONEVES (No. 3 Team Penske, 11th): “Today was a great team effort. I tell you those guys on the No. 3 car really did an incredible job in getting a backup car ready for me to qualify. Because we were in such a rush to get out there, we probably went a bit conservative on the setup. But if we didn’t get to qualify, we would’ve had to start last, so 11th isn’t that bad.”
MARIO MORAES (No. 5 Azul Tequila/Votorantim/KVRT, 10th): “KV Racing Technology qualified 10th, which is very disappointing for everyone on the team, especially after starting on the front row at Motegi and having such a good test here last week. But the important thing is I feel we have a good car for the race, so I am confident we can have a good result tomorrow.”
RAPHAEL MATOS (No. 2 US Air Force Luczo Dragon Racing, ninth): “I’m very happy with the run. I worked with my tools and got everything I could out of the car. I have to thank the Air Force Luczo Dragon team for putting together a good car for the weekend. I feel confident that we will have a good race car tomorrow. Grip will be the issue; everyone has been dealing with it. We will make some adjustments tomorrow, and hopefully we will finish strong and win the Rookie of the Year title. A strong finish would give the team some nice momentum heading into next season.”
ED CARPENTER (No. 20 Menards/Vision Racing, fourth): “I’m really happy with that qualifying effort. I felt like we were definitely going to be in the top 10, but we were flirting with a top five in practice. This is a challenging place. The car has been really good, then really bad, then really good again, but we made some good changes for qualifying. The Vision team has worked really hard all year long, and it good to have such a strong qualifying effort to end the year. I’m happy to be starting fourth in the No.20 Menards car, and it’s going to be an interesting race because everyone seems to be struggling in traffic on a challenging track. We thought it would be a little easier with all the aero changes than what it has been, but at the same time it is kind of fun to come to a track where you really have to nail the setup to have a good car. I think a lot of people are hoping to see the three championship contenders duking it out three-wide in the end, but I’m don’t think that will be the case. The best car is going to win, and truthfully I think we have a good shot at it.”
GRAHAM RAHAL (No. 02 McDonald’s Racing Team, sixth): “We struggled with a lot of under steer since the start, and it was really hard for me to get the car down at the exit of Turn 4. The last two laps, I crept up a little too high, and it cost us a lot of speed. We made a lot of improvements today, though, because when we showed up the McDonald’s car was a real handful. This has been a challenging place for me, for sure. We’re pretty happy to be where we are. Obviously, Alex had a good run, too. So for the team, it’s good. We’ll keep working on this obviously, and hopefully we’ll get the McDonald’s boys up front in the race.”
MARCO ANDRETTI (No. 26 Team Venom Energy, eighth): “We had good speed in the Venom car for qualifying today. Considering we’ve been focusing on race setup, I’m pleased with where we will start for the race tomorrow. I believe a race can be won from eighth, and winning the race is the highest goal I can have. Hopefully everything will fall into place.”
ALEX LLOYD (No. 40202 HER Energy/Newman/Haas/Lanigan, fifth): “Everybody at HER Energy and Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing is very excited about our starting position. I was fortunate enough to win here (in Firestone Indy Lights). Racing here in an Indy car is different than in an Indy Lights car, but at the same time it’s nice to have some experience at the track and have that feeling. It’s great to be back competing in the IndyCar Series. We had a good car in qualifying and a good car in traffic. We want to go out there and be able to mix it up. There are some things I need to learn, but at the same time I think we can run at the front. Having only done the race at Indianapolis, it feels like a very quick weekend.”
DANICA PATRICK (No. 7 Boost Mobile/Motorola, seventh): “Overall, it was a productive day for the Boost Mobile/Motorola car. The changes we made in practice today made the car better, which is what you hope for on a race weekend. The last run in the afternoon session was the best the car has felt yet. To go from that and then end up faster in qualifying is a good sign, and it makes me believe we have a strong car for tomorrow’s race.”
