Carlos Munoz was devastated when he didn't win the historic 100th Indianapolis 500 two weeks ago. The Colombian was able to gain a little solace today by taking the Verizon P1 Award and will start from the pole position in Saturday's Firestone 600.
Driving the No. 26 Andretti Autosport Honda, Munoz earned the first pole of his four-year Verizon IndyCar Series career with a two-lap qualifying average of 217.137 mph on the 1.455-mile oval at Texas Motor Speedway. The 24-year-old's best qualifying effort in 45 previous starts was in his very first race, second at the 2013 Indianapolis 500.
"To be honest, I didn't expect that speed," Munoz said. "I thought we would do something around 216 mph, but I was happy with the speed we were doing. It's my first pole - I was looking at the (Verizon P1 Award) hat and it looks really nice. I'm really happy for all of my team after Indy."
Starting second in the race will be Scott Dixon, the 2015 Firestone 600 winner and reigning Verizon IndyCar Series champion. Dixon's two-lap average in the No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet was 216.901 mph.
"The car was surprisingly good to drive," said Dixon, second in the point standings to Team Penske's Simon Pagenaud after eight of 16 races. "In these situations, you trim out a lot. You're on the edge and if you miss by a little bit, it can be a bit of a handful, but the balance is really good.
"It's nice to start at the front," Dixon added. "I don't think it's a really big deal where you qualify as long as you're up towards the front. But it's always great to be near the pointy end of the field."
All drivers posted a qualifying attempt except Gabby Chaves, who crashed the No. 19 Boy Scouts of America Honda in morning practice and will start Saturday's 248-lap race at the rear of the grid.
Munoz was the fifth qualifier and had to wait nervously as Dixon, Will Power, Helio Castroneves, Marco Andretti and other standouts took their shots. Castroneves wound up third in the No. 3 AAA Insurance Team Penske Chevrolet at 216.740 mph.
"I like where we are starting and we hope to bring home a good result," said Castroneves, whose four Indy car wins at Texas are more than anyone.
Takuma Sato, in the No. 14 ABC Supply AJ Foyt Racing Honda, actually posted a qualifying speed equal to Castroneves, but will start fourth because his two-lap time was 0.0001 of a second slower. It is Sato's best Texas qualifying effort in eight tries and the best for the Foyt team since Billy Boat started second and won the 1998 June race.
"Working with A.J., he gave a few little tips which worked extremely well on the 14 car," Sato said, "so we're very happy, especially since this is our home track."
Championship leader Simon Pagenaud qualified sixth and Indianapolis 500 winner Alexander Rossi was ninth.
Another Verizon IndyCar Series practice is scheduled for 7:45-8:15 p.m. ET today (streamed live on RaceControl.IndyCar.com ), the final on-track session before Saturday's race. Coverage of the Firestone 600, the ninth of 16 races on the 2016 Verizon IndyCar Series schedule, begins at 8 p.m. ET Saturday on NBCSN and the Advance Auto Parts INDYCAR Radio Network.
Dixon looks to repeat 2015 charge to championship
In one way, Scott Dixon is in better stead than a year ago.
After eight races of the 2015 Verizon IndyCar Series season, Dixon sat third in the championship standings - but the No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet driver recovered to win his fourth title on a tiebreaker. This year he's second in points, but the margin to make up is greater.
Heading into Saturday night's Firestone 600, Dixon trails Team Penske's Simon Pagenaud by 80 points. A year ago at this time, the deficit was 63 points to Juan Pablo Montoya. Dixon went on to win at Texas, the beginning of his surge to the top.
He's looking to kick-start a run toward a fifth championship in similar fashion this weekend.
"Second in points sounds good, but not when Pagenaud has an 80-point lead," said Dixon, who will start the race on the outside of Row 1. "With so much of the season to go, that can flip pretty quickly. If he has one bad race, myself or four or five that are really close around that second place can jump up pretty quickly.
"I think we've all got to keep our heads down and definitely make a race of the championship. By all means, it's halfway, so there's a lot of points left on the table. Hopefully we can swing it here quickly."
Saturday's race will mark another milestone in a career for Dixon that's seen him win 39 races - tied for fourth all time - and set a record earlier at Phoenix in April by winning a race for the 12th straight season. When Dixon takes the green flag Saturday, it will be his 200th consecutive start - the third-longest streak in Indy car history. Only teammate Tony Kanaan, who looks to make his record 257th straight start Saturday, and Jimmy Vasser, who ran in 211 straight races from 1993-2006, have longer streaks.
"Obviously I just love racing, it's a lot of fun," Dixon said. "Obviously with a team like this, we've had a lot of success. For us, we just hope it continues. Yeah, it's been a run and hopefully we can do another 200 consecutive."
Rossi has added Edge for Firestone 600
The No. 98 Andretti Herta Autosport with Curb-Agajanian car of Indianapolis 500 winner Alexander Rossi will sport a familiar yet different look this weekend as Castrol Edge will take on the role of primary sponsor for the Firestone 600.
"It's great to have Castrol Edge on as primary (sponsor) for this weekend," Rossi said. "They've been a sponsor of Bryan and Bryan Herta Autosport for quite some time, so it's great they are able to be a full sponsor this weekend. Hopefully we can have a great race for them and work on something more for the future."
As part of the relationship, Castrol Edge will have an enhanced presence on the black-and-white livery to commemorate Rossi's May 29 victory in the 100th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil, with added green accents to the car.
"Castrol Edge has been a long-time partner of Bryan Herta Autosport and was welcomed into the Andretti stable with our team in February," said team co-owner Herta. "Since 2013 we have seen our relationship grow and were thrilled when we first used the Supercar oil in our Honda engine at Pocono last year.
"It goes without saying Castrol Edge played a pivotal role in the success we had at the 100th Running of the Indy 500. It only makes sense for Castrol to have chosen the next speedway after IMS to celebrate the victory of Alexander, Castrol Edge and the team."
Chevrolet Dual in Detroit sees record TV ratings and strong attendance
The Chevrolet Dual in Detroit presented by Quicken Loans at the Raceway at Belle Isle Park drew a weekend crowd estimated at 95,000 and set a Verizon IndyCar Series record for television viewership of a doubleheader weekend.
Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix organizers said more than 25,000 fans attended June 3 on Comerica Bank Free Prix Day, approximately 40,000 fans were on hand for the first Dual on June 4 and more than 30,000 fans attended the June 5 race. It marked the fourth time in the last five years that attendance topped the 95,000 fan mark.
According to the final Nielsen ratings, both of the ABC national race broadcasts saw increased ratings and viewership over 2015. Race 1 drew a 0.7 rating (an increase of 17 percent from 2015) and 1.013 million viewers. Race 2's rating was 0.9 (a 13 percent increase) with 1.397 million viewers. The viewership numbers for both days increased by more than 20 percent.
The two-day viewership of 2.41 million people is the most ever for a series doubleheader weekend.
"These are truly great numbers for our event," said Bud Denker, chairman of the grand prix, "but probably the most impressive thing we saw were the smiles on the fans' faces all weekend long on Belle Isle. Everyone was having a great time enjoying the island and those are the best results we could hope for."
