IndyCar: Castroneves, Chevy Lead Phoenix Qualifying

The Verizon IndyCar Series is returning to Phoenix International Raceway for the first time since 2005. After a qualification session dominated by Chevrolet, the series’ return will be led to the green flag by Team Penske’s Helio Castroneves. He broke Arie Luyendyk’s 1996 track record with an average speed of 192.324 mph. Castroneves nearly lost it on the exit of Turn Four and called the moment a “Code Brown”. The entire day was filled with drama and stories.

There is new information in the battle between engine manufacturers Chevy and Honda. It appears Honda teams are once again behind the eight ball for on-track competition and it also seems the teams using Honda power are struggling to find the right balance. Chevrolet led the way by taking the top ten positions on the grid, which could prove important if passing is as difficult as some drivers have predicted.

Several Honda teams were playing with aerodynamic parts to try to find speed.  Most notably, they made use of last year’s rear wing assembly and paired it with this year’s front end assembly. The idea was to take downforce off the car to put more control in the drivers’ hands and find speed that way. Unfortunately, the combination may have proved to be too unbalanced.

Honda drivers Takuma Sato, James Hinchcliffe, and Carlos Munoz all ended up backing into the wall heading into Turn One. Munoz’s crash forced his Andretti teammates to make major changes on the rear wing and settle for mid-pack “get-in-the-show” qualifying positions.

For Chevrolet, the first practice session and the qualifying session were both about commitment. If the driver in the cockpit could make the car stick heading to Turn One, then they likely found speeds around the 190 mph mark. Surprisingly, it was not the eventual pole-winning Penske team that paced the grid during practice. Ed Carpenter and Josef Newgarden, of Ed Carpenter Racing, led the way with a 1-2 finish at the end of practice. At the end of qualifying, Penske and Ganassi drivers led the way, but ECR also found its way into the top ten. It should lead to a compelling underdog fight among Chevrolet drivers.

The full qualifying results are posted below, but here is what you need to know for Saturday’s night race in the desert: passing will be difficult and the Bow Tie will likely lead the way. While Honda teams searched for balance and speed during practice, it quickly became clear that there won’t be multiple lanes around the course. Look for passing attempts at the end of the frontstretch and at the exit of the dogleg out of Turn Two.

One other note, this race will likely be won on pit road. Phoenix is just over a mile long and any pit crew mistake that leads to a long stop could lead to a major loss of track position. Some teams may even take a gamble and go off sequence in the pits to try to gain track position on a yellow. It will be a track position race, but it will still take perfection to end up in Victory Lane.

VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES PHOENIX QUALIFYING RESULTS:

1. Helio Castroneves, Chevrolet, Team Penske
2. Tony Kanaan, Chevrolet, Chip Ganassi Racing
3. Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet, Team Penske
4. Charlie Kimball, Chevrolet, Chip Ganassi Racing
5. Ed Carpenter, Chevrolet, Ed Carpenter Racing
6. Scott Dixon, Chevrolet, Chip Ganassi Racing
7. Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, Ed Carpenter Racing
8. Max Chilton, Chevrolet, Chip Ganassi Racing
9. Will Power, Chevrolet, Team Penske
10. Simon Pagenaud, Chevrolet, Team Penske
11. Marco Andretti, Honda, Andretti Autosport
12. Ryan Hunter-Reay, Honda, Andretti Autosport
13. Mikhail Aleshin, Honda, Schmidt-Peterson Motorsports
14. Alexander Rossi, Honda, Herta-Andretti Autosport
15. Sebastien Bourdais, Chevrolet, KV Racing Technology
16. Luca Filippi, Honda, Dale Coyne Racing
17. Jack Hawksworth, Honda, AJ Foyt Racing
18. Conor Daly, Honda, Dale Coyne Racing
19. Graham Rahal, Honda, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
20. Carlos Munoz, Honda, Andretti Autosport (No time, crash on qualification attempt)

*James Hinchcliffe (Schmidt-Peterson Motorsports) and Takuma Sato (AJ Foyt Racing) did not make qualifying attempts due to crashes during the practice session.

Next: Top 5 Phoenix IndyCar Races

The Desert Diamond West Valley Phoenix Grand Prix is scheduled to start at 8:30pm ET on Saturday, April 2. The race will air on the NBC Sports Network.