Backstretch Motorsports

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - If practice is any indication, Penske Racing expects to be right in the middle of the battle Saturday for the pole position for the 93rd Indianapolis 500.

Roger Penske could be in line for his record 15th pole at the Indianapolis 500. On the final practice day before Pole Day, Team Penske’s Ryan Briscoe and Helio Castroneves recorded the fastest laps on the 2.5-mile oval at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Briscoe was fastest with a lap at 39.8263 seconds, 225.981 mph, while Castroneves was second with a lap at 225.438 mph. Briscoe earned $10,000 from F.E. Harding Asphalt Companies for the fastest lap on Fast Friday.

The past two race winners, Target Chip Ganassi Racing drivers Dario Franchitti (2007) and Scott Dixon (2008), were third and fourth, respectively, while Andretti Green Racing’s Danica Patrick was fifth.

The top 11 positions in the 33-car starting field will be determined Saturday. The pole winner has gone on to win two of the last three “500s.” Positions 12-22 will be filled Sunday. The remainder of the field will be filled May 16, and Bump Day is scheduled for May 17.

Robert Doornbos and Scott Sharp were uninjured in the only two incidents of the day. Doornbos completed only 12 laps before his car made contact with the SAFER Barrier in Turn 2. He returned to the track late in the afternoon in a back-up car. Sharp recorded 25 laps before his car spun exiting Turn 1 and slid into the SAFER Barrier in Turn 2.

Target Chip Ganassi Racing drivers Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon will sport new helmet designs this weekend in support of Target House’s 10th anniversary.

Funded by Target and its vendor and celebrity partners, Target House is a unique long-term housing facility, a home away from home, for families with children receiving lifesaving treatment at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. As an extension of St. Jude’s promise that no child is ever denied treatment because of a family’s inability to pay, Target House provides fully furnished apartments, free of charge. St. Jude is one of the world’s premier pediatric cancer research centers and has developed protocols that have helped push overall survival rates for childhood cancers from less than 20 percent when the hospital opened in 1962 to more than 70 percent.

Each driver had the opportunity to select a helmet designed by St. Jude patients who reside at Target House. The drivers will showcase their choices this weekend.
Since 1997, Target Chip Ganassi Racing has raised more than $750,000 for St. Jude and Target House and continues its efforts by donating $5,000 per victory, $1,000 per pole position and $25 for each lap led.

Entry list update: The car name for the #99 entry driven by Alex Lloyd has been changed to HER CGR/SSM Racing.

Two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves received another rousing welcome from the Alley Cats, an enthusiastic band of fans who are located just outside the entrance to Gasoline Alley.

“They’re incredible,” Castroneves said. “They help keep me strong - they give me chills. Hopefully on Pole Day, I’ll give them something to celebrate.”

One of the Alley Cats, Shane Wilson of Crawfordsville, Ind., is at the Speedway for the 25th year. He had praise for Castroneves, who occasionally has climbed a short fence to join the group for one-on-one photo opps.

“He (Castroneves) is a jubilant guy and just makes you happy to be around him,” Wilson said. “He celebrated with us after his first win - we’re always glad to see him.”

INDYCAR SERIES POST-PRACTICE QUOTES:

RYAN BRISCOE (No. 6 Team Penske, fastest): “It’s hard to tell on the test days, because there’s lot of traffic on the circuit. We just have to wait until qualifying when you are the only car on the track. I’m feeling good, though. I think the car is running very solid. We’ve done some non-drafting laps, and the car’s been fast. Tomorrow is another day, and everyone is going to be going for it. Hopefully, there won’t be any surprises and we can stay at the top.” (What do you think the pole speed will be?): “I’m not sure. It depends on conditions. Around this track, with just some humidity or wind change you can lose or gain 2 mph. We’ve gotten in the high 225’s. That will be a good target for tomorrow.” (About winning the pole): “You get a point this year, which is awesome. It’s a big one here at Indianapolis. I was on the front row last year, and I feel like my car is better than last year, so we’re definitely going for it.”

HELIO CASTRONEVES (No. 3 Team Penske, second): “It was a great day today. Team Penske is looking really strong, but tomorrow is what counts. It’s all about getting those four consistent laps together - the four most important laps in motorsports. Hopefully we’ll get a good starting position and we can begin to work on our race car.”

DARIO FRANCHITTI (No. 10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing, third): “I think today was overall a pretty solid day. We worked on the mechanical side of the car this morning and dialed that in, so we have a good direction of where we needed to be aero-wise. We tried a couple things, and at the end of the day the Target car was in a place we liked. On to qualifying tomorrow.”

SCOTT DIXON (No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing, fourth): “Yeah, I think tomorrow will be a whole other unique set of conditions for us, really. The weather here in Indianapolis has been quite unpredictable, but we think we have a strong shot at the pole for tomorrow. The Penske cars have been pretty fast, as well, though. Dario has been strong, as well, so we’re optimistic about getting solidly into the race.”

DANICA PATRICK (No. 7 Motorola, fifth): “It turned out to be a day we could use again just like yesterday. Thank goodness, because yesterday afternoon we weren’t bad, we just weren’t perfectly happy with the balance, and we didn’t feel like we were getting the most out of the car, so we just kept our cool last night and didn’t make big changes. We really just went back to basics and back to what we started with when we were happy. The problem with Indy is that sometimes there’s time and you can confuse yourself just by thinking, ‘I’ve got to make changes because we have another run; let’s make a change.’ But really it’s just a matter of staying cool and keeping up with the conditions a little bit. We got a couple good laps in, and I think that we’re faster than we were yesterday. Penske is pretty fast, though. Ganassi is always going to pose a problem, but Penske looks quickest right now.” (About who she thinks will win the pole): “I would be surprised if one of the Penske’s wasn’t on the pole. They seem to really be quick right now. But anything can happen around here. You can be one small change or two or three small changes away from having a really great car or a really bad car or at least a car that’s not in the ballpark for the front spot. Anything can happen.”

MARCO ANDRETTI (No. 26 Team Venom Energy, sixth): “I’m pleased with Team Venom Energy’s performance today and glad the rain held off. It would have been nice to take home the Fast Friday check, but we got the track time we needed, and I think we have a good set up for qualifying. Tomorrow is going to be stressful, for sure, but I think the No. 26 car will be a pole contender.”

DAN WHELDON (No. 4 National Guard Panther Racing, eighth): “We worked hard on the No. 4 National Guard Panther Racing car. It was one of those days where you perhaps didn’t accomplish as much as you had liked because of the intermittent interruptions with rain. I think at this point you’ve got what you’ve got. It depends on what you’re looking for tomorrow. Obviously, I would like to be pretty aggressive. At the same token, you have to remember the race is the thing that counts. Certainly, the Team Penske cars look incredibly strong. But I feel we’re definitely a contender. We just have to get everything absolutely right. We’ll see the development stuff that we have in store for tonight and how that performs tomorrow. It’s great to be at the Speedway, and I’m certainly enjoying it. It would nice to be on the front row. I’d love the pole. I’ve never been on the pole here. I’ve sat on the front row a lot. By the same token, I think if you’re on the pole or on the front row people remember you for a couple of weeks. I’d much rather win the race.”

HIDEKI MUTOH (No. 27 Formula Dream, ninth): “The Formula Dream car had a good day. My goal was to reach 225 mph today. I got to 224 mph, which is close, so that’s OK. During the last hour, we tried a new setup but didn’t get much speed from the change, so we have a better idea of what to do for tomorrow. The morning practice session tomorrow should be helpful, and the No. 27 car will be ready for qualifying.”

ALEX LLOYD (No. 99 HER CGR/SSM Racing, 10th): “We planned on doing short runs today, because we’re trying to prepare for qualifying. We did a lot of small runs and kept trimming out the downforce, getting the car ready for qualifying, and we improved the car a lot balance-wise overnight. I think we’re in the window where we’re pretty happy. We’re pleased with the speed of the car, and I think we can go a little bit quicker if we take off a little more downforce. Obviously, the aim is to try and get qualified tomorrow, and I think we’ve got a car that’s capable of doing that. I’m happy with the balance now, but the wind could pick up tomorrow and change everything in terms of setup. Going into tomorrow though, I’m pretty happy and confident.”

ROBERT DOORNBOS (No. 06 Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing): “Going into Turn 1, I felt something really light on the front of the car, and then I brushed the wall. Then I went into the Turn 2 wall. Hopefully, it was just driver error and nothing went wrong on the car and we are able to fix it and come back strong tomorrow.”

SCOTT SHARP (No. 16 Tequila Patron Panther Racing): (About the accident): “We were on a sticker run. It was the second lap, pretty easy. I rolled down in there, and it just snapped on me. I’m not exactly sure what’s up.” (About how this affects Pole Day): “I have to go back and figure all of that out with the Panther team. We’ve been struggling a little bit to gain more speed and didn’t really need this to happen right now. We’ll see what the plan is and find a way to rebound.”

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A total of 39 cars are currently at the Speedway and 31 have passed technical inspection. Thirty-one drivers have been on the track to date and turned 1,301 laps today and 3,902 laps this month. Raphael Matos turned 73 laps today and has turned 285 laps this month, most of any driver. There were seven cautions today for a total of 1 hour, 34 minutes.

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SATURDAY’S SCHEDULE (all times local):

6 a.m.
Garages open

9-10 a.m.
IndyCar Series practice (two groups)

10-11 a.m.
IndyCar Series practice

Noon-6 p.m.
PEAK Performance Pole Qualifying presented by AutoZone

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The 2009 IndyCar Series season continues May 24 with the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The race will be telecast live in High Definition at 1 p.m. (EDT) by ABC. The race will air live on the IMS Radio Network, XM channel 145 and Sirius channel 211. The radio broadcast also will be carried on www.indycar.com. The 2009 Firestone Indy Lights season continues May 22 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The race will be telecast May 22 by VERSUS as part of its Carb Day coverage from 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. (EDT).