Helio dancin’ on front row with 1st IRL pole of year

GLADEVILLE, Tenn. — Helio Castroneves’ drought is over.

The man who has grabbed more poles than any other driver in IndyCar Series history hadn’t captured one in qualifying since winning “Dancing with the Stars” last fall. But Castroneves pushed Danica Patrick aside Friday by averaging 204.419 mph over four laps in qualifying for the Firestone Indy 200 at the Nashville Superspeedway.

He did start on the pole in Japan with positions set by points.

But this pole meant much more to Castroneves, who extended a couple of records. His series record of poles is 24 for his career with at least one in seven consecutive seasons. That is a dramatic change from last week when a broken throttle cable forced him to start last at Watkins Glen.

Castroneves summed up the one-week swing as “pretty awesome.”

“I have to thank my entire team,” he said. “They’ve been working extremely well to put that car up there. I’m just so glad we’re able to put all the puzzles together and able to finally figure out about this qualifying scenario. The car, it’s incredible. It’s exciting, and it’s great momentum for tomorrow’s race.”

Castroneves also gave Team Penske its first pole at Nashville and 37th in the IndyCar Series.

Patrick thought for a bit that she might have her fourth career pole and first since 2005 at Chicago with an average speed of 203.335 mph. She said she was nervous waiting to see if her time would stand up once the Penske drivers hit the track. She knew it wouldn’t once she saw Castroneves’ first lap.

“The only thing that would’ve made me be on the pole is if he didn’t finish his qualifying at all,” she said.

Patrick will start on the first row for the ninth time in her career and the second time this season. She started on the front row at Homestead to start the season.

“The car was stuck, and it was pretty easy, which usually is the case when you’re up front. It’s usually not very hard,” Patrick said. “What can I say? We weren’t going to do a 204.5, so we weren’t even close to that. But the clouds helped that were out for half an hour before he went.”

Castroneves said he didn’t know if the clouds helped him pick up some extra speed. He doesn’t care, either.

“To have something turn to me a little bit, you know, I’m extremely happy for that. I’m also going to enjoy the moment,” he said.

Hideki Mutoh will start a career-best third. Ryan Hunter-Reay, who won last week at Watkins Glen, looked as though he might edge Patrick for second until losing speed on his fourth and final lap. He will start fourth for his best start on an oval.

Scott Dixon, who leads Castroneves by 48 points in the series title race, has won the past two races on this 1.33-mile, concrete oval.

He came in looking for his second straight pole on this track and his fifth this year. He turned in the fastest speeds in the morning practice, reaching 204.625. In qualifying, he came out second and set the early pace with a four-lap average of 203.233 mph. That wasn’t good enough to keep him on the pole, but he will start fifth in his ninth straight start in the top five.

“Obviously, the draw hurt us a bit going out second, but that’s the way it goes sometimes,” Dixon said. “We would have liked to have gotten the Energizer car closer to the top of the grid, but we should be fine for the race.”

Starting up front is crucial at this track where the concrete surface grinds the rubber off tires.

Passing is possible in early laps and immediately after restarts once the rubber marbles are swept off a bit. Cars will be racing on a new design from Firestone designed to help withstand the track. The left-side tire previously was used at Iowa while the right-side tires that were used at Homestead, Texas and Kansas feature a higher gauge of rubber.

“I will need to get a good jump,” said Patrick, who wants to add a second IRL title to the one she won in Japan in April.

Castroneves will be watching to make sure Patrick doesn’t get ahead of him on the start. He has never led a lap at this track despite two top-three finishes here in six previous races, and he wants to gain back ground he feels was lost to Dixon at Watkins Glen where the Brazilian finished 16th.

“I want to lead the most laps. I want to try to do everything. We lost in the last race a lot of points, which turned up to be pretty good for us,” Castroneves said of a race in which Dixon finished 11th because of a late mistake. “We’re going to try to do everything we can.”

Drivers also spent time trying to adjust to the bumpy ride caused by the concrete sections. Hunter-Reay said he is hoping a second groove develops for the fans.

“Or else it could be a little processional,” he said.

After Friday qualifying; race Saturday

At Nashville Superspeedway

Lebanon, Tenn.

Lap length: 1.33 miles

(Car number in parentheses)

(All chassis Dallara, all engines Honda)

1. (3) Helio Castroneves, 204.519 mph.

2. (7) Danica Patrick, 203.335.

3. (27) Hideki Mutoh, 203.316.

4. (17) Ryan Hunter-Reay, 203.306.

5. (9) Scott Dixon, 203.233.