Rahal earns second IndyCar pole in three races

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Working through the pack has never been a problem for Graham Rahal. If he keeps his car running and avoids contact, chances are he’s going to move up.

Qualifying? That’s been a little tougher. Well, at least until this year.

Rahal earned his second pole in three races at Kansas Speedway on Saturday and will be joined on the front row by surprising teammate Robert Doornbos and Danica Patrick for Sunday’s Road Runner Turbo Indy 300.

“Qualifying has always been our issue and I think a lot of people kind of expected it would be our issue here again,” Rahal said. “Certainly, it hasn’t been.”

Rahal, son of 1986 Indianapolis 500 winner Bobby Rahal, had a great start to his IndyCar career last season, opening with a victory at St. Petersburg. He proved adept at weaving through the field, moving up in six of the nine races he finished, including four top-10 finishes.

What hurt Rahal was qualifying. He started second at Milwaukee and third at Richmond — he crashed at both races — but had just three other top-10 qualifying runs, averaging 12th on the grid in 15 races.

This year has been a different story.

The 20-year-old Rahal opened the season by becoming the youngest pole sitter in IRL history at St. Pete on April 4 and was seventh last week at the Long Beach Grand Prix. He kept the trend going at 1.5-mile Kansas Speedway, averaging 211.311 mph for his first pole on an oval.

“It’s going to feel pretty good to see nobody in front of me for a little while,” he said.

And he’ll have a friend with him. Doornbos, in his first year with Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing, pulled off the surprise of qualifying by earning a spot on the front row.

A former Formula 1 driver from the Netherlands, Doornbos has never raced on an oval. He had a test session in Miami early in the year and another in Texas two weeks ago. That’s it.

The street specialist quickly got the feel for all those left turns and the higher speeds of on oval — with help from two-time Indy 500 winner Arie Luyendyk — averaging over 210 mph. He was initially third after qualifying, but bumped to the front row after Dario Franchitti was sent to the back of the field for dipping below the white line during qualifying.

That put Newman/Haas/Lanigan teammates on the front row for the first time since the 1993 Michigan 500, when Mario Andretti won pole and Nigel Mansell started second.

Upon learning he’d moved up next to Rahal, the energetic Doornbos shouted “Wooo-hooo!” and raised his arms as he walked into the post-qualifying news conference.

“I didn’t know much about ovals and had to learn them quite quick,” Doornbos said. “They gave me a good car this morning, I got some good tips from Arie Luyendyk and I’m learning as fast as I can.”

Patrick moved up to third after Helio Castroneves, who had the third-fastest speed, was sent to the back for dipping below the white line. Scott Dixon will join her on the second row after earning his 18th straight top-10 start. Dan Wheldon qualified ninth in his attempt to win at Kansas for an IRL-record third consecutive year.

Next up for Doornbos seeing how he’ll deal with traffic.

The 27-year-old has gone through plenty on road courses, but ovals are a little more hairy. The cars aren’t strung out like on a road course. Pack driving at upwards of 200 mph is the norm at ovals.

Surprised by the speed in his first test session on an oval, Doornbos still wasn’t sure what to expect when 22 cars cram the track.

“He’s in for a real treat,” Franchitti said before learning he had been bumped.

So too could Rahal. He’s been good on road courses and now seems to be getting the hang of ovals. Could he go from youngest pole winner to youngest winner at the Indianapolis 500? It would be hard to bet against him at this point.

“To be here, certainly it’s possible,” Rahal said. You’ve got a month to figure it out. Last year, the guys who were quick here were quick at Indy. So for us to be quick here, it’s a good sign for things to come when we show up there in two weeks time. I feel pretty good about it. Youngest Indy 500 winner sounds pretty good, but there’s a little time to go.”

Starting with Sunday’s race.

1. (02) Graham Rahal, Dallara-Honda, 211.311.

2. (06) Robert Doornbos, Dallara-Honda, 210.665.

3. (7) Danica Patrick, Dallara-Honda, 210.470.

4. (9) Scott Dixon, Dallara-Honda, 210.368.

5. (26) Marco Andretti, Dallara-Honda, 210.220.

6. (5) Mario Moraes, Dallara-Honda, 210.197.

7. (6) Ryan Briscoe, Dallara-Honda, 210.098.

8. (11) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Honda, 210.082.

9. (4) Dan Wheldon, Dallara-Honda, 209.144.

10. (20) Ed Carpenter, Dallara-Honda, 208.956.

11. (67) Sarah Fisher, Dallara-Honda, 208.543.