IRL, Primed for new quals Helio Castroneves

[The General]

HOMESTEAD, Fla. – Helio Castroneves' No. 3 Team Penske car was stopped at the corner of 1st Street South and 2nd Avenue South. Right turn on red not allowed?

Actually, the Honda-powered Dallara ran out of fuel in Turn 4 during the second practice session for the fourth Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. The brief delay to top off the fuel cell with 100 percent fuel-grade ethanol didn't seem to impede the two-time defending race champion, who wound up with the quickest lap of the day on the 1.8-mile, 14-turn street circuit.

Castroneves led the 26-car field with a lap of 1 minute, 03.3068 seconds (102.359 mph) on a humid afternoon.

"The Team Penske car was handling well and we were able to put together a good lap this afternoon," he said. "Even though there were a lot of cars out there, I was able to get a very clean run. I'm happy with where we are after the first day, but I know that tomorrow will be even faster."

The times won't carry over to the street/road course qualification procedure that debuts at St. Pete. Two groups for the one-hour April 5 morning practice session and the first round of qualifications will be determined by a random draw. In Segment One of qualifications, the fastest six cars from each group will advance to Segment Two. After Segment Two, the fastest six cars will advance to the Firestone Fast Six Shootout in an attempt to win the PEAK Motor Oil Pole Award.

"Qualifying last year was a lot of fun, but the change in format this year will give us a new challenge," Castroneves said. "It's hard to predict how things will go because we haven't done it yet. But it will be new for everyone, which levels the playing field, and hopefully things will go smoothly."

Tony Kanaan in the No. 11 Team 7-Eleven car, who was parked for 30 minutes in the morning session as a penalty for last week's restart infraction at Homestead-Miami Speedway (see related story), was second on the day at 1:03.3680 (102.260 mph). His Andretti Green Racing teammate, Hideki Mutoh, whose debut with the team last week wasn't anything to e-mail Tokyo about, was third on the chart (1:03.4491; 102.129).

"On paper it looks good," said Kanaan, who has finished third twice and runner-up in the three races at St. Pete. "We'll see after tomorrow what we think about it. It's going to be interesting to see how the draw comes out. Maybe we're going to see a group of very strong guys together in one group and maybe another not so strong group. Or maybe we'll see a mix. So I don't know what to expect, but I'm excited about it. It's a new format, so we'll see what's going to happen.

"Personally, I love the single-lap qualifying but I'll give it a try tomorrow. I'm pretty sure if some of us make it all the way to the end, you're going to see some drivers with their arms falling off because pushing it for an hour, qualifying every time you go out, it's going to be tough."

Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing's Justin Wilson in the No. 02 McDonald's car topped the morning 90-minute all-car session (1:03.5210; 102.014 mph) and was fourth-quick overall. Will Power in the No. 8 Aussie Vineyards-Team Australia car prepared by KV Racing Technology was fourth-quick in the afternoon (1:03.5983; 101.890) and fifth overall. Franck Perera, driving the No. 34 Conquest Racing car, was sixth overall (1:03.6346; 101.831) and Vitor Meira in the No. 4 National Guard Panther Racing car was seventh (1:03.6505).

"This morning was good," said Wilson, who tested the Dallara/Honda/Firestone road/street course package for the first time earlier in the week at Sebring International Raceway. "The car felt pretty good straight out of the trailer. The team has worked pretty hard for the past five weeks now, and this is the first chance we've really had to try it on a road course.

"I think we're in reasonable shape. You never like to get too carried away, but so far I feel like my McDonald's car is quick and now it's time to work on the race setup."

In all, four drivers who have transitioned to the IndyCar Series from Champ Car, were in the top 10. Oriol Servia in the No. 5 KV Racing Technology car was 10th (1:03.7377).

IndyCar.com

[The General]

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Andretti Green Racing's Tony Kanaan, who has finished either second or third in the previous three races on the 1.8-mile, 14-turn street course, will start from the inside of the front row for the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.

Kanaan, driving the No. 11 Team 7-Eleven car, prevailed in the 10-minute Firestone Fast Six session with a best lap of 1 minute, 02.5322 (103.627 mph). Will Power in the No. 8 Aussie Vineyards-Team Australia car for KV Racing Technology, will join the 2004 IndyCar Series champion in Row 1.

"It was tough," Kanaan said. "I think the IndyCar Series is so competitive now that you have to give everything. When I finished the qualifying run, I was exhausted. With more good drivers, it makes it a lot more difficult, it makes me proud. If you look at my suit, I'm all wet. I had to sweat to get this one done."

Power is one of two drivers who have transitioned to the IndyCar Series from Champ Car to reach the Firestone Fast Six.

"I was a bit disappointed that we didn't get the pole after all of that, knowing the place that we had," he said about his street/road course debut in the series. "But we're reasonably happy. Good to be starting on the front."

Justin Wilson, driving the No. 02 McDonald's car for Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing, and two-time defending race winner Helio Castroneves will occupy Row 2. His Team Penske teammate, Ryan Briscoe, and Rahal Letterman Racing's Ryan Hunter-Reay will start from Row 3.

"Obviously, I went as hard as anybody," said Castroneves, who won last year from the pole. "It was very competitive. We were able to get to the top six and start fourth, which is good. It was fast and difficult. Definitely interesting qualifying for the fans and everyone."

The Firestone Fast Six was the culmination of a three-round knockout qualifying format instituted for street/road courses in 2008. The top six cars advanced from a 12-car field, and those 12 cars were determined by two 13-car groups that had 20 minutes to post their best laps.

Round 2 (15-minute session)

Twelve cars advance
No. 8 Will Power (1:02.1355; 104.288); No. 11 Tony Kanaan; No. 6 Ryan Briscoe; No. 02 Justin Wilson; No. 17 Ryan Hunter-Reay; No. 3 Helio Castroneves.
Notables: Castroneves jumped from 10th on the time chart to making the final round in the final minute. … Both Target Chip Ganassi Racing cars did not advance; Wheldon was eighth in Round 2. … Marco Andretti was 12th in the session.

Round 1 (20-minute session)

Group 2 advancing
No. 02 Justin Wilson (1:02.7341; 103.293 mph); No. 6 Ryan Briscoe; No. 26 Marco Andretti; No. 3 Helio Castroneves; No. 5 Oriol Servia; No. 10 Dan Wheldon.
Notables: Wilson moved to the top on his 12th of 13 laps. Earlier in the session he came to a stop in Turn 8. … Wilson wasn't in the top six at the halfway point of the 20-minute session. … Scott Dixon, who has been the race runner-up the past two years, did not advance (seventh). … Both Team Penske cars (Briscoe, Castroneves) advanced.

Group 1 advancing
No. 8 Will Power (1:02.7752; 103.422 mph); No. 11 Tony Kanaan; No. 06 Graham Rahal; No. 34 Franck Perera; No. 14 Darren Manning; No. 17 Ryan Hunter-Reay.
Notables: Perera's final lap (13th) bumped Hideki Mutoh from advancing. … Danica Patrick finished nine in the group. … Power's final lap bumped Kanaan from the top spot in the group. … Mutoh was atop the lap time chart halfway through the 20-minute session. … One of the three Andretti Green Racing cars (Kanaan) advanced.

IndyCar.com

[The General]

We will hopefully see a much better showing from the new guys because they are very used t the road courses.

[The General]

Sorry guys, I thought the race was tonight. I am getting a little to excited. I guess I'll be watching the Final 4 after all.

[Hoosier Daddy]

Champ Car guys made a real good showing in qualifying. I expect Power, Wilson and Servia to be in contention at the end along with Kanaan and Briscoe.

[The General]

I think the race is somewhat during the Cup race also? That is dumb.

[Hoosier Daddy]

Originally Posted by The General

I think the race is somewhat during the Cup race also? That is dumb.

NASCAR has moved their times back so much that maybe the IRL should run at like Noon or 12:30. IRL drew a decent rating for Homestead on ESPN2. I would think this one would be better.