MOTORSPORT: Power on front row for Indy 500

Foreigners dominate field for America's openwheeler classic
Australia's Will Power has qualified on the front row for what is arguably still the biggest motor race in the world, the Indianapolis 500, to be run next Monday (May 31) morning, Australian time.

Averaging more than 366km/h over four laps of the 4km Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Power was the second fastest qualifier to his Penske teammate Helio Castroneves.

Brazilian Castroneves has already won the 500 three times -- last year and 2001 and '02 -- and could become the first foreigner to equal the record four wins of Americans A.J. Foyt, Al Unser Senior and Rick Mears when he starts from pole position for the fourth time.

Penske's other Australian driver, Ryan Briscoe, will start from fourth spot, on the second row.

Scotsman Dario Franchitti qualified third and will start on the outside of the front row for Team Ganassi, with his New Zealand teammate Scott Dixon directly behind him in sixth.

Between Briscoe and Dixon on the second row will be Canadian Alex Tagliani.

Hours after Indy qualifying Kurt Busch won the US$1 million first prize in NASCAR'S Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway for Roger "The Captain" Penske.

Having three drivers in the top four qualifiers at Indianapolis gives Penske a huge chance of extending his record 15 victories there.

Meanwhile, Indy racing's pin-up girl Danica Patrick qualified only 23rd, blamed her car for her worst performance at The Brickyard and was booed when her comments were played over the Speedway's public address system.

Brazilian veteran Tony Kanaan, who had never qualified lower than sixth in eight years, only snuck into the field in 32nd -- the second last spot -- at the end of the second day of qualifying.

Japan's Takuma Sato, in his first season of Indy racing, has made the field in 31st position, while 19-year Colombian Sebastian Saavedra is the lucky man in 33rd after Canadian Paul Tracy, managed by Australian IndyCar icon Barry Green, withdrew his time and then could not beat it, as did Jay Howard.

Saavedra had crashed, had no back-up car, and was at hospital when he was bumped out of the field for the 94th Indy 500, then found himself back in the final line-up.

Power's average speed in the imperial measures still used in the US was 227.578mph compared with Castroneves' 227.970mph.

The Brazilian averaged more than 228mph on two of his four laps.

Power -- winner of the first two IndyCar races this year and still leading the series -- said that, while it was "great" to see the Penske cars 1-2 in the Indy 500 field, "it's pretty tough to beat Helio at Indianapolis".

"He's a quick guy." Power said. "I'm happy with our starting position. When I saw Helio's time, I thought, 'That's crazy fast'. But when I put the downforce level he had on a bit later I was up there in the high 27s. I should have done that when it was warmer and the air was thinner, but that comes down to experience -- and he has great experience here."

While Briscoe missed the front row it will be his second start in the top five at The Brickyard.

"I am just a little disappointed that I could not do my part to sweep the front row for Team Penske," Briscoe said. "All in all, it was a fun day though -- fourth is a good starting spot. I am really happy for Helio and Will. I think we are going to have a great 500."

While 30 years ago, when Johnny Rutherford won the race, all but one of the 33 starters was American, this year only eight will be -- quite contrary to the intentions of the Indy Racing League when it was formed in the mid-1990s.

The best qualifier among them is Graham Rahal, son of former 500 winner and Indy series champion Bobby, in seventh place.

While the lack of Americans in the classic -- and more so the absence of American drivers capable of winning -- has cost the event dearly in terms of prestige in recent years, it has a tradition of almost a century that NASCAR stock car racing -- now generally far more popular in America -- cannot match.

A record four women have qualified -- two of them ahead of Patrick.
Here's the starting line-up for Indy 500:

Row 1 -- Helio Castroneves (average speed 227.970mph), Will Power (227.578), Dario Franchitti (226.990).
Row 2 -- Ryan Briscoe (226.554), Alex Tagliani (226.390), Scott Dixon (226.233).
Row 3 -- Graham Rahal (225.519), Ed Carpenter (224.507), Hideki Mutoh (223.487).
Row 4 -- Townsend Bell (225.097), Justin Wilson (225.050), Raphael Matos (225.028).
Row 5 -- Mario Moraes (224.888), Davey Hamilton (224.852), Mike Conway (224.583).
Row 6 -- Marco Andretti (224.575), Ryan Hunter-Reay (224.547), Dan Wheldon (224.464).
Row 7 -- E.J. Viso (224.380), Tomas Scheckter (224.261), Ana Beatriz (224.243).
Row 8 -- Simona De Silvestro (224.228), Danica Patrick (224.217), Bertrand Baguette (224.189).
Row 9 -- Bruno Junqueira (225.662), Alex Lloyd (224.783), Mario Romancini
(224.641).
Row 10 -- John Andretti (224.518), Sarah Fisher (224.434), Vitor Meira (224.388).
Row 11 -- Takuma Sato (224.178), Tony Kanaan (224.072), Sebastian Saavedra (223.634).

Webber says news on his future at least six weeks away
Australia's joint Formula One world championship leader Mark Webber says he's not in any hurry to decide his future, with reports he could double his earnings if he stays with Red Bull Racing next year and that a Ferrari seat is open to him next season.

"I've just won two races, back-to-back, and people are asking me where I'm going to drive next year," Webber told London's The Mail on Sunday newspaper.

"I'm very close to the guys at Red Bull, we've been through a lot and I have a great relationship with them. Yet things happen and change very fast in this business and you never know what's around the corner.

"At the moment, I'm only thinking about the next race, in Turkey next weekend. The rest will take care of itself.

"There are hundreds of points up for grabs and I'm concentrating on the job in hand. I imagine the picture will be clearer in another six weeks or so. But what matters most is I still have a great desire driving me."

Meanwhile, Red Bull motorsport boss Dr Helmut Marko has told The Mirror in London that the only drivers Webber and his teammate and joint championship leader Sebastian Vettel need fear this season are Ferarri's Fernando Alonso and McLaren's Lewis Hamilton.

"Alonso because he is at his absolute peak, and Lewis Hamilton," Marko said. "What the other drivers are doing bothers us not so much. With the package that we have, we clearly have to be going for the championship now and in the coming years too.

"We have the people we need and the necessary tools to adapt to changes.

"We have had a winning car also in 2008 and 2009, so you can't say that it's a fluke when you build a top car in three consecutive years."

NASCAR honours its highest five
NASCAR has launched its Hall of Fame in Charlotte, North Caroline, by inducting five men who played massive roles in its success -- Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt, Junior Johnson, Bill France Senior and Bill France Junior.

SceneDaily.com profiles of the three who made their names on the track -- Petty, Earnhardt and Johnson -- are here, here and here.

Kurt Busch, the 2004 NASCAR champion, sailed past the feuding Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch -- younger brother of Kurt -- to win the annual All-Star non-championship race and its US$1 million prize in his Dodge at Charlotte.

The Toyotas of Hamlin and Kyle Busch tangled in their race for the lead as Hamlin tried to block his teammate's attempt to pass.

The move nudged Busch against the wall and the contact sent him sliding back through the field. He later hit the wall again hard and bounced into Kasey Kahne, ending his race.

Busch was waiting at the team transporter for Hamlin after unleashing an expletive-laden tirade over his radio.

"Somebody better keep me away from Denny Hamlin," Busch had shouted. "I swear to God I am going to kill (him). All his ... fault. I had this race won! It was won!"

Between them the pair had won five of the last seven Sprint Cup races for JGR.

The feud took the spotlight away from the older Busch, who survived several late restarts to beat Martin Truex Junior by 0.358 seconds.

Australia's Marcos Ambrose fell short of earning a start in the All-Star field of 21 after finishing fifth in the Showdown qualifying race -- he needed to be in the top two -- or win the fan vote to make it.

Meanwhile, Ambrose's appeal from a penalty at Texas Motor Speedway last month has been denied by the National Stock Car Racing Appeal Panel.

Ambrose and his car owners Tad Geschickter and Brad Daugherty were each docked 50 points when their Toyota was caught with unapproved added weight after qualifying there.

The SceneDaily.com report of the failed appeal is here.

Brabham celebrates 21st in ALMS - now for Le Mans
David Brabham won his 21st American Le Mans Series race at the weekend at Laguna Seca in California.

It also was the second victory in a row for Highcroft Racing with a last-to-first win for Brabham, Frenchman Simon Pagenaud and Scotsman Marino Franchitti, younger brother of Dario, at the six-hour event.

The Honda Performance Development factory-backed Acura ARX-01c had been relegated to the back of the grid for a driver time infringement in practice but Pagenaud drove a barnstorming first stint and was soon in contention.

Brabham said it was "one of the best ever victories" for Highcroft Racing.

"You really couldn't ask for a better send off for Le Mans (the 24-hour classic in France in mid-June," Brabham said. "It is a fantastic boost for the entire team.

"The car is in one piece and ready to head back to base and be prepared for the biggest race in the world. This is the way to head off to Le Mans with momentum."

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