Qualifying for the SunTrust Indy Challenge is done here at the 3/4 mile Richmond International Raceway, with Tony Kanaan winning his 2nd pole of 2008, with an average qualifying speed of 167.876 miles per hour on the "Action Track". That knocked teammate Marco Andretti off the pole for this week Marco's 167.795 was nothing to sneeze at. Graham Rahal could back up his St. Petersburg win with one here if he gets a break or two...the son of Bobby Rahal starts 3rd. Indy Car series point leader and Indianapolis 500 winner Scott Dixon starts 4th. In the hard luck department, Ryan Hunter-Reay of Rahal-Letterman Racing was fastest in practice...but his car wouldn't start and had to be pulled from the qualifying line--so he could not qualify and will start the race in 25th.
All of the drivers say the extra 50 laps will make this race more interesting than it already is. Dixon says the race won't be won on lap #1, nor will it be won on lap 200. Seems obvious, but drivers don't think ahead sometimes in the heat of racing. Speaking of which...the shower seemed to break the back of the humidity...and qualifying was downright comfortable on an early summer evening.
Helio Castroneves was not pleased with his speed...though the two time Indianapolis 500 winner exhibits a happy go lucky persona most of the time, he is a dedicated hard competitor and was grumpy after his qualifying run. Castroneves will start the Indy Challenge from 18th.
That's it for this evening...we'll post up tomorrow.
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