Briscoe leads Penske front row for Chicagoland
Joliet, IL (Sports Network) - Ryan Briscoe will start on the pole for the Peak Antifreeze and Motor Oil Indy 300 after edging his Team Penske teammate Helio Castroneves in Friday's qualifying at Chicagoland Speedway.
Briscoe, the current IndyCar Series points leader, recorded a four-lap average of 215.364 m.p.h. to capture the pole at the 1.5-mile oval for the second year in a row. He was awarded one point for his pole victory, which gives the Australian driver a five-point advantage over Dario Franchitti in the championship standings with three races to go this season.
"Definitely at this point, we'll take any points we can get," Briscoe said. "It's an extra point for the pole." Briscoe qualified 0.07 seconds quicker than Castroneves, who secured the outside pole. Last year, Castroneves had to start from the rear of the field after Indy Racing League officials disallowed his time for running below the white line several times.
"I made sure that I did not touch the white line," Castroneves said after making his qualifying run. "I made sure that I could go as close as I did without doing anything wrong." Castroneves charged to the front and then nipped Scott Dixon in one of the closest finishes in series history. While Castroneves captured his second win of the 2008 season, Dixon clinched the championship by 17 points.
Franchitti from Chip Ganassi Racing and Andretti Green Racing's Tony Kanaan will share row two, while Graham Rahal from Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing and Franchitti's teammate, Dixon, will occupy the third row.
Dixon, who is currently 21 points behind Briscoe, has finished second in the last two races at Chicagoland.
AGR teammates Marco Andretti and Danica Patrick will start seventh and 10th, respectively.
Mario Moraes from KV Racing Technology claimed the eighth starting position, and NHLR's Oriol Servia took the ninth spot.
Saturday's 300-mile race is scheduled to start around 10:00 p.m. (et).
08/28 17:14:46 ET
