By: Greg Sanchez

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The idea of becoming the first driver to win three consecutive Indy 500 is unimaginable, however, for Helio Castroneves after earning the ideal starting position of pole, it may not be that far fetched.
The Brazilian bullet won the MBNA Pole for the 87th Indianapolis 500 with a four-lap average speed of 231.725 mph on May 11 in the No. 3 Marlboro Team Penske Dallara/Toyota/Firestone. He covered four laps of the historic 2.5-mile oval in 2 <min> 35.3564 seconds to earn his second career pole in the IRL IndyCar Series and his first at Indianapolis.
Helio Castroneves became the first back-to-back “500” winner to win the pole for his attempt to win three straight. He also earned the record 12th Indianapolis 500 pole for Penske Racing and the first pole at Indianapolis for a Japanese engine manufacturer.
This only happened once before when the defending Indianapolis 500 winner “Emo” – Emerson Fittipaldi won the pole back in 1990 and captured the top spot for Penske Racing.
Tony Kanaan qualified second at 2:35.8400 averaging 231.006 mph in the No. 11 Team 7-Eleven Dallara/Honda/Firestone. Robby Gordon was third at 2:36.3822 with speeds of 230.205 mph in the No. 27 Alpine/Archipelago/Motorola Dallara/Honda/Firestone, giving Andretti Green Racing two of the desirable front-row spots. There are 33 available spots and as of this afternoon, 27 of them had been filled. Qualifying for the so-called ‘Bump Day’ is scheduled for Sunday, May 18th.  The track reopens for practice Wednesday, May 14th.  The big and long awaited racing day will be on Sunday, May 25th.
The cold weather and subsequent thunderstorms that ran through Indianapolis and much of the state on Saturday, postponing Pole Day, created a big change in the conditions Sunday. The somewhat chilling temperatures in the mid-50s and wind gusts approaching 30 mph provided quite a challenge for most drivers and teams, causing them to rethink their strategies and setups and quickly trying to find the proper car balance.
Robby Gordon took the provisional pole just 45 minutes into qualifying in his original spot in the qualifying draw. His first round was only 228.829 mph due to gusty winds, but he then finished with three successive laps of 230 mph.
Kanaan didn’t attempt to qualify in his spot in the draw, instead deciding to work on his car. Tony took to the track two hours and 40 minutes into qualifying, taking the provisional pole until Castroneves took the top spot.
The grandson of four-time Indianapolis 500 winner A.J. Foyt, made a dramatic save after his No. 14 Conseco/A.J. Foyt Racing Dallara/Toyota/Firestone spun exiting Turn 2 on his first qualifying lap. He was able to steer it clear as he was heading towards the outside wall backwards at nearly 168 mph and rolled down until he stopped. He was able to recoup and qualified later in the afternoon averaging 224.178 mph and ultimately earning the 23rd spot; he’s also become the youngest driver ever to qualify for the Indy 500 at the tender age of 18. In fact, he will be celebrating his 19th birthday exactly on May 25th. What a birthday, don’t you think!

Both veteran Scott Sharp and rookie A.J. Foyt IV were caught by the windy conditions on consecutive qualifying runs one hour into the session.
On the next attempt after Foyt’s mishap, Scott Sharp hit the SAFER Barrier in Turn 2 after a quarter-spin but was unhurt and was the last qualifier of the day averaging 228.755 mph in his No. 8 car, placing him on the 9th position.
Along with the other hopefuls, was two-time defending IndyCar Series champion Sam Hornish Jr., in the No. 4 Pennzoil Panther Dallara/Chevrolet/Firestone averaging a fast 226.225 miles per hour thus placing him in the 18th position.

RESULTS through May 14th:
By starting position, name of driver, car number, team/car and qualifying average speed.

1     Helio Castroneves    #3           Dallara-Toyota                                231.725
2.    Tony Kanaan             #11         Dallara-Honda                                231.006
3.    Robby Gordon          #27          Dallara-Honda                                230.228
4.    Scott Dixon               #9             Panoz G Force-Toyota                  230.099
5.    Dan Wheldon           #26           Dallara-Honda                                229.958
6.    Kenny Brack             #15           Dallara-Honda                                229.509
7.    Tora Takagi              #12           Panoz G Force-Toyota                  229.358
8.    Tony Renna              #32           Dallara-Toyota                                 228.761
9.     Scott Sharp              #8             Dallara-Toyota                                228.755
10.  Gil de Ferran            #6              Panoz G Force-Toyota                  228.633
11.  Roger Yasukawa     #55            Dallara-Honda                                228.577
12.  Tomas Scheckter    #10            Panoz G Force-Toyota                  227.769
13.  Michael Andretti      #7               Dallara-Honda                                227.739
14.  Greg Ray                 #13             Panoz G Force-Honda                   227.288
15.  Shinji Nakano         #54              Dallara-Honda                                227.222
16.  Felipe Giaffone      #21              Panoz G Force-Toyota                  227.210
17.  Al Unser Jr.             #31              Dallara-Toyota                                 226.285
18.  Sam Hornish, Jr.     #4               Dallara-Chevrolet                            226.225
19.  Buddy Rice             #52              Dallara-Chevrolet                            226.213
20.  Jaques Lazier         #2                Dallara-Chevrolet                            225.975
21.  Buddy Lazier          #31              Dallara-Chevrolet                             224.910
22.  Robbie Buhl            #24              Dallara-Chevrolet                             224.369
23.  A.J. Foyt IV             #14T            Dallara-Toyota                                  224.177
24.  Sarah Fisher          #23               Dallara-Chevrolet                             224.170

A small amount of reserved-seat Race Day tickets for the Indianapolis 500 may still be available, as well as general admission and reserved tickets for practice, qualifications and Race Day.
You may also log onto and purchase them on www.imstix.com or by calling directly to the IMS Ticket Office at 1-800-822-INDY or (317) 492-6700.