Will Power Wins IndyCar Pole at Watkins Glen

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (AP) -- Will Power has won the pole at Watkins Glen International as Team Penske captured the top three spots for Sunday's IndyCar Series race.

It was the eighth straight pole for Penske, extending its series record, and the fifth pole of the season for Power, the series points leader. Power covered the 11-turn, 3.4-mile course in 1 minute, 29.3164 seconds and was followed by teammates Helio Castroneves and Ryan Briscoe.

Defending series champion Dario Franchitti was fourth, followed by Takuma Sato, who earned his top qualifying spot of the season, and defending race winner Justin Wilson.

Danica Patrick, fresh from a one-week stint in NASCAR, struggled and will start 21st in the 25-car field.

"I got the car the way I like it for qualifying," Power said after capturing his fifth pole of the season. "It's just three quick drivers, three good engineers, and a good group of people working together. We just have to make sure we convert it during the race."

We're really pumped," said Castroneves, who barely missed his fourth pole at The Glen. "It's just a matter of now, make it happen. We have three chances to win this race. Hopefully, one of us will be able to make it."

Adam Carroll, an up-and-coming driver from Northern Ireland, will start 10th in his series debut. Canada's Paul Tracy, whose qualifying gaffe cost him a starting spot in the Indy 500, will go off 12th in his first start of the season.

Qualifying on road and street courses is a three-step process. Initially, the drivers are split into two groups for 15-minute segments, with the top six in each group advancing to the next segment. The six fastest in that grouping of 12 then advance to a 10-minute shootout to decide the first three rows.

Castroneves topped the first group followed closely by Marco Andretti, Briscoe, Wilson, Carroll, and Mario Moraes. That relegated Andretti Autosport teammates Tony Kanaan and Patrick to starting spots deep in the field. Kanaan will go off 13th.

Franchitti won the second session, which started slowly. Ryan Hunter-Reay, who won at Watkins Glen two years ago, spun off course braking into turn eight during the first minutes of the session. That brought out a full-course caution, cost Hunter-Reay his two fastest laps, and he was unable to rebound and advance.

Dixon also missed making the final six, barely, finishing 0.09 seconds behind Sato for the final slot.

"It was a tough session," said Dixon, who won the first three IndyCar Series races at Watkins Glen. "The car, speed-wise, should have been in the top six. I didn't get it all together."

If anybody was going to knock Power out of the top spot, it was Castroneves. But he slid wildly off course into the gravel pit alongside turn eight as the checkered flag was waving, ending his last chance.

"I wanted that pole position," Castroneves said. "It was a shame. It would have been very close. When they (his crew) told me two-tenths (behind), I said, 'I gotta do something really crazy here.' Unfortunately, it was a little too much."