Qualifying washed out

Instead, the field will line up according to Friday's practice speeds, putting Helio Castroneves on the pole position for the second consecutive IRL race at the historic road course.

Castroneves had the fastest lap during Friday's practice sessions - 1 minute 30.6783 seconds (133.792 mph) - and, according to IRL rules regarding cancellations, will start from the pole for the Watkins Glen Indy Grand Prix, a 60-lap race around the 11-turn, 3.34-mile circuit.

Tony Kanaan will start next to Castroneves on the front row. Marco Andretti, who had the third-fastest lap Friday, will start inside the second row when the race begins Sunday at 3:45 pm EDT.

The IRL, like most sanctioning bodies, requires a helicopter ambulance at its events. When the helicopter was unable to arrive because of a low cloud ceiling, the day's events were delayed. Eventually, the helicopter landed on the grounds, and IRL cars practiced in the wet. The IRL Indy Pro Series qualified Saturday, with Bobby Wilson winning the pole.

The Sahlen's Six Hours of the Glen, a Grand Am Rolex Sports Car Series race, is scheduled to begin later Saturday afternoon.

Starting line-up:

Pos  Driver             Team               Make
 1.  Helio Castroneves  Penske             Dallara
 2.  Tony Kanaan        Andretti-Green     Dallara
 3.  Marco Andretti     Andretti-Green     Dallara
 4.  Scott Dixon        Ganassi            Panoz
 5.  Dan Wheldon        Ganassi            Panoz
 6.  Sam Hornish Jr     Penske             Dallara
 7.  Dario Franchitti   Andretti-Green     Dallara
 8.  Vitor Meira        Panther            Dallara
 9.  Bryan Herta        Andretti-Green     Dallara
10.  Ryan Briscoe       Dreyer & Reinbold  Dallara
11.  Buddy Rice         Rahal              Panoz
12.  Kosuke Matsuura    Aguri Fernandez    Dallara
13.  Jeff Simmons       Rahal              Panoz
14.  Scott Sharp        Fernandez          Panoz
15.  Tomas Scheckter    Vision             Dallara
16.  Danica Patrick     Rahal              Panoz
17.  Eddie Cheever Jr   Cheever            Dallara
18.  Ed Carpenter       Vision             Dallara
19.  Felipe Giaffone    Foyt               Dallara