Franchitti wins another IndyCar pole

TORONTO — Dario Franchitti couldn’t remember the first time he won a pole on the street course in Toronto. He hasn’t forgotten how to get around the tricky 11-turn circuit.

Franchitti captured his third pole in five IndyCar Series races on Saturday for Target Chip Ganassi Racing, beating part-time Penske driver Will Power for the top spot for Sunday’s Honda Indy.

“That was an awful long time ago,” Franchitti said of the only pole he won as a Champ Car rookie in 1997. “I was trying to remember what I did right so I could do it in practice. It took me until the first qualifying run this afternoon. Up until then, I hadn’t been driving the track properly. I wasn’t getting a rhythm. I finally got in that rhythm and the difference was massive.”

Intermittent thunderstorms were predicted, and one struck just as morning practice was set to begin. Seven drivers made one lap before the session was halted, and when it resumed 73 minutes later the track was still wet and slippery, and Franchitti was one of several drivers to spin out.

The sun broke through and the track was dry in time for the three rounds of qualifying, and Franchitti’s crew made the right changes to his Target Chip Ganassi Racing Honda when it mattered most.

“When it rained, we didn’t do too much running,” Franchitti said. “With the changes we made, the car was good out of the box. The lap I did in the (Firestone) Fast Six, I came in afterwards and said, ‘That’s it. That was a hell of a lap. If they can beat it, let them have after it because that’s all she’s got.’ “

Power was followed by Graham Rahal, Watkins Glen winner Justin Wilson, Canada’s Alex Tagliani, and Mike Conway, who will start sixth for the second straight race, the best qualifying performances of his rookie season.

Franchitti’s teammate, series points leader Scott Dixon, will go off eighth, while Penske’s Ryan Briscoe, tied for second in the standings with Franchitti, will start 11th. In her first career appearance at Toronto, Danica Patrick, fifth in points, will start 18th, her second-worst showing of the season.

Helio Castroneves, one of the IRL’s best street car drivers, nearly lost control of his No. 3 Team Penske Honda trying to make the final six on his last qualifying lap. He failed and shook his head in dismay after climbing out and having words with his crew.

After a strong practice, qualifying also was a letdown for hometown favorite Paul Tracy, who’s seeking a regular ride for next year. He will go off 15th.

“I am super disappointed,” said Tracy, a two-time winner at the track before the open-wheel merger in February 2008. “We just missed advancing by a hundredth of a second. The times are so tight from fifth to eighth. It’s going to be tough, but it’s a street circuit and anything can happen.”

This is the first time the IndyCar Series has staged an event in Toronto, but the 1.75-mile course also is very familiar to Tagliani. He had seven top-10 finishes in eight starts here while competing in Champ Car and was elated at his performance for underfunded Conquest Racing.

“It’s very tough to watch,” said Tagliani, like Power and Tracy a part-time driver this year. “Realistically, with our team we need to look financially at what makes sense. The races that you select are important. Coming here and showing what we did today is a great tribute to the quality of people we have.”

Andretti Green Racing’s Tony Kanaan suffered the most from the rain. He severely damaged the rear end of his No. 11 when he slid around and slammed hard into the retaining wall on the final turn of the course.

Moments later there were several more spins. The cars of Marco Andretti and Ed Carpenter sustained minor damage, while Ryan Hunter-Reay, Hideki Mutoh and Tracy avoided contact with the wall.

Kanaan also slid off course in the first round of qualifying and nearly was t-boned by Mutoh. There was no contact, but neither made it to the second round.

Starting up front here is no guarantee. Franchitti didn’t finish that 1997 race and when Michael Andretti won here in 2001, he was last after getting spun on the first lap and used pit strategy to finish on top.

“You’ve got some good people starting further down,” Wilson said. “They’ll try and force the issue, and there are places to overtake here. If your car is working better than the guys in front, you can get by. It might make it a very interesting race.”