IndyCar Series points leader Ryan Briscoe added one more vital point to his total Friday at ChicagolandSpeedway, qualifying on the pole for Saturday night’s PEAK Indy 300. The championship point heearned for the pole gives Briscoe a five-point lead, 498-493, over Dario Franchitti, with three racesremaining.
Defending race winner Helio Castroneves qualified second, alongside teammate Briscoe, to make it anall-Team Penske front row. Franchitti qualified third for Target Chip Ganassi Racing, with his teammateand remaining title challenger, Scott Dixon, in sixth. Andretti Green Racing’s Tony Kanaan posted hisbest qualifying run since Milwaukee to line up fourth, with Graham Rahal fifth for the Newman HaasLanigan Racing team.
Saturday night’s 200-lap race, the first of three oval races that will close out the 2009 IndyCar season,
starts at 10 p.m. EDT, with live television coverage on Versus.
Ryan Briscoe (#6 Team Penske Honda) pole qualifier, his fourth pole of 2009 and 8th career
IndyCar pole:
“Obviously, it was a good run. Today, it really helped to be at the back of the [qualifying]
line. I heard from [teammate] Helio [Castroneves, who had qualified earlier] on how his car was working
and the track conditions, and that certainly helped me prepare for my run. All four [qualifying] laps were
really strong. I had to make just a few adjustments to keep the front end ‘under the car’, but it was a pretty
smooth run -- and one more championship point.” |
August 28, 2009
