PEAK PERFORMANCE POLE QUALIFYING NOTES:
•Dario Franchitti earned his second PEAK Performance Pole Award of the season. He also won the pole for the season-opening race at Sao Paulo.
•Both of Dario Franchitti’s victories on ovals this season have come from the front row. He won the Indianapolis 500 from the third starting position and at Chicagoland from second.
•Dario Franchitti won his 13th career IZOD IndyCar Series pole position.
•Dario Franchitti won this event from the pole in 2009 to clinch his second IZOD IndyCar Series championship.
•Dario Franchitti won the 2007 season finale at Chicagoland Speedway from the pole to clinch his first IZOD IndyCar Series championship.
•This is the second pole of the season for Target Chip Ganassi Racing, both won by Dario Franchitti.
•This is the 30th pole for Target Chip Ganassi Racing in IZOD IndyCar Series competition.
•Scott Dixon equaled his season best by qualifying second. He also started second at Kansas and Iowa, both ovals.
•Justin Wilson qualified sixth, his career best on an oval in the IZOD IndyCar Series. His previous best was eighth in 2009 at Kentucky.
PEAK PERFORMANCE POLE QUALIFYING QUOTES:
RAPHAEL MATOS (No. 2 HP de Ferran Dragon, 23rd): “We had a mechanical issue during the first session that limited our time on the track, and that, for sure, didn’t help us. But the car ran well and was consistent for qualifying. I was able to run at the bottom of the track to maximize the distance, and I could hold that line throughout the run. So that is encouraging for the race tomorrow. We are still just struggling to find speed. The track conditions will be very different for the later race tomorrow, so qualifying is important, but it’s more important to have a good race car tomorrow. Tire management is going to be very important, as well. So we’ll investigate the setup during the practice session tonight and look forward to the race tomorrow.”
HELIO CASTRONEVES (No. 3 Team Penske, 10th): “It was a little difficult out there in qualifying. The Team Penske car was loose, especially in turns 1 and 2. I had to move my line around a little bit, and that cost us some speed. We took a chance on our setup. Now we can focus on the race tomorrow and try to end the season with a good finish here at Homestead.”
MARCO ANDRETTI (No. 26 Team Venom Energy, 16th): “We unfortunately weren’t where we hoped to be at the end of qualifying today. I think overall the Venom car is a good race car. We should be able to contend tomorrow night, but we’re going to be coming from pretty far back, and that’s frustrating.”
ANA BEATRIZ (No. 24 Roll Coater/DRR, 15th): “It was good. We had some issues with the rear, but overall good. We ran a little bit slower than Justin, but we were still pretty fast. Now we’ll just have to wait for the race.”
SCOTT DIXON (No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing, second): “Just wasn’t fast enough to win the pole, but it’s one point. If it comes down to that, then that will certainly be tragic for either of them. I think it’s going to come down to the who’s the best in the race. Dario’s been in this situation many times before, and obviously they know the areas to focus on and where they need to push.” (How do you guard Dario’s flank?): “I’m out here to get in front of Helio. If I can help Dario with what’s wrong or maybe working with traffic, that’s what I’ll to do. It’s too hard in a car like this to blatantly help someone.”
SIMONA DE SILVESTRO (No. 78 Team Stargate Worlds HVM, 25th): “It’s a pretty challenging track, one of the first ovals where we have to drive the car because we use up the tires quickly, and I think everybody kind of has the same thing. You have to be managing the tires, and I’m sure that’s going to be a big thing for tomorrow. When it gets cooler, I hope it will go our way with the setup, and it’s going to be better.”
VITOR MEIRA (No. 14 ABC Supply Co. A.J. Foyt Racing, 21st): “A lot is about expectation; we weren’t expecting this. We unloaded fast, and we kept going fast in practice. All of a sudden we get to qualifying, and the speed’s not there. The car didn’t change; it’s good. We were on the bottom, on the white line, I really can’t say much about that. We’ll see what the setdown is and go from there. We have to focus on the race. The race can be very tricky. It’s a very mechanical track, the tires go away, a lot of people will fade - that’s what’s going to happen. If the speed’s not there, we have to be smarter and take advantage by being consistent.”
SARAH FISHER (No. 67 Dollar General/Sarah Fisher Racing, 17th): “We were happy to qualify faster than we ran in practice because the field is so tight. We have a pretty good race car, and the key here is being able to move around because it’s such a tough track to pass on. As long as we can move around tomorrow and make some moves, that’s what’s important. I’m really looking forward to being ‘On Track For A Cause’ tomorrow night.”
GRAHAM RAHAL (No. 02 NHR/Quick Trim): “The team has performed well here before, but unfortunately this hasn’t been the best place for me, and this year we can’t seem to get it figured out. We’re really struggling to run on the bottom, and obviously in qualifying that is key. The Quick Trim boys have worked hard and we have raced extremely well this year, so I expect that we can move forward. Our qualifying performance wasn’t great, but we’re optimistic for the race; we always are.”
HIDEKI MUTOH (No. 06 Formula Dream/Panasonic): “The car was not what I expected in qualifying. During practice, we were running the race car setup, and the lap time wasn’t that bad. Even in race trim, we were in the top 10, so I was expecting a much better qualifying position. We changed the car for qualifying, and we might have changed it a little too much. The car in race trim felt better than at Kentucky and Chicago, so I think that is a good sign. Qualifying at this track is very important because it’s quite hard to overtake here, so I’m disappointed with this result.”
SEBASTIAN SAAVEDRA (No. 36 Sumimed Coldeportes Conquest, 26th): “Not the best qualifying run. We knew that we were struggling a lot with understeer. But unfortunately, it kept this way for qualifying. Being my second race, it is all about experience and trying to gain from that. I’m pretty comfortable in the race car we have. The most important thing here is the race. I will try to forget this and go forward. We worked on our race setup and getting used to traffic. That’s why we didn’t put too much effort into qualifying. We knew it would be hard. It’s the race that really matters.”
BERTRAND BAGUETTE (No. 34 RACB Conquest Racing, 14th): “The qualification was not too bad. We struggled a lot in the first practice. We had a lot of understeer. We had to change a lot of things on the car before qualifying. We were a little bit worried because we didn’t know how the car would be. But finally it wasn’t too bad. The second lap was very difficult. The car was really on the edge, at the limit. But still we managed to do quite a good time. Hopefully the race will be good tomorrow.”
TONY KANAAN (No. 11 Team 7-Eleven, eighth): “I didn’t expect to be that fast, to be honest. I’m a little concerned about the race car, but that was a decent (qualifying) run. I think we’ll be OK. Hopefully we’ll put on a good show tomorrow night for the fans. I love this place. I know we’re not coming back here next year, but let’s work hard to be back here in 2012.”
RYAN HUNTER-REAY (No. 37 Team IZOD, 20th): “We’re just lacking some overall speed. We don’t really have it yet. I’m confident we’ll have it in race trim once we’re racing in packs. But qualifying wasn’t a good one for us.”
DANICA PATRICK (No. 7 Team GoDaddy.com, 11th): “The car felt better than it did in practice. It was the most comfortable and confident I’ve been during a qualifying run. I was second-guessing myself if I was being aggressive enough. I really like racing here, so hopefully we can get the GoDaddy.com car farther up the field.”
TAKUMA SATO (No 5 Lotus-KV Racing Technology, ninth): “It was a challenging day. The Miami track is quite tough. This is the first time I have been here, and the track surface is very slippery, so it’s is difficult to balance the car. However, through the practice we were able to progress well, and in qualifying I was able to get in some good laps. I am pleased with qualifying ninth.”
E.J. VISO (No. 8 PDVSA-KV Racing Technology, 12th): “The PDVSA-KV car felt a little loose on the warm-up lap. But I was able to adjust the car with my tools in the cockpit, and I had a pretty smooth run for the rest of qualifying. This is my home race since I live in Miami Beach. This is a special race for me. It is the last round of the championship, and I have a lot of sponsors as well as many family and friends coming to the event. I have a lot of confidence in the car, as we have run well coming to the front of the field on ovals. I think we can do that again here on Saturday night.”
MARIO MORAES (No. 32 KV Racing Technology, 13th): “The past week and half in Brazil I have been working in Brazil with physical therapy twice a day to improve my back after the crash in Japan. We qualified OK with the KV Racing car today. This Homestead track is tough with the different wind directions. It means you have to approach one corner different from another. We will work on our race setup today (Friday) in practice, and I think we’ll have a good race car. The conditions will be different in the evening.”
ED CARPENTER (No. 20 Panther/Vision/Fuzzy’s Vodka, seventh): “It’s OK. I was hoping to be around 212. I just wasn’t quite as quick. I ran a different gear we thought we could run after the hit-and-run, but I wasn’t quite as quick enough to pull it. The car handled good for me. I think I made a mistake in gearing, that’s all.”
ALEX LLOYD (No. 19 Boy Scouts of America, 22nd): “We’ve had a really tough weekend so far with the short amount of track time we’ve had. We’ve made a couple of changes to improve the car and are really struggling with the race setup after we lost the primary car at Motegi. It’s been a busy few days for the guys. We’ve got a lot of work to do, but the qualifying run was better than what we had in practice. We’re going in the right direction.”
JUSTIN WILSON (No. 22 Team Z-Line Designs/DRR, sixth): “It feels great. The Z-Line Design car was just fantastic. We could run right on the white line, and it would just hang on there. So I’m pretty pleased with how everything went, and hopefully we have a great race car for tomorrow. Qualifying is always a tough bit, but practice this afternoon is always the hardest part. You’ve got the heat. By the time you get into the race, everything has calmed down a bit. You get into that night time, everything cools off a bit, and you have a little bit more downforce. Life gets a bit easier. Just trying to survive the heat of the day, and once you get to that stage, you can start to breathe.”
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