Castroneves takes record pole

Castroneves recorded a lap of 1:12.0688 - 103.401 mph - in the No. 3 Team Penske Honda/Dallara to move from third to first during the Fast Six session.

"I always enjoy the qualifying," Castroneves said. "Since I was a kid, I always was like, 'How fast can I go?'"

Castroneves, who was fastest overall during the first day of practice Friday, started from the pole in four of the five street- and road-course races this season.

"I didn't do this by myself," he said. "Everyone at Team Penske was incredible. I can't thank Roger (Penske), my guys and the entire team enough. It was an amazing effort. We tried very small changes and focused on the details to get that lap."

Championship contenders Dario Franchitti, Scott Dixon and Tony Kanaan also were involved in the 10-minute rally session on the 2.070-mile, 14-turn circuit on Belle Isle.

Franchitti, who trails Dixon by just four points, will start second, while Dixon will start third. Tony Kanaan will start fourth.

Castroneves, who has won just one races this season in spite of the seven pole positions, hopes to change that when Sunday's race begins at 3:45 p.m.

"Now the series is so competitive and teams are so close to each other that though I have seven poles I only have one win," Castroneves said. "I definitely want to stretch that victory margin."

Pos  Driver              Speed    Time
 1.  Helio Castroneves   103.401  1:12.0688
 2.  Dario Franchitti    103.295  1:12.1430 + 0.074
 3.  Scott Dixon         102.669  1:12.5830 + 0.514
 4.  Tony Kanaan         102.299  1:12.8451 + 0.776
 5.  Ryan Hunter-Reay    101.604  1:13.3434 + 1.274
 6.  Marco Andretti      101.548  1:13.3840 + 1.315
 7.  Sam Hornish Jr      101.219  1:13.6224 + 1.553
 8.  Darren Manning      100.456  1:14.1814 + 2.112
 9.  Tomas Scheckter     100.429  1:14.2015 + 2.133
10.  Vitor Meira         100.311  1:14.2889 + 2.220
11.  Danica Patrick      100.153  1:14.4061 + 2.337
12.  Ed Carpenter         99.130  1:15.1738 + 3.105
13.  AJ Foyt IV           98.610  1:15.5708 + 3.502
14.  Kosuke Matsuura      98.572  1:15.5998 + 3.531
15.  Buddy Rice           98.326  1:15.7886 + 3.720
16.  Dan Wheldon          98.235  1:15.8588 + 3.790
17.  Scott Sharp          97.717  1:16.2611 + 4.192
18.  Sarah Fisher         92.150  1:20.8682 + 8.799