Motorsports

Hornish on front row with Patrick

By wire services
Published April 30, 2005

MOTEGI, Japan - Sam Hornish Jr. won the pole position Friday for the Indy Japan 300 and will be joined on the front row for today's race by rookie Danica Patrick, the only female driver competing in the Indy Racing League this season.

Driving a Honda-powered Panoz, Patrick raced a lap of 204.504 mph on the 1.5-mile Honda-built oval. The 23-year-old driver would have earned her first pole if not for a late charge by Hornish, who beat her with a speed of 204.740 mph.

Today's 200-lap race is the fourth on the 17-event IndyCar Series.

It was Patrick's best qualifying effort of her brief IndyCar Series career. Her previous best start was ninth at Homestead-Miami Speedway in March.

"I was so mad when we lost the pole," Patrick said. "We were so close. I still have a lot to learn and just need to make sure tomorrow that I get in and out of the pits quickly and feel comfortable with the cars around me."

Patrick is the first woman to qualify on a front row in an IndyCar event since Sarah Fisher at Richmond International Speedway in 2003.

Hornish, 20th of 23 drivers to make a qualifying attempt, earned his first pole start since 2003 driving his Toyota-powered Dallara.

"The cloud cover came by and the temperatures cooled down and that helped us," Hornish said. "Our guys and Toyota have worked hard over the past year, and we feel like we've overcome a big deficit."

Hornish earned his fourth career pole position, and first with Marlboro Team Penske. His previous best qualifying effort this season was sixth at Phoenix, where he won.

Scott Sharp was third and will be in the second row with Brazil's Helio Castroneves, who had the fastest time in Thursday's practice session. Defending champion Dan Wheldon of England was sixth.

Czech driver Thomas Enge hit the wall at the fourth turn. Enge was flown to a hospital for examination and will be evaluated again this morning.

The crash could have been worse. The Motegi track has been revamped with the installation of SAFER Barrier, the energy-absorbing Steel and Foam Energy Reduction System that now lines most American ovals.

NASCAR: Rusty Wallace will lead a group of moonlighting Nextel Cup drivers in the Busch series race June 18 at Kentucky Speedway. The 49-year-old Wallace, retiring at the end of this season, won the 1989 championship in NASCAR's top division. Other drivers in the Meijer 300 field will be Michael Waltrip, Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards and Kasey Kahne. Mark Cassis, general manager of Kentucky Speedway, called the field the best for a stock car race in the track's six-year history.

[Last modified April 30, 2005, 00:51:14]