Helio Castroneves Takes his Fourth Indy 500 Pole

The 2010 Indianapolis 500 won’t start until May 30, but as is so often the case with motorsports events, the action isn’t relegated to one weekend -- or, for that matter, one day. Pole Day -- the official qualifying day for the 500 -- was this past Saturday, and determined the starting order for the 500.

After besting his 2009 qualifying speed by over 3 mph, Helio Castroneves will sit in the pole position once again -- and be the first back-top-back Indy 500 pole-sitter since Scott Brayton’s performances in 1995 and 1996. Castroneves earned the position -- his fourth pole qualification at Indy -- by lapping the 2.5-mile track at 227.970 mph (in 2009, his grid-topping speed was 224.864 mph).

Before snagging the lead starting position, Castroneves held second behind Alex Tagliani. With just an hour and a half left in qualifying, Team Penske withdrew Castroneves’ time for a chance to snag the top position. It paid off -- although he had to sit through a tense 90 minutes as he watched other drivers approach his speed.

“Sitting in that car for an hour and a half was not easy at all, especially with everyone getting closer and closer,” said Castroneves. “I was like, ‘Are we going or not?’ because I can’t handle that much pressure.”

At the end of the day, only Castroneves and teammate Will Power (227.578 mph) posted speeds above 227 mph. Ryan Briscoe, Team Penske’s third driver, will start in fourth place, just behind Dario Franchitti. Tagliani -- who once looked to be the front-runner for pole position -- will start the race from fifth place. Scott Dixon, Graham Rahal, Ed Carpenter, and Hideki Mutoh round out the first three rows respectively.

There are some notable absentees from the top nine positions. Ryan Hunter Reay, who currently sits fourth in points in the 2010 IndyCar series, will start the race from the 17th position, while 2008 Indy 500 winner Dan Wheldon will start in 18th place. Danica Patrick will start the race in 23rd place, attributing her dismal qualification to “one of the worst” cars she’s ever driven. Regardless, she did better than 2004 IndyCar champion Tony Kanaan, who crashed twice in 24 hours exiting Turn One. It’s rather miraculous that the Andretti Motorsports team was able to restore his car for yesterday’s Bump Day, which allowed him to earn a 32nd-place starting position, just shy of last place.

Will Castroneves become the fourth driver to win the Indy 500 four times, and earn back-to-back wins from a pole starting position? We’ll know this Sunday after the checkered flag drops at Indy. Look for the race to start at 1:15 p.m. (EST) on Sunday.