POLE DAY FROM INDIANAPOLIS

[The General]

Records will be broken and this will be one of the better months in a long time at the Speedway.

[The General]

Rick Mears was 5 feet, 10 inches of calm and cool when he drove Indy cars. He threw neither tantrums nor helmets when things got tense or frustrating. He threw more victory parties than hissy fits.

And Mears appeared to be at his very coolest during the month of May in Indianapolis. But there was one day in that month and at that place where even Mears got a yip or two.

That would be pole day — the day that 30-plus teams and drivers would forget about patience and common sense and take a flying rip at winning something that was almost as important as the race itself.

“I’ve always said,” Mears, a four-time winner of the Indianapolis 500, said Friday, “that qualifying here is one of the toughest things I’ve ever done.”

Pole day at Indy is a different gig from, say, pole day at the Daytona 500. And, as those who take to the track today in search of this year’s Indy 500 pole know, that’s true for a couple of reasons.

First, it’s more meaningful.

At Indy, it is not just pit selection that’s on the line. At Indy, the pole winner becomes an instant celebrity and a part of history. It puts his face in front of the media and fans for the better part of a month, until the race is actually run.

It makes him The Man in Gasoline Alley because, as two-time 500 winner Helio Castroneves said this week, winning the pole makes you the fastest guy around for a couple of weeks, and fast is what drivers like to be.

“I think from the teams’ perspective,” said Roger Penske, owner of Team Penske, “the notoriety that you get from sitting on the pole at the Indianapolis 500 over the next two weeks or 2 1/2 weeks, whatever it is prior to the race, you never have that opportunity in any other sport. I think it’s one of the most powerful messages that you can send about the team and driver.”

Pole day is also a test of nerve and strategy as much as a test of speed and a dash for celebrity.

At Indy, teams and drivers don’t simply take their runs at their appointed times and then head back to the garages. They can make up to three runs, they can wave off a run as they are making it, they can get in and out of the qualifying line, they can gamble that weather and track conditions will improve the longer they wait, and they can get burned for waiting too long.

Penske drivers have won 14 poles at Indy. Last year, Castroneves got the last of those by way of a gamble — he went out with five minutes left in the session and knocked Dario Franchitti off the top of the time sheet.

He then had to withstand one final shot from Tony Kanaan, Franchitti’s teammate, who left the pits just before the session-ending gun sounded.

“We’ve always focused on it,” Penske said of pole day. “We’ve taken a lot of risks. We’ve pulled guys out when they had good times. We could be a hero or it could be a dog.”

Castroneves said pole day is surely stressful. Especially the kind of stress he had a year ago.

But he also called it fun.

“For me, it’s just awesome to do something that depends on the weather, depends on the car and then trying to find that edge” as a driver, Castroneves said.

Pole qualifying starts at 11 a.m. and runs until 5 p.m. today. In all, 11 of the 33 starting spots will be filled.

Day two of the four-day qualifying procedure is scheduled for Sunday. Eleven more spots are to be determined then. Days three (for the starting spots 24-33) and four (bump day) are scheduled for next Saturday and Sunday.

Indy qualifying

•SETTING THE FIELD: Eleven spots, including the pole, will be determined today. Qualifying continues Sunday and May 17-18.

•TODAY’S TV: 11 a.m., ESPN2; 2 p.m., Chs. 2, 9; 5 p.m., ESPN2


www.kansascity.com | 05/09/2008 | Pole day extra special at Indy 500

[The General]

Chuck Buckman, chief mechanic for Dale Coyne Racing, was struck by a car driven by Danica Patrick on pit road Friday. He was treated for a concussion and lacerations.

[The General]

over 225 maybe a 227± today.

[The General]

With the real green oval racers this year there is a serious issue of one of these drivers getting air born and into the catch fence. I hope not, but these speeds are FAST! FAST and green could be disaster. Could.

[Smoke]

I am going to watch this one for sure. Been to the track a couple times (during off times) and took the tour lap around the track. It's so eerie seeing those tire tracks that go right into the wall.

[The General]

Enjoy Smoke.

it is getting close to the end here (today) so the excitement is building.

[The General]

226.3 is tops for now. Will anyone take it down?

[The General]

I think we have about 4/5 possibles to take the pole here on out till 6 PM talking to my friends up at the track and watching. Danica is in that group.

[The General]

Looks like Dixon gets the 100K today. Nice day at the office.

[The General]

Not nearly as exciting as I predicted.