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Briscoe Claims Chicagoland Pole
Chicagoland Speedway
Joliet, IL
08/28/2009
Last Year's Winner:
Helio Castroneves (Team Penske Honda) 150.649 mph average
Weather:
Cloudy, humid, 68 degrees F
IndyCar Series points leader Ryan Briscoe added one more vital point to his total Friday at Chicagoland Speedway, qualifying on the pole for Saturday night's PEAK Indy 300. The championship point he earned for the pole gives Briscoe a five-point lead, 498-493, over Dario Franchitti, with three races remaining.
Defending race winner Helio Castroneves qualified second, alongside teammate Briscoe, to make it an all-Team Penske front row. Franchitti qualified third for Target Chip Ganassi Racing, with his teammate and remaining title challenger, Scott Dixon, in sixth. Andretti Green Racing's Tony Kanaan posted his best qualifying run since Milwaukee to line up fourth, with Graham Rahal fifth for the Newman Haas Lanigan Racing team.
Saturday night's 200-lap race, the first of three oval races that will close out the 2009 IndyCar season, starts at 10 p.m. EDT, with live television coverage on Versus.
Ryan Briscoe (#6 Team Penske Honda) pole qualifier, his fourth pole of 2009 and 8th career IndyCar pole: "Obviously, it was a good run. Today, it really helped to be at the back of the [qualifying] line. I heard from [teammate] Helio [Castroneves, who had qualified earlier] on how his car was working and the track conditions, and that certainly helped me prepare for my run. All four [qualifying] laps were really strong. I had to make just a few adjustments to keep the front end 'under the car', but it was a pretty smooth run -- and one more championship point."
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