“Obviously the race is what counts,” Will Power told the post-qualifying press conference. “Probably a bit of mayhem tomorrow with the weather and so on Happy to start at the front Less chance of getting hit in the first corner but we saw what happened to Graham last year.”
With a fifty percent chance of rain predicted for the race on Sunday, weather could be a big factor.
“I think the weather is going to play a big part in the race tomorrow,” Power said. “If it rains, it actually makes it better racing, because you can really pass.”
Power set a track record qualifying lap of 1 minute, 1.6026 seconds during the second qualifying session.
Team Penske cars qualified first and fifth, while Andretti Andretti Autosport qualified second and sixth. Scott Dixon put his Ganassi car third on the grid but teammate Dario Franchitti finished all the way back in 22nd.
Ryan Briscoe in the third Penske car qualified tenth.
“It’s been a while since I started on the front row,” he said. “It’s a whole different feeling on the 11 team right now.
“The only person left on the team from last year is myself. Everybody else is different. Not new, but we shifted people around [within Andretti Autosports.]
“I would say the two biggest changes for me were my engineer, Pete Gibbons, and Michael Andretti being there. (Team owner Michael Andretti has taken over as Kanaan’s chief strategist.)
It gives me extra confidence when we are making strategies during sessions. I think, that’s what it is.”
“I think the team did a good job. We rolled off [the transporter] this weekend not too good; I think we had a seventh- or a tenth-place car, and we worked on it and it got better.
“Looking forward to the race I think weather is going to be an issue, too. It might stir it up a little bit like Brazil, but definitely looking forward to it.
“As Will said, if it rains, it’s definitely going ot mix it up. We saw that here a couple of years ago, (the 2008 St. Pete Grand Prix) and then obviously in Brazil. It definitely makes the racing a lot more fun, and if you have a quick car, you can make your way to the front.”
“I came out of Nine, I went down to Turn Ten on my second lap, and the brake pedal went all the way down to the bulkhead,” he said.
“It still stopped the car but I just didn’t have enough brakes left it just got worse and worse as the run went on. Every trip down into Turn Ten was a little adventure.
“In the end I decided to come in and park the car. I couldn’t get the job done and it’s best not to put it in the wall trying to find one position in the grid.”
Helio Castroneves qualified fifth. He missed the race last year, and was glad to be back this year.
“It’s great to see the fans, it’s just awesome. It’s a beautiful city, and you can see the people really enjoy having the Izod IndyCar Series here.”
Marco Andretti qualified sixth while Andretti Autosport teammate Tony Kanaan took second.
“Obviously looking at our last couple of years, we have to be pleased to be in the Fast Six,” said Andretti.
“Andretti Autosport cars are starting to show some pace. We’ve been working really hard in the off-season.”
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