AVONDALE, Ariz. - Helio Castroneves has taken the pole position (Verizon P1 Award) for Saturday’s Desert Diamond West Valley Phoenix Grand Prix (8:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN) in the No. 3 Rev Group Inc. Team Penske Chevrolet, Round 2 of the Verizon IndyCar Series season.
Castroneves has a new track record at the 1.022-mile Phoenix International Raceway with an average speed of 192.324 mph.
“That was a moment! It was interesting, it was in Turn 4, with something we never had,” Castroneves said of his lap. “The first lap was really big. I was very surprised it happened. The car was super strong. We had to keep pushing.
“But 19 seconds a lap, man. It’s pretty impressive. I have to say, for the fans that are gonna be here, will see the fastest cars in the world going around this place.”
Tony Kanaan was second in the No. 10 GE LED Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet with Juan Pablo Montoya, Charlie Kimball and Ed Carpenter completing the top five.
Not only was it a Chevrolet dominated top five but it was also a Chevrolet dominated top 10. The top Honda runner was Marco Andretti in 11th.
Carlos Munoz crashed on his qualifying attempt, and neither Takuma Sato nor James Hinchcliffe did either after their accidents in first practice.
Times and speeds are below:
