Helio Castroneves on pole for IndyCar Race 1 at Detroit - MotorSportsTalk

Team Penske’s Helio Castroneves has captured the first pole of his Verizon IndyCar Series season after throwing down a Firestone Fast Six lap of 1:17.5362 this morning at Detroit’s Belle Isle Park.

The Brazilian, who was denied his fourth Indianapolis 500 crown last weekend by Ryan Hunter-Reay, will be joined on the front row for today’s Race 1 of the Chevrolet Indy Dual in Detroit by Andretti Autosport’s James Hinchcliffe.

70 laps of hard racing is coming up this afternoon on the 13-turn, 2.36-mile Belle Isle street circuit, but that didn’t stop Castroneves from having a joyful celebration upon capturing the pole.

“The car is spectacular,” Castroneves told IndyCar Radio. “Even brushing the wall a little bit Montoya-style, it feels great. The car is on rails, man! It is awesome!

“The car we had in Indy was amazing, and it feels like the momentum has carried right now, like we wanted.”

The pole also brought him a bit closer to open-wheel history, as Curt Cavin of the Indianapolis Star tweeted:

Pole by @h3lio gives him 39, one short of Rick Mears for fourth all-time. #IndyCar #DetroitGP

— Curt Cavin (@curtcavin) May 31, 2014

Meanwhile, Hunter-Reay will have a long climb ahead of him in today’s first race of the Detroit doubleheader.

The American driver has had a whirlwind week of media duties after defeating Castroneves in a Brickyard classic, but today on Belle Isle, he brushed the wall and bent the rear suspension on his No. 28 DHL Honda during the first round of qualifying.

That little mistake will have him lining up 21st on the grid for Race 1.

Several other big names will be starting toward the rear of the field as well, including Simon Pagenaud, one of the winners in last year’s doubleheader here.

Pagenaud was called for qualifying interference on Juan Pablo Montoya during the first round and lost his two fastest laps in that round.

That was enough to keep him from advancing to Round 2, and he and his Schmidt Peterson Motorsports team vociferously argued against the call. SPM general manager Rob Edwards tweeted the following afterwards:

Going back up front, Bryan Herta Autosport rookie Jack Hawksworth will line up on Row 2 alongside the other Detroit winner from one year ago, Mike Conway, who’s back in the car for Ed Carpenter Racing this weekend.

Chip Ganassi Racing’s Ryan Briscoe was also strong enough to get into the Firestone Fast Six, and he was able to post the fifth-fastest time. He’ll start on the inside of Penske’s Juan Pablo Montoya in Row 3.

Here’s the full qualifying results for today’s race, which will take the green flag shortly after 3:30 p.m. ET (check local listings)…

CHEVROLET INDY DUAL IN DETROIT – RACE 1
Belle Isle Park
Qualifying results
—
1. 3-Helio Castroneves, 1:17.5362 seconds, 109.110 mph
2. 27-James Hinchcliffe, 1:17.9788, 108.491
3. 98-Jack Hawksworth, 1:18.0731, 108.360
4. 20-Mike Conway, 1:18.3015, 108.044
5. 8-Ryan Briscoe, 1:18.8098, 107.347
6. 2-Juan Pablo Montoya, 1:19.7296, 106.109
ELIMINATED, ROUND 2
7. 11-Sebastien Bourdais, 1:17.9806, 108.489
8. 10-Tony Kanaan, 1:18.0200, 108.434
9. 15-Graham Rahal, 1:18.0355, 108.412
10. 9-Scott Dixon, 1:18.0630, 108.374
11. 34-Carlos Munoz, 1:18.1450, 108.260
12. 18-Carlos Huertas, 1:18.4772, 107.802
ELIMINATED, ROUND 1
13. 17-Sebastian Saavedra, 1:18.3622, 107.960
14. 67-Josef Newgarden, 1:18.5309, 107.728
15. 14-Takuma Sato, 1:18.3689, 107.951
16. 12-Will Power, 1:18.6807, 107.523
*17. 77-Simon Pagenaud, 1:18.4709, 107.811
18. 25-Marco Andretti, 1:18.8743, 107.259
19. 19-Justin Wilson, 1:18.5181, 107.746
20. 83-Charlie Kimball, 1:19.1176, 106.929
21. 28-Ryan Hunter-Reay, 1:19.8292, 105.976
22. 7-Mikhail Aleshin, 1:19.6300, 106.241
*Penalized two fastest laps for interference

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FORT WORTH, Texas – Defending series champion Will Power’s name is off the board of potential IndyCar free agents, but there’s still much to be settled in the field – starting with the reigning Indy 500 winner.

Marcus Ericsson is waiting on a contract offer to remain with Chip Ganassi Racing beyond the 2023 season (his fourth with the team). The Swede said he’s made it clear to car owner Chip Ganassi that he wants to stay in the No. 8 Dallara-Honda, which has four victories since June 2021.

“Yeah, it’s up to him, basically,” Ericsson said Friday at Texas Motor Speedway. “He needs to give me an offer for ’24 onward. The ball is in his corner. I really enjoy it at Ganassi, and we’ve done a lot of great things together and would love to continue, but the ball is in his corner. He knows very well what I want.”

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Two days before Ericsson won the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg season opener March 5, Ganassi sang the praises of the emerging star driver to a small group of reporters.

“I want him here beyond this year,” Ganassi said of Ericsson. “He seems to have gotten more out of winning the Indy 500 than anyone else has of recent time, which is a good thing. He did a good job. He’s been everywhere. It’s been a really positive thing for Marcus, the team, the series. He’s grown with that as well.”

Ericsson didn’t sew up his current deal until late in his breakthrough 2021 season (after a memorable victory in the inaugural Music City Grand Prix). So he isn’t necessarily anxious about it but conceded he “was thinking a bit about it over the winner in the offseason and talking about it

“But now that the season has started, I told my managers and everyone I want to focus on the driving. They focus on those things. Now the season is on, and I want to try to win races, win another 500 and championship. That’s where my focus is. (A new contract) is one of those things that happens when it happens. But I’m happy where I am, and I want to do well.”

IndyCar’s two best teams, Team Penske and Chip Ganassi Racing, tend to be very tight-lipped about their drivers’ contract status.

Power confirmed Friday to journalist Bruce Martin that his new deal was for multiple seasons. That means all three of Penske’s drivers are in multiple-year contracts (unlike Power’s deal, Scott McLaughlin’s extension was announced by the team last year).

But there is more uncertainty at Ganassi’s four cars aside from Ericsson. While Scott Dixon has a ride for as long as he wants (and the six-time champion has given no indication of retiring), Ganassi’s other two other seats have yet to be solidified beyond 2023.

The No. 11 is being split this year by rookie Marcus Armstrong and veteran Takuma Sato this season. In the No. 10, Alex Palou is believed to be in his final year at Ganassi before heading to Arrow McLaren.

That expected move would cast doubt on the future of Felix Rosenqvist, who returned to Arrow McLaren when the team was unable to bring in Palou (who was embroiled in a contract dispute with Ganassi).

Aside from Penske, virtually every other IndyCar team (including Andretti Autosport, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing and Meyer Shank Racing, which has Helio Castroneves in a contract year) has seats that potentially could open for next season, and even drivers who appear to be under contract for next year still could be on the move (via buyouts and option years).

Though Juncos Hollinger Racing announced a “long-term, multiyear contract partnership” last July with Callum Ilott, but the second-year driver was cagey Friday when asked about how long the extension ran.

“It’s for whatever I want it to be,” said Ilott, who finished a career-best fifth at St. Petersburg. “I’ll say that.”

Before returning to JHR, Ilott turned enough heads as a rookie to draw interest from several teams, and he indicated Friday that he still would be listening.

“I’d love to talk to some other big teams,” Ilott said. “Nothing stops me from talking. Look, you’ve got to be fair. I agreed to (the deal), but it’s pretty obvious that I’m quite interested as people are interested in me as a driver, but I need to focus on the job I’ve got here.

“I’m confident whether it’s in one year, two years, three years, four years, that if I’m wanted now, I’ll always be wanted. I’m a good enough driver that I don’t need to lack confidence in that side. … I’m not worried.”