Castroneves, Briscoe Share Front Row At Iowa

NEWTON, IOWA - Team Penske drivers Helio Castroneves and Ryan Briscoe will start on the front row for Sunday's Iowa Corn Indy 250 presented by Pioneer based on entrant points after PEAK Performance Pole Qualifying was cancelled.

Helio Castroneves, centre, is joined by Will Power and the Firestone Firehawk in accepting the Peak Performance Pole Award Credit: Jim Haines/IndyCar Series

It didn't rain at the track Saturday, but heavy rain from Friday and earlier in the week caused persistent weepers in several locations on the .875-mile oval. Qualifying was cancelled for the first time since last June's race at Iowa.

The No. 3 Team Penske car driven by Castroneves leads the entrant points thanks to two wins and a second by Castroneves and a sixth at St. Petersburg by fill-in driver Will Power. Briscoe, the leader in the driver points, is second in entrant points.

Target Chip Ganassi Racing drivers Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti will start third and fourth, respectively, and Andretti Green's Danica Patrick will start fifth.

HELIO CASTRONEVES (No. 3 Team Penske, first): I have to thank Will (Power) because he helped by having this car finish sixth at St. Petersburg. Those points definitely kept me in the front of the pits and now gave me the pole position at Iowa. Unfortunately for the fans, they didn't get to see the excitement of qualifying. Fortunately, I end up getting a great situation here with a good starting position. Now that we have a Team Penske front row, we'll go for the win tomorrow."

WILL POWER: (On accepting the PEAK Performance Pole Award with Helio Castroneves): "This was all Helio's idea. He's a great guy. I always like to help out. Starting on the pole here is really important, so it's great to see the two Team Penske cars on the front row. I love working with this team, and I have two great teammates. We all work well together. I experienced it during the month of May at Indy. I'm very glad to help out."

RYAN BRISCOE (No. 6 Team Penske, second): "Obviously, we'd much rather be out there qualifying. It's unfortunate. The good thing is that we're up there in the points and get the front row start. Hopefully, that will help us tomorrow. I felt good for qualifying. I felt like Team Penske had a good shot for the pole. It's so close at the front that it's hard to say, but hopefully they can get the track in good shape for tonight and tomorrow as well."

SCOTT DIXON (No. 9 Targe t Chip Ganassi Racing, third): "It's tough. We should have been fairly decent. The car wasn't too bad in the run, but there was a fair bit of water on the track. The cautiousness there is the more cars you run, the more water you draw onto the track, the guys in the back were going to have a tougher time, and you could certainly crash your car. I think it was a tough decision for (Indy Racing League President of Competition and Racing Operations) Brian (Barnhart), but I think he made the right one."

DARIO FRANCHITTI (No. 10 TOM TOM, fourth): "It's disappointing because the Tom Tom car was quick. In practice, we did two qualifying (simulations) and both were really quick. We felt we had a car for the pole, but at the same time I think (Indy Racing League Pres ident of Competition and Operations) Brian (Barnhart) made the right decision. Scott (Dixon) had said that on the backstretch that the tire was flipping up water. The weepers were so bad. It's really unfortunate for our car and for the Target team and for the fans because they don't get to see qualifying. Starting fourth tomorrow makes things a bit more difficult, but we can still pull it off."

DANICA PATRICK (No. 7 Boost Mobile/Motorola, fifth): "We had a pretty good day; every change we made had a positive impact on the car. I think in general we have a strong race car, but at the end of the day qualifying is really important. I wish we would've had a chance to get out and make a qualifying run, because I think we could've had a higher starting position than fifth. But we will take it, have a few strong pit stops and hopefully bring home a win for the Boost Mobile car."

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