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Watkins Glen: Series qualifying report

HINCHCLIFFE EARNS CORNING 100 POLE WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (Saturday, July 3, 2010) - James Hinchcliffe earned his third Firestone Indy Lights pole of 2010 by topping Sunoco Pole Qualifying for the Corning 100. The Canadian recorded a lap of ...

Edited: Jul 4, 2010, 12:09 AM

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HINCHCLIFFE EARNS CORNING 100 POLE

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (Saturday, July 3, 2010) - James Hinchcliffe earned his third Firestone Indy Lights pole of 2010 by topping Sunoco Pole Qualifying for the Corning 100.

The Canadian recorded a lap of 1:37.3594 in the No. 2 Xtreme Coil Drilling -TMR car. He was followed by rookies Stefan Wilson (1:37.6394) and J.K. Vernay (1:38.1532).

The Corning 100 starts at 1:30 p.m. Sunday, July 4.

DAY 2 NOTEBOOK:

Anders Krohn will make his Firestone Indy Lights debut this weekend in the No. 4 Andersen Racing entry. Krohn, from Stavanger, Norway, is the first Norwegian competitor in series history.

Krohn, a 22-year-old nicknamed "The Viking," competes full time for Andersen Racing in the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear. He also has competed for the team in the Cooper Tires presents the U.S. F2000 National Championship.

Firestone Indy Lights, the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear and the Cooper Tires presents the U.S. F2000 National Championship are the three series in the Road to Indy developmental ladder system to the IZOD IndyCar Series.

***

SUNOCO POLE QUALIFYING NOTES:

* James Hinchcliffe earned his series-leading third pole this season. He also started first at St. Petersburg and Long Beach. He finished 15th at St. Petersburg after a first-turn incident and won at Long Beach. All three of Hinchcliffe's career Firestone Indy Lights poles have come this season.

* Rookie Stefan Wilson qualified a career-best second. His previous best was fourth on the oval at Iowa. His previous best on a road-street course was sixth at Barber Motorsports Park.

* Series points leader J.K. Vernay qualified third, his fifth top-three spot in six starts this season.

* Engineer Lee Dykstra has overseen the preparation of the last three pole winners at this event: James Hinchcliffe in 2010 (Team Moore Racing), James Davison in 2009 (Vision Racing) and Franck Perera in 2008 (Guthrie Racing).

***

SUNOCO POLE QUALIFYING QUOTES:

JAMES HINCHCLIFFE (No. 2 TMR-Xtreme Coil Drilling, pole): "This track is just incredible. Getting a chance to drive here is just awesome. I really enjoy coming here. The team gave me a great car. A huge thanks to (engineer) Lee Dykstra. The car really let me push my limits and the limits of the racetrack. It was just so much fun to drive. Huge credit to the boys. It was really good."

STEFAN WILSON (No. 28 Bryan Herta Autosport, second): "I'm really pleased with the performance this weekend. We've been really strong all weekend. It's just a shame the No. 2 car is up there ahead of us. He's beaten me in both practices and now qualifying. I have to thank my guys. They've done a lot of work this weekend. We're working really hard right now to make gains in the championship. We've got a solid starting position for the race. We just now have to think about our race cars and make the right calls."

CHARLIE KIMBALL (No. 26 Levemir FlexPen, sixth): "I think we have a really good race car for tomorrow. It wasn't an ideal qualifying session. I made a mistake and spun, causing the yellow, so they took away my best lap as per the rules. But the car is really consistent. With a little work, the No. 26 Levemir FlexPen car should be on the podium."

MARTIN PLOWMAN (No. 27 Automatic Fire Sprinklers/KEP Printing, seventh): "That was a really tough qualifying session. All weekend we've been struggling to get a good bit of speed. We just haven't been able to quite get things together. For qualifying, I went out and drove my heart out. That last lap, I laid everything on the line and launched myself from P8 to P5. I know we have a very good race car. I'm looking forward to the race."

***

SUNDAY'S SCHEDULE (all times local):
9:30-9:50 a.m. Firestone Indy Lights warm-up
1 p.m. Firestone Indy Lights pre-race
1:30 p.m. Corning 100 Firestone Indy Lights race (29 laps)

***

The 2010 IZOD IndyCar Series season continues July 4 with the Camping World Grand Prix at The Glen at Watkins Glen International. The race will be telecast live in High Definition at 3:30 p.m. (ET) by ABC. The race will air live on the IMS Radio Network, XM channel 145 and Sirius channel 211. The race also will be carried on www.indycar.com. The 2010 Firestone Indy Lights season continues with the Corning 100 on July 4 at the Watkins Glen International.

-source: irl

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