Newton, IA (June 19, 2010) – Should be no surprise that Team Penske and Target-Chip Ganassi Racing are on the front row. The two teams have dominated the ovals in the IZOD IndyCar Series of late. Team Penske’s Will Power won his fourth pole of the season, his first on an oval. His previous poles this year were Barber Motorsports Park, St. Pete and Long Beach. This is his 12th career IZOD IndyCar Series pole. Power ran an average lap of 181.337 mph on the snappy Iowa Speedway’s .875-mile oval
“I am very happy to get my first pole on an oval,” said Power, who closed to two points of series championship points leader Franchitti with the bonus point for winning the pole. “We have been right there the past few races, but I have had some funny things go wrong and a little bit of bad luck. I am very happy with the Verizon car today and our run was solid. We will have a long day and the race will be tough on the short track.”
Power knows that fast doesn’t automatically mean you’re going to win. “You’ve got to have a solid car around here, and honestly I think it’s about reading the traffic well,” Power said. “It’s easy to get held up, so you’ve got to be smart with that.”
For Team Penske it is their seventh consecutive pole of the season, their 190th pole all-time in open wheel racing.
Scott Dixon the 2007 and 2008 polesitter qualified outside the front row for the TCGR Team. “It wasn’t a bad day for us. We mostly concentrated on race setup this morning and we did qualifications setup at the second practice session. It’s going to be a tough day tomorrow with a short track and the rain if it hits us but I’m very happy with today.”
Marco Andretti led the Andretti Autosport team by qualifying third. Team Penske driver, Helio Castroneves was fourth quick and Indianapolis 500 winner, Dario Franchitti was fifth fastest. Alex Tagliani was a pleasant surprise in sixth as was Takumo Sato in seventh. Rounding out the top-10 was Ryan Briscoe, Danica Patrick and Dan Wheldon.
The big story tomorrow will be the rain. The forecast calls for 80% chance of thunderstorms, the question is, will there be a window to race in? However last year’s weeper’s problems will hopefully only be a memory. Iowa Speedway Vice President Craig Armstrong said track officials will try to ensure that Sunday’s Iowa Corn Indy 250 is run to completion. “We do have lights, as you well know,” Armstrong. “And we will run as long as it is reasonable and feasible to do so.”
Earlier in the day, Sage Karam of Nazareth, Pa. Pulled away to victory in Round Four of the Cooper Tires presents the USF2000 National Championship powered by Mazda at Iowa Speedway this afternoon. Joing Karam on the Podium was Raphael Abbate, Mikhail Goikhberg and National Class Winner Ardie Greenamyer.
Conor Daly the second generation phenom on the Star-Mazda circuit led flag-to-flag to win the 100-lap race at Iowa Speedway. The polesitter took the jump at the start and never was seriously challenged for the lead.
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