Power continues St. Petersburg qualifying dominance

ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (Saturday, March 11, 2017) – Will Power continued his mastery of Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg qualifying, winning the pole position today for the seventh time in the last eight years for the opening race to the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series season.

Driving the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, Power navigated the 1.8-mile, 14-turn temporary street course in 1 minute, 1.0640 seconds (106.118 mph) on his final lap in the climactic Firestone Fast Six – the third and final round of knockout qualifying. The 2014 series champion’s lap was 0.1579 of a second better than Scott Dixon in the No. 9 GE LED Lighting Honda for Chip Ganassi Racing.

“I saved a good set of tires for the end there,” said Power, a two-time St. Pete race winner (2010 and ’14). “They had one (fast) lap on them.

“That was everything I had at the end. I gave it all I had because I knew it was going to be close. I haven’t put that much energy into a lap for a while. I’m really happy.”

Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg: Qualifying results

Twenty-one cars are slated to take the green flag in Sunday’s 110-lap race on the course that utilizes streets of downtown St. Petersburg and a runway of Albert Whitted Airport. Power is the last driver to win from the top starting spot – the first year he captured a pole at the track in 2010.

Dixon dominated practice in advance of qualifying and was the only driver to log laps under the 1:01 mark in each of the first two segments of qualifying. The 17-year Indy car veteran has finished second three times at St. Petersburg but never won in 12 previous starts.

“Honestly, I think the team and Honda did the job; I just did not,” Dixon said. “I made a pretty big mistake on my first lap, which definitely disappointed. … Hopefully tomorrow I can redeem myself.”

James Hinchcliffe, the 2013 St. Petersburg winner, qualified third in the No. 5 Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda (1:01.3039), the best starting spot for the Canadian in what will be his sixth St. Petersburg start. Josef Newgarden will start fourth in the No. 2 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet (1:01.7229, 104.985 mph), also his best St. Pete qualifying effort. The past four Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg race winners have qualified in the fourth position, though 2016 winner Juan Pablo Montoya started third after pole sitter Power fell ill and didn’t start the race. Power’s replacement, Oriol Servia, was moved to the rear of the 2016 starting grid.

One on-track incident occurred in qualifying. Sebastien Bourdais locked his brakes heading into Turn 13 on his first lap in the first segment and slid into the barrier to bring out a red flag. Under new INDYCAR qualifying regulations, any driver causing a red flag is not permitted to continue in the session and barred from advancing to the next segment. Bourdais will be at the tail of the 21-car grid in the No. 18 Dale Coyne Racing Honda.

A final 30-minute warmup practice at 9 a.m. ET Sunday (RaceControl.IndyCar.com) precedes the race that airs live at noon ET on ABC and the Advance Auto Parts INDYCAR Radio Network. The Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg is the first of 17 races on the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series schedule.

Penske installs plaque in honor of Montoya

It’s almost become a yearly tradition for Roger Penske to visit the Victory Circle monument at the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg during the race weekend. The legendary Indy car team owner and Tim Cindric, president of Team Penske, made a trip to the monument this afternoon to affix another Team Penske driver’s name on the monument’s wall of St. Pete winners.

Juan Pablo Montoya delivered the eighth Team Penske win on the streets of St. Petersburg in 2016. Since Montoya is not competing this weekend, it fell to Penske and Cindric to install the winner’s plaque on his behalf. It was the second such honor for Montoya, who also won the race in 2015. Other Penske drivers to win at St. Petersburg are Helio Castroneves (2006, 2007, 2012), Ryan Briscoe (2009) and Will Power (2010, 2014).

“When you look at that wall and you see eight drivers that have been able to put their names there is just amazing,” said Penske, who was also honored on the wall for his team’s 50th anniversary in racing last year. “We love this track and we think the environment provided by the city and the support of the mayor and city council has just been amazing. This is just a real honor for us.”

The winner’s plaque has been installed since March 2012 as a tribute to the late Dan Wheldon and the grand prix. Wheldon, a St. Petersburg resident, won the race in 2005.

Montoya is not racing in the Verizon IndyCar Series fulltime in 2016, opting to drive a fifth Team Penske car in the 101st Indianapolis 500 in May. Penske revealed today that the two-time Indy 500 winner will also compete in the INDYCAR Grand Prix on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course as a tune-up for the 500.

“I want to get him in the car and have him run a race with the (crew) guys around him (before the Indy 500),” Penske said.

Rahal looks to recapture soggy magic of 2008 St. Pete win

When Graham Rahal won his first Verizon IndyCar Series race on the streets of St. Petersburg in 2008, it didn’t come easy.

“Particularly after the way this weekend has gone so far, I hope it rains tomorrow, we’ll have a similar result,” Rahal said on the eve of Sunday’s Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. “It was a tricky day (in 2008), it started wet. It was drying. I got punted by (Will) Power on one of the restarts, I think. We had the pace. We had gone in the race from the back, got up to running third on a pretty good charge there. We knew we had the pace to run up front. It was just a matter of getting there.

“We were able to do a lot of fuel saving and get ourselves in position to take the lead on the restart from (Ryan) Hunter-Reay. I don’t think anybody thought we could make it to the end. We were good on fuel. At the end when it became kind of a duel with Helio (Castroneves), (Tony) Kanaan and myself, we were able to pull off four-, five-second gaps.”

Nine years ago, Rahal crossed the finish line before his veteran rivals and became the youngest race winner in Indy car history (19 years, 93 days). For the 2017 edition, he may get his wish with weather reports calling for a chance of rain Sunday in St. Petersburg.

Whatever the weather, the cast of competitors from his maiden victory still surround him. Rahal qualified 10th today in the No. 15 Steak ‘n Shake Honda for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. Kanaan qualified sixth, Hunter-Reay 12th and Castroneves 16th.

Though Rahal’s second career race win eluded him until 2015, he’s won three times for his father’s team in the past two years. Improvements in qualifying pace and the environment at his team are the key factors he attributes to the success.

“I think it’s a combination of a lot of things,” Rahal said. “You’ve got to be in the right circumstances and have a good team surrounding you, which we do.”

Fuzzy’s Vodka limited-edition bottles to honor military

This year’s limited edition of INDYCAR bottles offered by Fuzzy’s Vodka honors servicemen.

The Indianapolis-based company unveiled its latest commemorative bottle today in St. Petersburg. The bottle lists the 100 winners of the Indianapolis 500 on one side and notes the 100 years since Indianapolis Motor Speedway was closed to racing for World War I.

Fuzzy’s Vodka also announced its partnership with the non-profit Fisher House Foundation. With this partnership, Fuzzy’s Vodka pledges to donate $1 for every 2017 commemorative bottle sold this year to the foundation program that provides “a home away from home” for families of patients receiving medical care at major military and VA medical centers. The homes provide temporary free lodging so families can be close to their loved ones during a medical crisis.

Growing to 71 houses in operation, the Fisher House program has provided more than seven million free nights of lodging for families to be close to their loved ones. The program has saved more than $360 million in housing and transportation costs since the program’s inception in 1990.

“It’s such a great program to be part of,” said Ed Carpenter, whose Verizon IndyCar Series team has Fuzzy’s Vodka sponsorship and will assist with the promotion of the commemorative bottle.

“This year’s patriotic limited edition bottle recognizes those who have served our great nation,” said Fuzzy Zoeller, co-owner of Fuzzy’s Vodka. “We’re proud to be partnering with a foundation that yearly receives A+ ratings and is dedicated toward helping our veterans and their families.

“By winning on the race track and selling bottles across the United States, our goal is to make an impactful donation to Fisher House Foundation at the end of the year.”

Mazda Road to Indy recap

The Mazda Road to Indy presented by Cooper Tires, the developmental ladder sanctioned by INDYCAR, conducted four races in its three series to open the 2017 seasons today.

In Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires, Aaron Telitz drove to victory in his debut race by 11.033 seconds over fellow series rookie Colton Herta. Telitz joined Belardi Auto Racing in Indy Lights this season after capturing the 2016 Pro Mazda Championship presented by Cooper Tires and its accompanying Mazda scholarship. Indy Lights will conduct its second St. Petersburg race Sunday.

In Pro Mazda, the middle rung of MRTI ladder, Anthony Martin (Cape Motorsports) drove to victory by 0.5084 of a second over Victor Franzoni (Juncos Racing). Like Telitz, Martin is a Mazda scholarship winner after taking the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship powered by Mazda last year. Pro Mazda has a second race scheduled Sunday.

USF2000 ran both of its races today, with Robert Megennis (Team Pelfrey) and Oliver Askew (Cape Motorsports) claiming victories.