Power fighting for third straight victory

THE CANADIAN PRESS
EDMONTON — Who will have the power to stop Will Power?
Power, the 29-year-old driving ace from Down Under, drove the fastest IndyCar lap ever at City Centre Airport Sunday to win in qualifying and earn the right to start from the pole in Sunday’s Honda Edmonton Indy.
It’s the sixth pole in 11 races this season for the man from Toowoomba, Australia. Power, driving for Team Penske, has already won four events this season and leads all drivers in the point standings with 378.
He drove the 1.96-mile City Centre Airport track in 1:00.7126 at a top speed of 116.991 miles per hour.
But afterward his focus was on Penske teammate Helio Castroneves, who nearly figured out a way to best him, but fell seven-one-hundredths of a second behind to finish second.
"I knew Helio was going to be really close so I gave it everything I got," Power told reporters as Castroneves walked into the interview room.
"What? Say what?" said Castroneves.
"That’s right, Castroneves, I beat you, you sneaky little bugger!" said Power as the two drivers slapped hands and laughed.
Scott Dixon of the Target Chip Ganassi team will start third in the 25-car field for the 95-lap race (5 p.m. ET, Versus).
Power, driving in his first full season for Penske, took the pole in Edmonton last year and won the race almost from green flag to checkered flag.
He won the Honda Toronto Indy last weekend and with a win Sunday will have captured three races in a row.
Power said he’s not looking at the bigger picture.
"To me it’s not really focusing on what sort of streak you’re on. It’s just getting the little details right and not making mistakes."
Tire strategy ended up being a factor in the three-round qualifying session. In the first round, the drivers were randomly divided into two groups of 12, with only the fastest six from each group advancing to the second round.
The first group was stacked with fast drivers like Power, Castroneves, Ryan Briscoe, Franchitti, and Toronto’s Paul Tracy.
Franchitti said his team had to burn through their ration of alternate red-rimmed tires to get through the early rounds. The red tires are made of a softer compound than the regular tires and can go faster.
"By the time I got to the Fast-Six (final round) we only had used tires," said Franchitti.
By comparison, Dixon said he was in the weaker second group, allowing him to avoid using the reds altogether in the first round and save them for the later rounds.
"That definitely helped us later on," said Dixon. He said his No. 9 Dallara Honda car still wasn’t handling well and that his driving also kept them from taking top spot.
"We didn’t get the laps together towards the end," said the 30-year-old from New Zealand.
"I think we tend to have a lot better race cars through the race than qualifying. Hopefully we’ll continue on with that tradition."
Franchitti is 43 points behind Power in the overall driver points race. Dixon is third, 79 points back. The lead is not insurmountable given a win is worth 50 points.
It wasn’t a good day for Canadian drivers Tracy and Alex Tagliani. Both were in the first fast qualifying group and didn’t make the cut. Tracy will start 15th.
Tracy, 41, is driving part-time on the circuit this year. He was 14th in Watkins Glen, N.Y., earlier this month, and 13th in Toronto last week.
"We were put in the hardest group possible today," said Tracy. "It’s a shame.
"We had been a top-seven car all weekend leading into qualifying.
"We’ll have to drive through the field again."
Tagliani is looking for a rebound race. His No. 77 FAZZT car hasn’t broken the top-10 in the last four races. The 37-year-old from Lachenaie, Que., is 14th in the overall driver standings, 196 points behind Power.
"We just weren’t competitive like we should be," said Tagliani. "It’s no secret that we’ve been struggling to find a set-up all weekend.
"We’re lost a bit at the moment with a car that has a lot of understeer."
It was also a bad day for Danica Patrick and Tony Kanaan of Andretti Autosport. Kanann crashed early in qualifying and will start second-last at 24th.
Patrick also had to run in the first group and was pushed down the field to start 21st. "I was in a real tough qualifying group, and I didn’t have the speed to make it into the top six," she said.
It was a worse day for driver Milka Duno. The Venezuelan racer was not allowed to qualify after she drove so slowly in practice Friday, she was deemed not competitive. She will start the race tomorrow in the last position. Duno has already been ordered to pull her car over on two races this season for lack of speed.
Drivers have publicly criticized her racecraft, saying she is so slow and erratic she’s a hazard.
Officials at the Indy Racing League appear to be listening. Late Saturday, the IRL announced Duno was on probation and must pick up her game or face more severe penalties.
"If improvements are not met, the league may impose other penalties at its discretion," said the IRL in a news release. Such penalties can include keeping Duno out of the races altogether.