Sunday Welcome to the Verizon IndyCar Series Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg

ST PETERSBURG, FL – RIS – Welcome to sunny Florida. Clear blue skies and mild temperatures in the 70s have treated race fans to two days of exciting racing. RIS is here again to bring you event coverage of the Verizon IndyCar Series Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg - stay tuned.

A.J. Foyt Jr has to be proud of his driver Takuma Sato’s fifth place qualifying effort. But he is not on hand to shake his driver’s hand. Foyt is recovering from a medical condition but is on the mend. We look forward to seeing the Indy car legend at this year’s Indianapolis 500. Sato was one of two Honda drivers in the top 10 qualifiers.

What is up with those Ganassi Aero kitted front wings?

Were they sandbagging the rest of the competition? Or are they struggling to find the right setup? None of his four Chevrolet drivers drove into the Firestone Fast Six qualifying round at a race where the winner usually comes from the front three rows. His rookie driver Sage Karam, from Nazareth, Pennsylvania, injured his hand during a practice session a few weeks ago. He will start from the 18th position. IndyCar champion and Indy 500 race winner Scott Dixon qualified ninth. Charlie Kimball qualified 13th.  Tony Kanaan almost made it into the top six after he was slowed in round 2 by some other drivers that were accused of blocking the Indy 500 champion.

Andretti Autosport

Andretti’s four Honda drivers were knocking on the door but could not get in. 2014 Indianapolis 500 winner Ryan Hunter-Reay qualified eighth. Simona de Silvestro and Marco Andretti were 11th and 12th. While Carlos Munoz was 14th.

VERIZON P1 AWARD QUALIFYING NOTES:

• This is the 37th pole of Will Power’s career, the sixth most in Indy car history. Rick Mears sits fifth on the all-time list with 40 career poles.
• It also marks the fifth time Power has won the pole position at St. Petersburg. No other driver has more than one pole position for this event.
• Power broke the track record, with his lap of 1 minute, 0.6509 of a second (106.841 mph) set in segment two.
• Team Penske swept the top four qualifying positions.
• Simon Pagenaud qualified second, his best since winning pole for the first race of the 2014 Houston doubleheader.
• Helio Castroneves qualified third today, his best qualifying effort at St. Petersburg since he won the pole in 2007.
• Sebastien Bourdais qualified sixth, his best qualifying effort at St. Petersburg since he won the pole in 2003

• SUNDAY’S SCHEDULE (all times local):

• 7 a.m. – Garage opens

• 8:55 a.m. – USF2000 race No. 2

• 9:50 a.m. – Pro Mazda race No. 2

• Noon-12:30 p.m. – Verizon IndyCar Series warm-up

• 12:45 p.m. – Indy Lights race No. 2

• 2:50 p.m. – Verizon IndyCar Series cars to grid

• 2:50 p.m. – Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg pre-race ceremonies start

• 3:30 p.m. – Start command given

• 3:37 p.m. – Green flag for Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg (110 laps)