Kanaan’s First Try is the Best

INDIANAPOLIS — A few minutes past noon Sunday, Tony Kanaan concluded four laps around Indianapolis Motor Speedway at 227.566 mph, then sat back and waited nearly six hours while 32 attempts to beat him for the Indianapolis 500 pole were made.

Sam Hornish Jr., Helio Castroneves and Dario Franchitti even tried it twice under the new rules, which permit drivers up to three attempts a day to post the speed that will place them in the 33-car field for the May 29 race.

Danica Patrick, to the disappointment of fans who sat through 50-degree weather to watch Pole Day under dreary skies, decided against a second try although she had the day’s fastest single lap in qualifying fourth. A bobble in the first turn of her first lap probably cost her the pole.

“I was not expecting to turn right on my qualifying attempt,” said Patrick, whose Panoz-Honda got sideways in the corner. “It just got loose and almost spun. It was frustrating for me as I really wanted the pole. I feel like I wasted a pole car, but then again, maybe I saved it.”

The first lap speed of 224.920 doomed her hopes for a pole, but after saving the car she averaged 227.707 for three laps. Her final lap of 227.860 was fastest of the day.

Kanaan, the Indy Racing League champion from Brazil who drives a Honda-powered Dallara for Michael Andretti and Kim Green, was so intent on holding on to his first Indy pole that late in the day he was back in his Team 7-Eleven uniform, in his car, just in case he needed to make another run at the pole.

“For sure, I had my fingers crossed,” he laughed. “I almost broke both of them inside the race car like that, trying to hide from everybody, because I didn’t want anybody to see.

“It was a relief when Kim told me, ‘OK, you can get out of the car.’ I definitely had my heart going as quick as if I was putting the qualifying laps together, just sitting there in the pits waiting for 6 o’clock.”

Andretti, whose drivers finished second, third and fourth behind Rahal’s Buddy Rice in last year’s 500, has Kanaan on the pole, Franchitti sixth, Dan Wheldon 16th and Bryan Herta 18th.

Rice did not defend his pole; he is recuperating from back and head injuries suffered Wednesday in practice.

The final hours produced the high drama that speedway officials had hoped for when they changed the rules. For Roger Penske, the gamble worked both ways.

Castroneves withdrew a car in the fourth position and his second attempt dropped him to fifth, moving Patrick up a spot. Hornish, on the other hand, moved from 10th to second after his 227.273-second effort, only two days after flying upside down in a spectacular crash during Friday’s practice.

Veteran Scott Sharp, who was the pole-sitter in 2001, ran 227.126 for the outside front row spot. Driving a Delphi Panoz-Honda, he was the first qualifier of the day.

All eyes were on Patrick, a rookie from Roscoe, Ill., who was hoping to become the first woman to win the pole, or even sit in the front row, after running 229-mph laps in morning practice.

When her No. 16 Argent Pioneer car pulled on to the track for warm-up laps around 4 p.m., the fans let her know they were rooting for her. After about 10 laps she came in, but instead of presenting the car for a qualification, the crew started packing up.

Bobby Rahal, her car owner and the 500 winner in 1986, decided not make a second try.

“Danica really wanted to go back, but I didn’t think we were quite comfortable with the setup,” Rahal said. “She had a tremendous week, so we’ll put it away and get ready for the race. Pretty darn good, fifth on the grid.”

Later, she was moved up to fourth when Castroneves dropped a position with his futile second shot at the pole. The highest starting position for a woman previously was sixth by Lyn St. James in 1994.

In addition to the second effort by some of the faster cars seeking the pole, there was bumping at the rear of the field. With 22 cars the limit for the first weekend, Alex Barron, Patrick Carpentier and Jaques Lazier were bumped from the field. In a curious exchange, Franchitti bumped Barron, then on a second attempt the Scotsman bumped Carpentier.

“I think it was outstanding [the way] it created a situation that is exactly what we were anticipating,” said Brian Barnhardt, president of the IRL. “Penske, who plays the game better than anyone has ever played it and absolutely lives for this place, rolled the dice with both cars and moved up from 10th on the grid to the middle of the front row and then rolls again with the guy sitting fourth and actually loses one spot.

“To have the guts to make that call about 20 [minutes] to 6 or so, if that’s not drama, I don’t know. I hope everyone appreciates what it takes to do that.”

Jeff Bucknum, whose father Ronnie drove Formula One cars and drove in three 500s, gained the final spot by bumping Lazier, whose brother Buddy, the 500 winner in 1996, qualified ninth.

The final 11 starting berths will be decided Saturday, with Sunday listed as Bump Day.

Bump Day may be an illusion, however, because there may not be enough cars for one to get bumped.

Rookie Ryan Briscoe had the day’s only accident, spinning in the first turn. His car hit the outside retaining wall and rolled on its side before landing on four wheels and sliding down the track. The young Australian was unhurt and expects to be back in a car Saturday.

Paul Dana, who suffered spinal injuries and a concussion in a crash Friday, was released from Methodist Hospital, but doctors said he cannot drive a race car in May.

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Indianapolis 500 qualifying

Qualifying for the first 22 positions in the Indianapolis 500, to be held May 29 at 9 a.m. PDT, Channel 7. Lap length is 2.5 miles:

*--* P. No. Driver Car Avg. Speed 1. 11 Tony Kanaan Dallara-Honda 227.566 2. 6 Sam Hornish Jr. Dallara-Toyota 227.273 3. 8 Scott Sharp Panoz-Honda 227.126 4. 16 Danica Patrick Panoz-Honda 227.004 5. 3 Helio Castroneves Dallara-Toyota 226.927 6. 27 Dario Franchitti Dallara-Honda 226.873 7. 17 Vitor Meira Panoz-Honda 226.848 8. 55 Kosuke Matsuura Panoz-Honda 226.397 9. 95 Buddy Lazier Dallara-Chevrolet 226.353 10. 2 Tomas Enge Dallara-Chevrolet 226.107 11. 4 Tomas Scheckter Dallara-Chevrolet 226.031 12. 36 Bruno Junqueira Panoz-Honda 225.704 13. 9T Scott Dixon Panoz-Toyota 225.215 14. 5 Adrian Fernandez Panoz-Honda 225.120 15. 37 Sebastien Bourdais Panoz-Honda 224.955 16. 26 Dan Wheldon Dallara-Honda 224.308 17. 24 Roger Yasukawa Dallara-Honda 224.131 18. 7 Bryan Herta Dallara-Honda 223.972 19. 10 Darren Manning Panoz-Toyota 223.943 20. 70 Richie Hearn Panoz-Chevrolet 222.707 21. 44 Jeff Bucknum Dallara-Honda 221.521 22. 51 Alex Barron Dallara-Toyota 221.053

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Associated Press

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Front Row

Tony Kanaan: 227.566 mph

Sam Hornish Jr.: 227.273 mph

Scott Sharp: 227.126 mph