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Helio, Danica on front row for IndyCar at Nashville

Can Castroneves make a real dent in Scott Dixon’s points lead?

In a place that certainly knows a thing or two about stars, the IndyCar Series will see their two biggest lead the rest of the field down to the green flag. Looking to erase trying afternoons last weekend at Watkins Glen, polesitter Helio Castroneves and front row starter Danica Patrick have an edge heading into tonight’s Firestone Indy 200 at Nashville Superspeedway (8 p.m. ET, ESPN).

Whether or not they can make that advantage work for them is another matter entirely. Even though Castroneves has rang up four top-5 finishes at the 1.33-mile concrete oval during his IndyCar career, he has also never led a lap there. Meanwhile, Patrick has slid from fifth to seventh in the points over the last couple of races. However, she’s garnered back to back top-fives in her last two visits to Nashville.

Castroneves, the two-time Indianapolis 500 winner, buried the competition in Friday’s qualifying session as he rattled off a four-lap average of 204.519 m.p.h. in his No. 3 Team Penske machine — more than one mile per hour faster than Patrick’s four-lap average of 203.335 m.p.h. in the No. 7 Andretti Green Racing special.

Afterwards, the Brazilian driver was quite thrilled with his result:

“The Team Penske guys worked really hard to make sure everything was in great condition, and wow, what a great four laps. I still like the old qualifying [format], but what a way to make it happen.

I’m extremely happy for the team. They’ve been working 24/7, and they are so awesome. I’m proud to have those guys in the group. I’m just so happy with the way it’s going.”

Patrick said that she knew she wouldn’t be able to match Castroneves’ speed, but she also felt that she had more important things to worry about — starts and restarts:

“It is good to start up front here. There are plenty of spots behind me. I don’t think it’s going to be two-wide. It will be for the first couple of laps. You may see people use the outside on restarts after they sweep the high lane, but it will be very hard to pass. I will need to get a good jump.”

She will have help up front as AGR teammate Hideki Mutoh qualified third on the inside of Row 2. Ryan Hunter-Reay, coming off his first IndyCar victory last weekend at the Glen, starts fourth in tonight’s race.

Points leader Scott Dixon botched a big chance last weekend to put some distance between him and Castroneves (48 points back) in the IndyCar title hunt, but he’ll look to rebound tonight and will start fifth alongside Ganassi teammate Dan Wheldon.

Tony Kanaan and Ed Carpenter make up Row 4, while Ryan Briscoe and Graham Rahal will both start in Row 5. You can see the full starting grid here.

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Chris’ picks

Favorites — Scott Dixon, Helio Castroneves, Tony Kanaan

Track position is very important here due to the lack of a true second groove. All three of these guys have solid guys in the pits that can get them out ahead of the rest. The crewmen are gonna earn every penny of their paychecks tonight.

But the drivers have to be smart too. With as many rookies as the series has right now, there’s bound to be a few wrecks at this challenging oval. Dixon, Castroneves and Kanaan must stay out of the trouble that’s going to happen.

Contenders — Danica Patrick, Marco Andretti, Hideki Mutoh

All-AGR contingent here. Andretti may not have as good a starting spot (11th) as Patrick (2nd) and Mutoh (3rd), but he’s been very quick in practice; the same goes for Patrick. Mutoh has enough guts to get around here, but he has to know when and when not to push for that second outside groove — the longer a run, the more rubber marbles on the high line. Hopefully, he’ll take Patrick’s comments about going high on restarts as a clue.

Dark horses — Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dan Wheldon, Ed Carpenter

RHR’s gonna have lots of momentum on his side, but he hasn’t been as quick in practice as I thought he would. But considering the possible rate of attrition tonight, he can easily find himself in contention for another win or at least, a podium. Wheldon was third in the second practice before qualifying, so I’m expecting good things out of him tonight. Carpenter’s been consistent so far this weekend. As with RHR, a crash-fest may well play in his favor by the end of the night.

What to watch for

Restarts. Danica’s right. Look for people to try some things on the high line during the start and on restarts. Because once the Firestone tires lay down some rubber, the second groove is gonna be covered in marbles and become worthless. They’re bound to take a few out tonight.

The pits. Nashville eats up tires, but track position is critical. It’ll be interesting to see how crew chiefs will make this choice.

The last one? We may be seeing the end of open-wheel racing in Middle Tennessee. It’d be a real shame, because with unification, the fan base that the IRL has accumulated there can really start to grow.

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All quotes used in this article were taken from yesterday’s trackside report.

This entry was posted on Saturday, July 12th, 2008 at 2:08 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.