Australian driver Will Power is the front-runner at the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama again and his teammates are following right behind.
Power on Saturday claimed the pole for the fourth time at Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama, in a qualifying session dominated by Team Penske.
Power’s 46th career pole continued his success at Barber Motorsports Park.
Photo: AP
Teammates Helio Castroneves and defending champion Simon Pagenaud completed a sweep of the top three spots to start yesterday’s race.
“It’s phenomenal for the race team, 1-2-3,” said Pagenaud, who last year won the series championship. “They did a fantastic job preparing these cars. This is a really good track for us in general.”
That might be understating the matter.
Penske drivers have won five of the seven IndyCar races at the 17-turn road course. They have claimed the pole seven times in eight years.
Power won in 2011 and 2012, Castroneves in 2010, and first-year Penske driver Josef Newgarden two years ago.
Newgarden qualified seventh with his new team.
“It’s definitely working well this weekend,” Power said.
Castroneves said his teammate “definitely has something about this place.”
“He did a great job putting a lap towards the end,” Castroneves said. “In Long Beach, it was like a precision lap, and this lap was like going out-and-out crazy. I was like one eye closed and hopefully stick, and it did.”
The Penske trio are followed by Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon, Andretti Autosport’s Ryan Hunter-Reay and James Hinchcliffe, who is coming off a win at Long Beach for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports.
Dixon and Hinchcliffe are the only drivers to be among the top six qualifiers in each of the three races this year.
The “Firestone Fast Six” round was split evenly with Chevrolet-and-Honda-powered teams thanks to Penske.
Dixon has six podium finishes, but no victories, in Alabama. Penske drivers are partly to blame.
“It’d be nice if these guys just pulled over at the start,” the New Zealander said, pointing to Pagenaud and Power. “That would definitely help things. None of these tracks owe you anything. It’s just trying to piece it together. We’ve had a couple of really good shots in the past to get the win and we’ve made a couple of mistakes.”
Powerhouse teams Penske and Ganassi Racing — and Chevrolet — are still seeking their first win of the year.
Smaller, Honda-powered teams have taken the first two races, already matching Honda’s win total from last year.
Sebastien Bourdais and tiny Dale Coyne Racing won the opener at St Petersburg in Russia, and Hinchliffe secured the Long Beach win.
Hinchcliffe made his IndyCar debut at Barber in 2011.
Two-time winner Hunter-Reay is the only non-Penske driver to capture the Alabama race, winning in 2013 and 2014.
“Penske’s had a bit of a stranglehold on this track,” he said. “We’ve won here twice, but for the most part it’s been Penske blocking out the front. Hard to beat right now.”
Former Indy Lights winner Zach Veach is making his first IndyCar start, filling in for Ed Carpenter Racing Team with JR Hildebrand recovering from a broken left hand. Veach qualified 19th in the 21-driver field.
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