Honda Racing qualifying report

St. Pete

Power Claims St. Petersburg Pole

Will Power continues to lead the 25-car IZOD IndyCar Series field at the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, qualifying on the pole Saturday for Sunday’s opening round in the 2011 championship. Power edged two-time defending series champion Dario Franchitti by three-tenths of a second to claim his 16th career major open-wheel racing pole.

Recovering from a crash in the morning practice session; Franchitti will start on the outside of the front row, in second, with his Target Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Scott Dixon third. Mike Conway celebrated his arrival at Andretti Autosport by qualifying fourth, with Team Penske’s Ryan Briscoe and Justin Wilson of Dreyer & Reinbold Racing rounding out the “Firestone Fast Six” final-round qualifiers.

Competition throughout the field remained incredibly tight, with fewer than two seconds separating the 25-car field in qualifying. The green flag for Sunday’s 100-lap race flies at 12:30 p.m. EDT, with live television coverage on ABC.

Will Power (#12 Team Penske Honda) pole qualifier, 1st pole of 2011 and 16th career pole: “We’re starting off the year right, and in a great position for the race. Hopefully, we’ll have the right strategy and put together the win. After coming so close last year, we want to win the championship this year and this is the first step in that long road towards our goal.”