Blazing start for Castroneves and Briscoe

THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

SONOMA — Four days ago, the primary cars of Helio Castroneves and Ryan Briscoe were badly burned when their Team Penske transporter caught on fire in Wyoming.

If taken as a sign of things to come, the blaze didn’t foreshadow success entering today’s Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma County at Infineon Raceway.

But when the dust had settled following Saturday’s qualifying, it was clear the vaunted team hadn’t viewed the incident as an omen. More like a challenge.

Castroneves and Briscoe, the IndyCar Series drivers facing the most adversity in recent days, were the ones who had the most success in qualifying.

Castroneves won the pole. And Briscoe finished second in the 27-car field.

Their primary rides may be charred. But the teammates look golden entering today’s 80-lap, 184-mile race.

The one-two finish marked the third consecutive time the Team Penske drivers had taken the top qualifying spots on a street or road course this season. And if a raging inferno can’t stop the streak, Tony Kanaan, who qualified fourth, joked that more extreme measures will be taken before Castroneves and Briscoe start their engines today.

“We tried to burn their cars, their trailers and nothing worked,” Kanaan said. “So I guess I’m going to have to call some Brazilian friends tonight to see what we can do.”

After Saturday’s performance, it was clear what the Team Penske crew had done since Wednesday. An around-the-clock effort was required to get replacement equipment and back-up cars from Charlotte, N.C., to Sonoma. In addition, the cars Castroneves and Briscoe are driving this weekend had to be adjusted to prepare them for Infineon’s 12-turn, 2.245-mile course.

In one bit of good fortune, those cars have been at Infineon since last week when they were used for testing.

“Those guys did an incredible job,” Castroneves said. “If you close your eyes, you don’t know what car it is. It’s actually perfect.”

Said Briscoe, “It really came down to a lot of work by the crew guys to get the car prepared.”

The extra labor might help keep Castroneves’ dwindling championship hopes alive for another week.

Castroneves, who won his IndyCar Series record 26th pole, trails leader Scott Dixon by 78 points with three races remaining, a margin that appears particularly daunting when considering Castroneves’ 30-race winless streak.

With a win today, Dixon can clinch the title if Castroneves finishes outside the top eight. Dixon qualified fifth, just the fourth time in 15 races that he’s qualified outside the top four this season.

In IndyCar’s three-stage qualifying process, Dixon reached the final stage, the Fast Six, despite a less-than-ideal set-up with his car. And he said some final tinkering didn’t help.

“The last six we tried to lower the car a lot and see if we could pick up some time magically,” Dixon said. “And we magically went a lot slower.”

The only magic Saturday seemed to belong to Team Penske.

Of course, something approximating a miracle might be necessary for Castroneves to overtake Dixon.

But given the chain of events since Wednesday, the challenge might seem slightly more possible.

You can reach Staff Writer Eric Branch at 521-5268 or eric.branch@pressdemocrat.com