Will Power, whose drive to an IZOD IndyCar Series’ record three consecutive victories was derailed April 11 at Barber Motorsports Park, is back on track.
Power, driving the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske car, recorded a quick lap of 1 minute, 09.3185 seconds in the 10-minute Firestone Fast Six shootout on the 1.968-mile, 11-turn temporary street circuit April 17 to earn the PEAK Performance Pole Award for the 36th Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.
“We certainly have the car figured out, and I’m very happy that the Verizon car is P1 again,” Power said. “We’ve got to get the strategy right this weekend. I know sometimes it’s really hard to read, but we need to keep executing in races.”
Power, who won at Long Beach in 2008, recorded his third consecutive pole start (Dario Franchitti was P1 in Brazil). The series record is four by teammate Helio Castroneves and Billy Boat, and the next race is May 1 on the 1.5-mile Kansas Speedway oval (Power started 18th in 2008).
“I think the key to success is starting up front,” Power said. “I think getting the yellow. You’ve got to get the lucky yellow. You can be out front leading and bam, get caught by a yellow. You could see it last weekend. Strategy can screw you, but it also can go your way.”
Power earned the pole by more than four-tenths of a second over Ryan Hunter-Reay, but less than three-tenths of a second separated the second through fifth positions on the grid. Just 1.6 seconds separated Power from No. 23 starter Mario Romancini.
Hunter-Reay, driving the No. 37 IZOD car for Andretti Autosport, notched a season-best second starting position (1:09.7506). Justin Wilson (1:09.7939) tied a season best with a third-place start in the No. 22 Z-Line Designs car for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, and Castroneves (1:09.8470) will join him in Row 2.
Team Penske’s Ryan Briscoe (1:10.0255) and Andretti Autosport’s Tony Kanaan (1:10.1618) will be on Row 3. Kanaan, driving the No. 11 Team 7-Eleven car, posted his fourth consecutive top-10 start (and participated in the Fast Six for the third time).
It was the second time ever that Team Penske put three drivers into the Firestone Fast Six.
Conversely, Scott Dixon will start eighth and teammate Dario Franchitti will start 12th - the first time that a Target Chip Ganassi Racing car has not qualified for the Firestone Fast Six. Dixon, though, extended his series record to 36 consecutive top-10 starts.
FAZZT Race Team’s Alex Tagliani (1:09.8730 in the second round) missed the Firestone Fast Six by 0.0367 of a second and will start seventh. Marco Andretti, who bumped Simona De Silvestro from advancing to the second round with a final-lap 1:10.3594, will start ninth in the No. 26 Venom Energy car for Andretti Autosport. Dan Wheldon in the No. 4 National Guard Panther Racing car will start a season-high 10.
Qualifying Saturday for the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach IZOD IndyCar Series event on the 1.968-mile Streets of Long Beach circuit, with starting position, car number in parentheses, driver, chassis-engine, time and speed in parentheses:”
1. (12) Will Power, Dallara-Honda, 1:09.3185 (102.206)
2. (37) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dallara-Honda, 1:09.7506 (101.573)
3. (22) Justin Wilson, Dallara-Honda, 1:09.7939 (101.510)
4. (3) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Honda, 1:09.8470 (101.433)
5. (6) Ryan Briscoe, Dallara-Honda, 1:10.0255 (101.175)
6. (11) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Honda, 1:10.1618 (100.978)
7. (77) Alex Tagliani, Dallara-Honda, 1:09.8730 (101.395)
8. (9) Scott Dixon, Dallara-Honda, 1:09.9688 (101.257)
9. (26) Marco Andretti, Dallara-Honda, 1:10.1760 (100.958)
10. (4) Dan Wheldon, Dallara-Honda, 1:10.2574 (100.841)
11. (06) Hideki Mutoh, Dallara-Honda, 1:10.2730 (100.818)
12. 10) Dario Franchitti, Dallara-Honda, 1:10.3358 (100.728)
13. (78) Simona de Silvestro, Dallara-Honda, 1:10.3722 (100.676)
14. (14) Vitor Meira, Dallara-Honda, 1:10.4259 (100.599)
15. (32) Mario Moraes, Dallara-Honda, 1:10.5093 (100.480)
16. (24) Mike Conway, Dallara-Honda, 1:10.4586 (100.553)
17. (8) EJ Viso, Dallara-Honda, 1:10.5991 (100.353)
18. (2) Raphael Matos, Dallara-Honda, 1:10.5068 (100.484)
19. (5) Takuma Sato, Dallara-Honda, 1:10.7000 (100.209)
20. (7) Danica Patrick, Dallara-Honda, 1:10.5503 (100.422)
21. (19) Alex Lloyd, Dallara-Honda, 1:10.8003 (100.067)
22. (67) Graham Rahal, Dallara-Honda, 1:10.7722 (100.107)
23. (34) Mario Romancini, Dallara-Honda, 1:10.9914 (99.798)
24. (36) Bertrand Baguette, Dallara-Honda, 1:11.4345 (99.179)
25. (18) Milka Duno, Dallara-Honda, No Time (No Speed)
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