Castroneves awarded pole

This time, Castroneves took the honours for Saturday's SunTrust Indy Challenge at Richmond International Raceway based on practice speeds, after qualifying for the IRL IndyCar Series event was rained out on Friday evening.

"I'm not upset that we didn't qualify, but at the same time it is frustrating for others because it's the third time this season that we've done that," Castroneves said.

"I'm happy. Any time you have a chance to win the pole position without qualifying, it's a blessing in disguise."

Castroneves was clocked at 15.5645 seconds - 173.472 mph - during the second Friday practice session in the No. 6 Marlboro Team Penske Honda/Dallara.

The rainout of the qualifying session put him on pole, the third time this season that Castroneves took the pole on the basis of practice speed. He also did it at Twin Ring Motegi and Watkins Glen International.

"We're looking good," said Castroneves, who leads the IRL standings and won at Richmond last year. "I like this place. It's very challenging.

"It's the road course of the ovals. It's so hard and so physically demanding and so challenging. Small details do make a big difference."

Castroneves was on the track preparing for his qualifying run when large but intermittent raindrops began to fall.

At first, Castroneves said, he wanted to qualify. Once he caught a few of the larger drops on his visor, though, he told race control that the rain was getting worse.

"You called this?" Scott Sharp jokingly asked Castroneves during a press conference. "You should have wiped your visor and kept going. You must be getting older."

Sharp, who was clocked at 172.712 mph in the No. 8 Delphi Fernandez Racing Honda/Dallara in practice, will start alongside Castroneves on the front row when the 250-lap race begins shortly after 8:00pm local time.

"I feel really good about our car," Sharp said. "It's been solid the past two days. We're able to run the tires very late into our stints and still get good times.

"This is always a race where things become very exact. Many people will be a factor in this race. Nobody is going to run off and hide."

Castroneves' teammate, Sam Hornish Jr., will start inside the second row after posting a lap of 172.561 mph in his backup car. Hornish had the fastest lap during Thursday's test session before crashing.

Dan Wheldon, who had the fastest lap when the rain fell, will start fourth, followed by Marco Andretti, Vitor Meira, Tony Kanaan and Kosuke Matsuura.

Sharp said the weekend off after a three-week run (Indianapolis, Watkins Glen and Texas) was a welcome break for his team, which used the time to prepare a new setup for Richmond.

"It's been a rugged schedule for everyone," Sharp said. "The last six weeks were pretty crazy. Instead of catching their breath, our guys have spent the last two weeks working on a new setup. We didn't really start going fast until the end of the second session."

Castroneves said he intended to make his qualifying run in light sprinkles, but changes his mind after two fat drops hit his visor.

"I saw the first drop on my visor," Castroneves said. "I was like, 'It's raining.' They said, 'It's your call.' I said, 'I'm going to keep going. I want to get this over with.'

"All of a sudden I saw two big drops. Not sprinkles. Like, big drops. I thought, 'You know what? This is not the place to take a chance.'"

Pos  Driver             Speed
 1.  Helio Castroneves  173.472
 2.  Scott Sharp        172.712
 3.  Sam Hornish Jr.    172.561
 4.  Dan Wheldon        172.492
 5.  Marco Andretti     172.068
 6.  Vitor Meira        171.972
 7.  Tony Kanaan        171.950
 8.  Kosuke Matsuura    171.802
 9.  Bryan Herta        171.413
10.  Dario Franchitti   171.271
11.  Scott Dixon        171.055
12.  Tomas Scheckter    170.586
13.  Ed Carpenter       170.551
14.  Buddy Rice         170.056
15.  Danica Patrick     169.880
16.  Jeff Simmons       168.303
17.  Eddie Cheever Jr.  168.145
18.  Felipe Giaffone    163.369
19.  Buddy Lazier       163.349