Mid-Ohio: Firestone qualifying report

Firestone qualifying highlight: This is Helio Castroneves' second consecutive pole position (he also took the pole last week at Nashville Superspeedway), and his second in two IndyCar Series tries at Mid-Ohio. Going back two weeks to teammate Ryan Briscoe's pole position at Watkins Glen, this is Team Penske's third consecutive pole.

Qualifying temperatures: Ranged from 112o.-115o. F (44o.-46o. C) track and from 85o.-87o. F (29o.-31o. C) ambient.

From pole winner Helio Castroneves, #3 Team Penske Dallara/Honda/Firestone: "Whew! We were trying to find the limit [of the Firestone Firehawk tires] today, and the good news is, when we found it, we were actually able to stretch a lot of life out of the tires. For me, that was the key to winning the pole position."

From Joe Barbieri, Manager, Firestone Racing: "These Firestone Fast six shootouts are so much fun to watch! We are dealing with very hot and humid conditions at Mid-Ohio this weekend, as well as a lot of 'foreign' rubber on the track with all of the various series that are running in conjunction with the IndyCar Series and Firestone Indy Lights. So it has been a challenge for our tires, but the Firestone Firehawks are holding up well. Our engineers brought our softest road-course specification to Mid-Ohio, since grip and cornering are at more of a premium than high-speed durability at this track. As long as the rain holds off, it looks like tire management could play a pretty significant role in tomorrow's race - you can see from Helio's quote above that he attributes maximizing the life of his tires to attaining his pole position."

-credit: firestone