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IndyCar News (2007)
IRL News - Franchitti On Pole For Firestone Indy 400
05/08/2007
Dario Franchitti won the pole position for Sunday's Firestone Indy 400, his ninth race at Michigan International Speedway and likely his last at the historic track.
Franchitti took pole with a lap of 32.9810 seconds at an average speed of 218.308 mph around the two-mile oval.It was the second pole of the season for Franchitti.
The pole also was timely in another fashion: Franchitti leads Scott Dixon by just 24 points in the IndyCar Series championship battle.
Franchitti will start six spots ahead of Dixon, who won the last three races while Franchitti finished second behind him in the last two.
"The biggest problem is that Dixon has done such a good job of running up front lately," Franchitti said. "I'll just keep my head down and keep fighting until the last race."
Michigan has been in many drivers' playbooks far longer than the six times the IndyCar Series has visited the track. Most of the former CART drivers now in the IndyCar Series - including Franchitti, Dixon, Helio Castroneves and Tony Kanaan - raced at MIS multiple times prior to moving to the IRL.
For a time, CART employed the Handford wing, a high-drag, low-downforce rear wing that made for some wild back-and-forth racing at MIS.
"It was a completely different style of racing," Franchitti said. "You had a lot of horsepower and yet they were very fast. Each (type of racing) is challenging in its own way. There's not one that I would say is more difficult than the other."
Franchitti laid down a lap fast enough to hold off later challenges from Team Penske drivers Sam Hornish Jr and Castroneves. Hornish came closest, piloting the No. 6 Penske Honda/Dallara to a lap of 33.0765 seconds (217.677 mph).
"The Team Penske guys and I made a decision between the first and second practices to make some pretty big changes on the car," Hornish said. "We didn't think it hurt the car that much, but in the second session we couldn't find the speed we wanted."
Castroneves, who won the race last year, said he didn't spend much of Saturday's practice time on qualifying, instead focusing on race setup. Still, he recorded a solid 33.0436-second lap and will start third.
"This is a long race," he said. "There will be plenty of time to climb to the front."
Scott Sharp will start fourth in the No. 8 Rahal Letterman Racing Honda/Dallara, followed by Dan Wheldon in the No. 10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Honda/Dallara and Tomas Scheckter in the No. 2 Vision Racing Honda/Dallara. Dixon's bid for a fourth consecutive victory will start from inside the fourth row.
"I'm not sure your starting position matters much here as long as you're in the top 10," Dixon said. "People have come from even further back to win this race. You can definitely pass if you have a good car."
Come Sunday, they'll all be trying to pass the guy who has control of the championship with five races remaining in the season.
"It's not a tough track to pass on if your car is quick," Franchitti said. "Last year I could get up behind people, but I couldn't get the momentum to pass them. This time, we seemed to be able to pass them."
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