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Helio Castroneves continued his quest for a second consecutive and record-tying fourth Indianapolis 500
victory by qualifying on the pole Saturday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. In a new qualifying format
for 2010, Castroneves posted the best four-lap average during both the initial qualifying session, from 11
a.m. to 4 p.m., and again during final 90-minute “Fast Nine” qualifying.
As expected, five of the nine drivers to make final qualifying represented Team Penske and Target Chip
Ganassi Racing, but surprises in the top nine included Alex Tagliani, for the new FAZZT Racing effort; Ed
Carpenter, making a one-off “500” appearance with Panther/Vision Racing, and Graham Rahal, driving
for the Rahal Letterman Racing team co-owned by his father, ’86 Indy 500 winner Bobby Rahal.
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Helio Castroneves (Team Penske) |
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Helio Castroneves (Team Penske) |
Drivers yet to qualify include veteran Tony Kanaan, who crashed without injury during his first qualifying
run today, and rookie Takuma Sato, who crashed his KV Racing Honda Dallara in Turn 2 during the
morning practice session. Another veteran, Paul Tracy, was bumped from the 24 positions locked into
the field today, along with both A.J. Foyt Racing entries, driven by Vitor Meira and A.J. Foyt IV.
Qualifying for the 94th running of the Indianapolis 500 concludes Sunday with “Bump Day”, as 13 drivers
and teams vie for final nine starting positions in the 33-car starting field. Television coverage will again be
carried by Versus, from 12 – 6:30 p.m. EDT.
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Hideki Mutoh (Newman Haas) |
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Takuma Sato (KV Racing Technology) |
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May 22, 2010
