At the racetrack where Graham Rahal made his IndyCar Series oval debut, he earned the second pole of his young career.Rahal, the final qualifier on the 1.5-mile oval as storm clouds were building, recorded a four-lap average of 211.311 mph (1 minute, 43.5819 seconds) in the No. 02 McDonald's car for Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing. His effort knocked Dario Franchitti (210.967 mph) from the top spot and denied Ganassi Racing teams three pole starting positions on the same day in three different series.
In post-qualifying review, Indy Racing League chief steward Brian Barnhart determined the Nos. 10 (Franchitti) and 3 (Helio Castroneves) drove below the white line. Their times were negated and they'll start from the rear of the 22-car field.
Castroneves had qualified third (210.857).
That gave Robert Doornbos, making his IndyCar Series oval debut in the No. 06 Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing car, a front-row look (210.665) at his teammate. Seven different teams are represented on the first five rows."We've shown we can compete on the street courses and now have shown we have the speed to compete on the ovals," said Rahal, who became the youngest pole sitter in series history at St. Petersburg three weeks ago. "I can't give enough credit to the Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing guys for what they did in the off-season.
Danica Partick, the penultimate qualifier in the No. 7 Motorola car for Andretti Green Racing, will start third.
Starting grid, here. Race delayed to 3:30 am in Canada, so no Race Notes until tomorrow...
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