INDIANAPOLIS — Danica Patrick watched contentedly from Indianapolis’ pit wall as the first day of qualifying ended.
With fans shouting her name and crew members hustling to put away her equipment, Patrick shook her head and reflected on the opportunity that had just slipped away — winning the Indy 500 pole.
For 34 minutes, Patrick sat on top of the IndyCar world with a four-lap qualifying average of 225.197 mph. Then, in the blink of an eye as often happens at this 2.5-mile oval, it was gone. She lost the top spot for the May 25 race and never got a second chance to earn it back.
“I think it was pretty apparent through the speeds that Penske and Ganassi found something that worked and we didn’t,” said Patrick, who will start fifth in the May 25 race. “You know, five is not a bad place to start at all.”
A younger Patrick might have reacted differently.
This time, however, the 26-year-old who holds the distinctions of first woman to lead the Indy 500, the highest female qualifier in Indy history (fourth in 2005) and the first woman to win an IndyCar race, graciously accepted her starting spot in the middle of the second three-car row while falling short of the pole.
One day after Patrick’s car hit Dale Coyne Racing crewman Charles Buckman, she was 1.169 mph from making history again by becoming the first woman to earn Indy’s prestigious pole. Buckman was out of intensive care, but still in the hospital Saturday.
Clearly, though, her Andretti Green Racing team expected better.
In practice Tuesday, Friday and again Saturday morning, the four Andretti Green drivers, including Tony Kanaan, Marco Andretti and rookie Hideki Mutoh, consistently found themselves near the top of the speed charts. Practice sessions were rained out Wednesday and Thursday.
So when the first of four qualifying days began Saturday, most expected three of the AGR drivers — Patrick, former series champion Kanaan and 21-year-old Andretti — to contend for the pole.
Instead, Patrick and her teammates never quite got everything right.
“That’s part of the deal,” said team owner Michael Andretti, Marco’s father and a former driving star. “It’s frustrating that we didn’t get it, and we were a little surprised because we just missed it.”
Things started well.
Andretti had a 224.162 on his first run, and Target Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon followed that with a 225.178. Four cars later, Patrick had the crowd on its feet with her own impressive run that gave her the provisional pole.
“I think there’s some more left in it,” she said as the crowd roared. “The balance is pretty good. I think if we make some adjustments here and there, we can go faster.”
By 1:09 p.m., Patrick’s hold on the top spot vanished.
Just as Patrick was finishing up a news conference to discuss her qualifying run, former Indy champion and Ganassi driver Dan Wheldon topped Patrick’s speed with a 225.840.
The scene played out three more times Saturday, with Patrick losing one spot each to Team Penske teammates Ryan Briscoe and Helio Castroneves and another on Dixon’s eventual pole-winning run of 226.366 late in the afternoon.
Patrick and her teammates worked feverishly throughout the afternoon to figure out the secret and lobby for more chances to win the pole.
But when Michael Andretti gave Marco another shot, it resulted in the youngster moving up just one spot, from eighth to seventh and Patrick’s fate was all but sealed.
“It just didn’t feel like we had the speed, and we didn’t want to risk something that might happen,” the elder Andretti said. “I think we could have gotten closer, but I don’t know if we could have taken (the pole).”
Patrick agreed.
“At this place, you can really hurt yourself, because if you’re just a little off, you go straight backward,” she said.
It wasn’t a bad day for AGR, though.
Kanaan will start sixth, Andretti seventh and Mutoh, driving the car in which Dario Franchitti won last year’s Indy race, ninth.
And no matter how frustrating Saturday was for his team, Andretti was impressed with what he saw from Patrick, who started and finished eighth here last year.
“The car was not real great and she hung on,” he said. “She was very respectable, very impressive out there.”
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