Castroneves wins pole for Indy 500

Roger Penske made the right call Saturday and Helio Castroneves rewarded his car owner with another Indianapolis 500 pole.

Penske, whose team has won 14 poles and 14 races at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, waited while other contenders for the top qualifying spot in the May 27 race made early qualifying runs.

Dario Franchitti posted a four-lap, 10-mile average of 225.191 mph and then waited for five hours before two-time Indy winner Castroneves knocked him off the top spot.

Under Indy’s new qualifying procedure, each driver is allowed up to three chances to qualify on opening day. That meant everyone had to make decisions when to go, whether to keep an early qualifying effort or withdraw that speed and try again.

Penske, waiting for the cooler temperatures of late afternoon, finally sent Castroneves out for a qualifying run. His 224.988 was good enough for fourth.

Sam Hornish Jr., the other Penske driver, then made his first attempt and looked as if he was going to beat Franchitti before a bobble on his second lap nearly put him in the wall.

He came away second at 225.145 mph and withdrew that speed. He then ran three strong laps over 225 mph, but another bobble on the final lap again left him well short of the pole at 225.109 mph.

That’s the way it stayed until Castroneves tried again, withdrawing his earlier speed. He had four laps ranging from 225.652 to 225.920 mph adding up to an average of 225.817 and the top spot. Tony Kanaan (225.757) will start in the middle, with Franchitti (225.191) on the outside of the front row.

Only 11 drivers earned starting spots, with 11 more to be determined today.

*

Aaron Staudinger started second, took the lead on the first lap and went on to win his first Auto Club Late Model Division feature race at Irwindale Speedway. Tim Huddleston challenged Staudinger for the lead on the final lap but was impeded by a lapped car in the fourth turn and finished 0.406 of a second behind.