Sonoma: Andretti Green Racing qualifying report

SONOMA, California (August 22, 2009) - Andretti Green Racing put all five of its cars in the top-11 during qualifying today for Sunday's running of the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma at Infineon Raceway.

Team Venom Energy driver Marco Andretti, who won at Infineon in 2006, led the way for Andretti Green and will start fourth followed by Formula Dream driver Hideki Mutoh, who qualified fifth. Team 7-Eleven driver Tony Kanaan will roll off seventh alongside AFS driver Franck Montagny, who qualified eighth. Boost Mobile/Motorola driver Danica Patrick rounded out the Andretti Green effort by qualifying 11th.

Live coverage of tomorrow's 75-lap race will be provided by Versus, starting at 5 p.m. (EDT).

Danica Patrick, #7 Boost Mobile/Motorola Dallara/Honda/Firestone:
"We made a few changes to the car for the second run, but unfortunately they didn't improve it. I think I led my guys astray with a couple things, but it's good that the team has a couple cars in the top-six. We have an idea of what we'll fix for tomorrow. Overall, I think we are the right track."

Tony Kanaan, #11 Team 7-Eleven Dallara/Honda/Firestone:
"I'm disappointed we didn't make it into the Firestone Fast Six, but I think we've got something we can work with for tomorrow. I'm glad to see all the AGR cars making progress. I think that is a good sign of things to come and hopefully we can keep the momentum going for tomorrow."

Franck Montagny, #25 Automatic Fire Sprinklers Dallara/Honda/Firestone:
"Qualifying is so tight in this series, so we played things very conservatively today. This is the first time I've ever used the alternate Firestone tires and they make a drastic difference, so it was a new experience. But, for my first time qualifying this car, I think 'P8' is OK for us."

Marco Andretti, #26 Team Venom Energy Dallara/Honda/Firestone:
"It was a great day for the Venom team. We've been working really hard and this shows we've made progress. We are definitely heading in the right direction. I think we've learned how to use the reds (alternate Firestone tires) in our favor and that also helps a lot. I'm looking forward to the race tomorrow and I'm confident we have a car capable of a strong finish. Right now my thoughts and prayers are with Nelson (Philippe) and Will (Power). I hope they're doing OK."

Hideki Mutoh, #27 Formula Dream Dallara/Honda/Firestone:
"I'm very happy with today. The car was really good from the start and only very small changes were needed. I made a mistake on the last lap and think I could have gone faster, but we were still able to make the Firestone Fast Six. We are starting up front tomorrow; hopefully we can finish there too. I'm really looking forward to tomorrow."

-credit: agr