Brazilian driver Helio Castroneves will start the Alabama Grand Prix race on the pole in pursuit of his second straight win to open the IndyCar Series. He completed the 2.4-mile (3.8-kilometer) road course at Barber Motorsports Park in 1 minute, 10.4768 seconds in qualifying on Saturday for his 37th career pole. Countryman Tony Kanaan felt snubbed after the IndyCar drivers barely got on-track cameos during warmups. Australian driver Will Power was steamed because IndyCar red-flagged his fast qualifying time, leaving the defending champion back in the pack to start the race. The build-up to Chevrolet vs. Honda Round 2 boasted plenty of drama, especially for a race that had only one leader – Power – from start to finish last year. Fellow Chevrolet driver James Hinchcliffe (1:10.5222) qualified a career-best second and also starts on the front row, followed by Honda's Scott Dixon (1:10.5291) and Mike Conway (1:10.8791) The biggest qualifying upset was that Power didn't make it to the Fast Six for the first time in 21 races. That was because of bad timing, not slow times. His final second-session lap would have led the way but it didn't count because a local yellow flag had come down after Ryan Hunter-Reay's wreck and a red flag followed. In the manufacturers' competition, Honda managed to close the gap with two cars among the top four after Chevrolet monopolized the top 5 in St. Petersburg qualifying. Team Penske had a mixed day, with Castroneves winning the pole and Power and Ryan Briscoe (12th) landing disappointing starting spots. Briscoe had mechanical problems that kept him from running in the second round of qualifying. Three-time defending points champion Dario Franchitti's rough start continued in qualifying. He didn't make it past the first round of qualifying. His fast lap of 1:10.6749 has him starting 18th after a 13th-place finish at St. Petersburg. Ex-Formula One star Rubens Barrichello qualified 14th in his second IndyCar race.
