Andretti Green Racing teammates Danica Patrick and Tony Kanaan will be able to help insulate Dario Franchitti at the start of the Motorola Indy 300 presented by Jackson Rancheria Casino & Hotel. source: indycar.com / Dave Lewandowski The rest will be up to the IndyCar Series points leader, who won the AAMCO Transmissions Pole Award through single-car qualifying and the 10-minute Firestone Fast Six session. Franchitti recorded a lap of 1 minute, 16.7017 seconds (107.951 mph) on the 2.26-mile, 12-turn circuit. No one could top it in the extra session, though Patrick came the closest. Driving the No. 7 Motorola car, Patrick improved four positions with a lap of 1:17.1486 (107.325 mph) to match her career-best starting spot on a road/street course. She was the only driver to improve their position from single-car qualifying. Kanaan (1:17.1932; 107.263) will start third in the No. 11 Team 7-Eleven car. Helio Castroneves, who topped each of the practice sessions in the No. 3 Team Penske car, will start fourth after a lap of 1:17.2608; 107.169). Scott Dixon (1:17.3379), driving the No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing car, and Sam Hornish Jr. (1:17.5858) in the No. 6 Team Penske car will share Row 3. Ryan Hunter-Reay was bumped by Castroneves from the Firestone Fast Six, but he will share Row 4 with Marco Andretti, last year's race winner. Franchitti takes an eight-point lead over Dixon and a 52-point advantage over Kanaan into the 80-lap race - the 15th of 17 in the championship hunt. "It feels good," said Franchitti, who tested on the physically demanding circuit 10 days earlier in the No. 27 Canadian Club Dallara/Honda/Firestone. "The track conditions changed a lot from this morning, but they've been fast all weekend. We did it when it counted. It's great to have my teammate up there as well. That should be an advantage at the start." Patrick also started second at Mid-Ohio last month, with Kanaan and Andretti on Row 2 and Franchitti sharing Row 3 with Dixon. On the first lap, Patrick was sent off course after being bumped by Kanaan and Andretti's car landed upside down. For Franchitti's sake, a clean start is a necessity. "Like I said at Mid-Ohio, these 10-minute sessions really suit what I'm still doing better than normal," Patrick said. "We were close to not making it in, but then once we got out there I took advantage of having the time. It seemed to work out. It wasn't a pretty lap; I think there was still some time left out on the track.
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