Andretti On California Pole, Title Contenders Take Penalties

Marco Andretti scored the pole in qualifying for Saturday’s Izod IndyCar season finale at Auto Club Speedway. Photo courtesy IndyCar/LAT USA

The IZOD IndyCar Series championship contenders will start the title-deciding race mid-pack and further back following qualifications for the Sept. 15 MAVTV 500 INDYCAR World Championships at Auto Club Speedway.

Will Power takes a 17-point lead over Ryan Hunter-Reay entering the 250-lap race on the 2-mile oval. Power qualified third in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske car with a two-lap average speed of 215.940 mph. Hunter-Reay, driving the No. 28 Team DHL/Sun Drop Citrus Soda car for Andretti Autosport, qualified 17that 212.773 mph.

Both will incur 10 grid spot penalties for fitting their sixth Chevrolet engines of the season (series rules specify five fresh engines per year of the engine manufacturer agreement).

“Not a great qualifying run for us but it’s a 500-mile race so really not that bummed about it,” said Hunter-Reay, who has two short-oval victories this season. “We just hadn’t dialed our qualifying trim in with the DHL/Sun Drop car and that caught us out a bit. We missed the balance and (the car) took off on me a bit there at the exit. It was definitely hard to put a good two laps together.

“We’ve been focusing on the race though. That’s the big thing.”

There are a myriad of scenarios for either driver to claim their first series title. In a nutshell, Power wins the $1 million bonus if he finishes ahead of Hunter-Reay.

“It’s a 500-mile race. We are focused on the things we can control,” he said. “We are going to do what we can and see how it ends up. Just hang in there, just stay there and hopefully have a shot.”

Marco Andretti earned his first pole start since Milwaukee in 2008 (76 races) with a two-lap average of 216.773 mph in the No. 26 Team RC Cola car for Andretti Autosport.

“It means a lot with what we have been going through this year,” said Andretti, who has one top-five finish through the first 14 races. “It’s just been a very trying year for me and my career. It’s good for the confidence.”

Izod IndyCar Series
Auto Club Speedway – Fontana, CA
MAVTV 500 Qualifying – Sept. 14, 2012

1 26 Marco Andretti 01:06.6455 216.069
2 2 Ryan Briscoe 01:06.6487 216.058
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4 67 Josef Newgarden 01:06.6918 215.919
5 9 Scott Dixon 01:06.8553 215.391
6 98 Alex Tagliani 01:06.9065 215.226
7 11 Tony Kanaan 01:07.0151 214.877
8 4 JR Hildebrand 01:07.0549 214.749
9 20 Ed Carpenter 01:07.0753 214.684
10 3 Helio Castroneves 01:07.1615 214.409
11 38 Graham Rahal 01:07.2851 214.015
12 27 James Hinchcliffe 01:07.3760 213.726
13 8 Rubens Barrichello 01:07.4389 213.527
14 6 Katherine Legge 01:07.5080 213.308
15 77 Simon Pagenaud 01:07.5164 213.282
16 15 Takuma Sato 01:07.5354 213.222
17 28 Ryan Hunter-Reay 01:07.6778 212.773
18 22 Oriol Servia 01:07.7541 212.533
19 10 Dario Franchitti 01:07.9247 211.999
20 83 Charlie Kimball 01:08.0751 211.531
21 17 Sebastian Saavedra 01:08.3699 210.619
22 5 E.J. Viso 01:08.5276 210.134
23 14 Wade Cunningham 01:08.7265 209.526
24 19 James Jakes 01:09.2120 208.056
25 18 Justin Wilson No time No Speed
26 78 Simona de Silvestro No time No Speed

 

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