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It's an
all AGR front row for Saturday night's Meijer Indy 300, with
Tony Kanaan winning the pole position, Dario Franchitti will
start outside of him...
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Very few drivers were able to duplicate
their practice speeds in qualifying, that is with the exception
of Sarah Fisher and Scott Sharp, but the story of the session
was of speeds lost, not gained. The biggest surprise was Helio
Castroneves, who will start 13th, losing almost 2-mph. Here's
the qualifying chart:
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Pos
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Driver
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Diff
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Best Time
|
Best Speed
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Best Lap
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1
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Tony Kanaan (11)
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...
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24.4307
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218.086
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1
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2
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Dario Franchitti
(27)
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0.1438
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24.5745
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216.810
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2
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3
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Scott Sharp (8)
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0.1611
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24.5918
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216.658
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1
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4
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Scott Dixon (9)
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0.1812
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24.6119
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216.481
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1
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5
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Dan Wheldon (10)
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0.1957
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24.6264
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216.353
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1
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6
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Tomas Scheckter
(2)
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0.2001
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24.6308
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216.315
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2
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7
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Sam Hornish Jr (6)
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0.2334
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24.6641
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216.022
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2
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8
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Ryan Hunter-Reay
(17)
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0.2616
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24.6923
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215.776
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2
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9
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Ed Carpenter (20)
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0.2641
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24.6948
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215.754
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2
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10
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AJ Foyt IV (22)
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0.2908
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24.7215
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215.521
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1
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11
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Danica Patrick (7)
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0.3190
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24.7497
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215.275
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1
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12
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Vitor Meira (4)
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0.3274
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24.7581
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215.202
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2
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13
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Helio Castroneves
(3)
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0.3645
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24.7952
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214.880
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2
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14
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Sarah Fisher (5)
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0.3880
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24.8187
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214.677
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2
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15
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Marco Andretti
(26)
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0.4344
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24.8651
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214.276
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1
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16
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Buddy Rice (15)
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0.5032
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24.9339
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213.685
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1
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17
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Kosuke Matsuura
(55)
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0.5227
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24.9534
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213.518
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2
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18
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Darren Manning
(14)
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0.5741
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25.0048
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213.079
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1
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Ed Carpenter first out to qualify
and runs 215.754, faster than his best practice speed on his 2nd
lap of qualifying... Sarah Fisher is 2nd to qualify and she
too is running faster than she ran in practice, a 214.677... Dan
Wheldon ran a best practice speed 0f 217.376, but he isn't close
to that so far. Wheldon qualifies fastest so far with a
disappointing 216.353-mph, slower by a full mph... Next to
qualify is Kosuke Matsuura, and he is also way off his practice
speed, qualifying at 213.518-mph, off by 2-mph... Marco
Andretti will be next to qualify, and he too is more than 2-mph
short of his obviously tow assisted 2nd practice session run.
Marco's best lap was his 1st one, and he qualified at 214.276,
even slower than he ran in his speed-challenged 1st practice
session... Tomas Scheckter, 2nd fastest in the session up to
now, qualifying at 216.315 on his 2nd lap... Buddy Rice up
next, bleeding speed as well, Rice runs 2nd slowest of the day
at 213.685 mph... Scott Sharp out in the striking looking
Patron Dallara Honda. Sharp gets the provisional pole, running a
lap of 216.658 mph, his 1st lap was his fastest. Sharp was .7
mph faster than he practiced in either sessions... Vitor
Meira runs a 215.205 mph, .7 mph off his practice pace, so Meira
lost the speed Sharp must have stole from in the run before
his... Ryan Hunter-Reay ran 215.776, almost duplicating his
best practice speed... Here's Tony Kanaan, fastest on the
day with what I thought was an obvious tow, but Kanaan, out all
alone, ran a 218.086, a bit slower than he practiced, but still
nearly 1.4 mph faster than anyone else... Danica Patrick out
now, TK things his speed came as the track conditions improved.
If that's the case, we aren't seeing it in Danica's run. She
posted a 215.275 her first time around. She isn't going to be a
happy woman... Foyt IV up next, quick in practice, Anthony
comes up a little short this time, running 215.521, 1.2 mph off
his practice pace... Sam Hornish could use a good
"Q" run, and he's almost owns this track. Hornish is
another driver 2-mph off the pace his first time around, but
found a bit of that lost speed on lap 2, qualifying at 216.022,
5th on the grid for now. Darren Manning out in the AJ Foyt
#14, Manning has been one of the slowest drivers all day, and he
still is, running barely above 213 mph, a 213.079 1st lap.
Manning is running one of the older Foyt cars after perhaps
crashing the best one at MIS... Here's Dario, he lost a lot
of speed as well, but is still fast enough for the outside pole
at a 216.810, probably not fast enough to hold of either Dixon
or Castroneves... Well Scott Dixon didn't have anything for
Franchitti, running a best lap of 216.481, 4th on the grid so
far. Helio Castroneves will be the last to qualify in a
session that saw everyone get to the line on time and manage to
get both "Q" laps in. Castroneves lost any speed he
may have had and will start 13th, running a best lap of 214.880,
that's a stunner.
So what do I know, Franchitti
holds onto P2, Franchitti starts outside of Tony Kanaan, .1438
second and more than full-mph off TK's pace... Scott Sharp will
start 3rd and Scott Dixon 4th.
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***
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Here is the qualifying order and
the drivers fastest time/speed...
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Q
Pos
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Driver
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Best
Time
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Best
Speed
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Session
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1
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Ed
Carpenter (20)
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24.7069
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215.648
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1
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2
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Sarah
Fisher (5)
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24.8570
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214.346
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2
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3
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Dan
Wheldon (10)
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24.5105
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217.376
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2
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4
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Kosuke
Matsuura (55)
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24.7047
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215.667
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2
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5
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Marco
Andretti (26)
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24.6269
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216.349
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2
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6
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Tomas
Scheckter (2)
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24.6355
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216.273
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2
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7
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Buddy
Rice (15)
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24.8036
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214.808
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1
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8
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Scott
Sharp (8)
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24.6755
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215.923
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2
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9
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Vitor
Meira (4)
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24.6686
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215.983
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2
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10
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Ryan
Hunter-Reay (17)
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24.6962
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215.742
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2
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11
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Tony
Kanaan (11)
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24.4014
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218.348
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2
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12
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Danica
Patrick (7)
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24.5205
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217.288
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1
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12A
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AJ
Foyt IV (22)
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24.5768
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216.790
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