FORT WORTH, Texas — Scott Dixon and Helio Castroneves will start at Texas the same way they are in IndyCar Series points — 1-2.
Dixon, the Indianapolis 500 champion and series points leader, earned his fourth pole of the season by averaging 214.878 mph during his four-lap qualifying run Friday at the 1½-mile, high-banked track for the Bombardier Learjet 550k.
Still, his 12th career pole came as a bit of a surprise for Dixon.
“Today (in practice), we were struggling,” Dixon said. “Qualifying was eye-opening. I didn’t think the car could do a speed like that.”
Castroneves, second in points and the only driver with top-five finishes in every race, had a qualifying speed of 214.777 mph. His Penske teammate Ryan Briscoe, who won last week at Milwaukee, starts third Saturday night.
Dixon has finished third or better in all but one race, the road course at St. Petersburg when he had mechanical problems, didn’t finish and failed to lead a lap. The Target Chip Ganassi driver has led at least 67 laps in every other race.
“Coming into this year, we looked our weakness from last year, when we didn’t start as well as we needed to,” Dixon said. “What we’re trying to do is keep the ball rolling and try to build up a points margin right from the get-go.”
Dixon has a 28-point lead over Castroneves and a 49-point lead over teammate Dan Wheldon, who will start 11th. Wheldon’s qualifying run came in a backup car and with a sore right ankle sustained about 3½ hours earlier when he flipped his car in practice.
Hideki Mutoh will start fourth, ahead of Danica Patrick and Tomas Scheckter.
DANICA’S DESIRE: When Danica Patrick left Texas last June, she had what was then a career-best third-place finish. And it came after a much-hyped week dubbed by some the “Rumble at the Speedway” after she shoved Dan Wheldon on pit row the previous race.
“It’s nice to have a good finish when they are watching,” Patrick said this week.
Patrick returns to Texas with her first career victory, which came in April in Japan. And she is fifth in the season points, 90 behind Scott Dixon.
Having won a race has changed Patrick’s perspective.
“I knew there would be something about winning,” Patrick said. “Then you’re like OK, I’ve won, I want to win again. This is what I’m capable of. … Winning makes you want to win more. You get that feeling and you know it’s realistic.”
That means knowing she can do it, instead of hoping.
“It gives that little bit more oomph that you need sometimes to get it done,” she said.
REALISTIC RAHAL: Graham Rahal made a quick impression in the IndyCar Series, winning in his debut on the road course in St. Petersburg.
But the 19-year-old Rahal hasn’t finished better than 12th in any of his four starts since. And he’s not expecting a victory on the 1½-mile, high-banked Texas Motor Speedway this weekend.
“Hopefully, we’ll be in the top 10. It would be a great result for us,” said Rahal, who starts 19th in the 28-car field. “I’m looking forward to getting back on some road courses here soon. Obviously that’s kind of for all the transitioning drivers. That’s kind of your bread and butter so to speak.”
High-speed ovals such as Texas are a new experience for many of the drivers like Rahal who were part of the Champ Car World Series before the merger with the IndyCar Series.
Rahal started second at the Milwaukee Mile last week, but wound up 25th after crashing about halfway through only his fourth oval race.
Despite the learning curve that Rahal is going through this season, winning early took care of several issues for the son of Bobby Rahal, the three-time CART champion who has won the Indianapolis 500 as a driver and an owner.
“There’s never any questions about when are you going to do it. You answered it right away,” the younger Rahal said. “It’s taken quite a lot of pressure off, you kind of lose the whole pressure from the name. … A lot of people say you’re where you are because you have a name. Once you win, people start to realize that maybe that’s not the case.”
SPARKPLUGS: Of the 18 previous IndyCar races at Texas, 13 have been determined by less than a second. Three of the others have finished under caution flags. … Before Saturday night’s race, motorcycle daredevil Robbie Knievel will attempt to jump over 25 Hummer vehicles. Seven years ago, Knievel successfully jumped over the starting grid of 20 IndyCar Series cars. “I can’t jump forever, but keep going for the long jump,” the 46-year-old Knievel said. “It’s probably the last time I’ll be here.” … Team Penske has won the last two IndyCar races in Texas, Sam Hornish Jr. last year after Helio Castroneves in 2006. Castroneves also won in 2004.
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