Filed under: IRL, Danica Patrick
SONOMA, Calif. (AP) -- Thinking he was a lock to move on in qualifying,
Will Power drove into the pits, ready to park his car for the next session. Instead of greeting him with open arms, Power's crew members were waving them, imploring him to get back out on the track.
Power did, worked his way into the top six and made the most of a last-grasp opportunity, locking up his IndyCar Series-record eighth pole of 2010 in the final round of knockout qualifying at Infineon Raceway on Saturday.
"We thought that that time would sit. In fact, six guys were covered by a tenth and a half or something," Power said. "Halfway around that lap on my dash I was two-tenths down. I figured, I'm done. It's going to be tough to make that up. But I made it up, which was surprising. It was very tight."
Taking a chance by saving his fastest tires for the final six session, Power appeared to be safe late in the second qualifying round before being bumped out of the top six in the closing minutes.
Waved back onto the course by his crew, he jumped up to fifth in his final lap to get into the final round and pulled off another late-in-the-session speed run, making it around the 2.303-mile, 12-turn road course through California's wine country in 1 minute, 16.5282 seconds.
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