NEWTON, Iowa – Dario Franchitti pulled into the pits Friday with two minutes left in the afternoon practice session and the clock ticking against his bid to qualify for the night's fast heat and secure a plush starting spot in Saturday night's Iowa Corn Indy 250.
By Jonathan Ferrey, Getty Images
Dario Franchitti celebrates after earning the pole for Saturday night's Iowa Corn Indy 250. IndyCar introduced heat races Friday night for qualifying spots rather than the traditional single-car, two-lap structure.
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The four-time Izod IndyCar Series champion spent the vast majority of his 57-lap run sitting on the outside edge of the top eight until a last-minute tire change and a clear path led to a blazing trip around the track that launched Franchitti toward the top of the leaderboard.
Franchitti will start Saturday night's main event in an even better position — at the front of the pack. The two-time winner of the Iowa Corn Indy 250 passed Marco Andretti and cruised to victory in the last 30-lap heat race Friday night at Iowa Speedway, securing the 28th pole of his 16-year in American open-wheel racing.
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It's the first time in 23 years, however, he's earned the pole in this manner. Franchitti said he was a teenager racing go-karts in Scotland the last time he competed in a heat race.
IndyCar introduced heat races Friday night for qualifying spots, replacing the traditional single-car, two-lap structure for a change in Newton.
"I'm sure the guys at IndyCar will go home and say, 'OK, what can we do to spice it up,' " Franchitti said. "(But) as a first stab at it, I thought it was really good."
During a news conference Friday night with IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard seated at the back of the room, Franchitti said one change he'd like to see was getting "Randy to open the wallet a little bit" for team owners putting their equipment on the line.
Bernard said the concept had potential.
"There needs to be points and money to add more incentive and possibly take the winner from the first two heats and bring them into the last heat," he said. "And how we qualify for those heats might be something to take into consideration as well."
Franchitti suggested a less chaotic practice arrangement. He called the conclusion of the second session "mayhem" and said the key to his charge up the standings was finding a clear lap after his late tire change.
"Luckily, it's only a 17-second lap here, so I was able to get back up to speed and get one clear lap," he said. "That was enough to get me in (the fast heat)."
Helio Castroneves finished second to Franchitti in the last heat to claim the outside spot on the front row, ahead of Andretti and James Hinchcliffe.
Hinchcliffe said he was in favor of future heat races at Iowa and acknowledged single-car qualifying was not must-see TV. But he also said he didn't want to see IndyCar get too far away from tradition.
"I think it's cool (to have heat races) attached to an event," Hinchcliffe said. "If we come back here every year and keep doing that, I think it's cool to have that be Iowa's thing and we can stick to more traditional formats other places."
Tony Kanaan claimed victory in the second heat after Graham Rahal drove away from the field in the first race, winning by nearly seven seconds. Both drivers, though, were assessed a 10-spot penalty on the starting grid for unapproved engine changes, and they will start 19th and 20th, respectively.
"It's just hard to come from that far down," Rahal said. "I'm not saying you can't pass; I'm not saying we won't be up front, because I think we will, I think we've got a good car. But it's hard to make up 20 spots, so we'll have to push pretty hard."
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