Birmingham: Firestone Racing qualifying report

FIRESTONE FAST SIX QUALIFYING REPORT
IZOD IndyCar Series - Indy Grand Prix of Alabama
Barber Motorsports Park - Leeds, Ala.
Saturday, April 10, 2010 - Round 3 of 17

"Firestone Fast Six" Qualifying Results (mph): 1. Will Power (118.057); 2. Mike Conway (117.197); 3. Helio Castroneves (117.186); 4. Marco Andretti (116.505); 5. Scott Dixon (116.038); 6. Takuma Sato (115.904).

Firestone qualifying highlight: Firestone Racing brought a mid-range compound/construction primary tire spec and paired it with it a high-grip ("softer") alternate road-course spec this weekend. Will Power won the pole on a new set of alternates (red sidewalls). This is Power's second consecutive pole, and he has made the Firestone Fast Six in every race so far this season. A chart detailing each driver's tire selection throughout qualifying is below, as well as the list of Firestone tire specs on which each driver will start the race.

Qualifying temperatures: Track temperatures ranged from 69o.-99o. F (20o.-37o. C) and ambient temperatures from 61o.-74o. F (16o.-23o. C).

From pole winner Will Power, #12 Verizon Team Penske Dallara/Honda/Firestone: "I'm really happy for Verizon Team Penske. It was a good run. The red Firestone Firehawk tires had a lot of grip, but I did the same time on the blacks, so for our car, the balance was the same. The tires were fantastic, and I look forward to using them in the race tomorrow."

From Al Speyer, Executive Director, Firestone Racing: "Once again, Will Power used the Firestone Firehawk alternate tires to claim the pole position. Congratulations to him and to Verizon Team Penske for an excellent start to the season. Will looks tough to beat, but I expect teams will be trying different strategies in the race in order to get by him. Tire strategy will be especially important during tomorrow's race, as tires are proving to be a key to this track. New primary tires are worth a second a lap, and the new alternate tires should be half a second or more quicker than that. We can't wait to see how it all plays out."

-source: firestone racing