Sato captures first pole at Iowa Speedway

NEWTON - One relished being a first and the other wondered what kept her out of first.

But, they both will be leading the pack to the starting line for Saturday's IZOD IndyCar Series race at Iowa Speedway.

Takuma Sato claimed his first IndyCar pole and Danica Patrick earned a spot in the front row for the first time since 2008 after Friday's qualifying for the Iowa Corn Indy 250. The race is set for 7 p.m. Saturday.

Sato zipped around the oval, posting a two-lap average of 180.375 miles per hour in qualifying. Sato is described as a rock star in his native country, and his latest accomplishment will only add to that adoration. He became the first Japanese driver to earn an IndyCar pole.

The historic feat is important to Sato, who hoped fans in Japan enjoyed the effort.

“It's an important day,” said Sato, who joined Jimmy Vasser as is the only drivers to earn a pole for KV Racing. “It means a lot."

The performance also signifies the improvement he has made in just his second season running on the top IndyCar Series. It is Sato's best qualifying performance since starting third at Mid-Ohio last seaosn. He has three top-five qualifying runs this year with all of them coming in the last three weeks. Sato could be in line for his fifth top-10 finish, placing fifth in the opening race on the road course at St. Petersburg and two weeks ago at Texas Motor Speedway, where he started fourth.

The recent strong showings were a product of a few different reasons.

“It's not just one single reason or anything,” Sato said. “It just comes natural, because the of experience of the season. Every time I jump in the car I get more confident all the time.”

Confidence played a major role in elevating above a field where the top 23 of 24 racers were separated by less than a second. Sato eclipsed teammate Tony Kanaan, who was in first with only six drivers remaining before dropping to third.

Kanaan, the 2010 winner, and fellow KV Racing driver E.J. Viso, who was third last year, informed Sato about the changes of the track's conditions so he could be prepared.

“It's a really fantastic achievement for the whole team," Sato said "They are really working together.”

Sato had a strong run here last year before ending in 19th place. He said he enjoyed running on the short track, even if it didn't yielded the desired results.

“The short oval was something I really truly enjoyed last year,” Sato said. “Obviously last year I didn't achieve what I wanted.”

“During the race I was really enjoying battling with the top groups,” Sato said. “It was really fantastic.”

He isn't satisfied with just starting first. Sato is focused on finishing first, so work still exists.

“The most important thing is the race,” Sato said. “Qualifying is just one part.

“Hopefully we carry good momentum from today.”

Admittedly after Sato pulled off the track Patrick pulled on and less than four-hundredths of a second off Sato's pace, recording an average speed of 180.210.

“I'm trying to think what I could have done to be on the pole to be honest,” Patrick said. “It's so close around here.”

She dissected her decisions on the track, trying to figure out where she could shave time. Although she focused on being the fastest, she was fine with a front-row spot.

“It's nice to get back on the front row,” Patrick said. “It's been a long time, so that's a good thing.”

Patrick has top-10 starts and finishes each of the last three years at Iowa. Her best was a sixth-place finish in 2008 and a fifth-place start in 2009. She finished 10th last year. Patrick, who has a new engineer this season, is more confident and comfortable with her ride. The team will attempt to continue making good adjustments before the race, but she has already been able to pull from her previous runs here.

“Hopefully that experience will pay off,” Patrick said. “I think it even has so far this weekend, learning from past races what kind of sensations are not good to have around here. Like I said we've made good changes so far.”

Will Power and Dario Franchitti entered this weekend's race deadlocked atop the season points standings. The two will make things interesting, starting side-by-side in the third row after qualifying in the fifth and sixth, respectively.

Franchitti, the two-time defending IndyCar champion and winner of three of the last four cham,pionships, has captured two victories in three starts at Iowa Speedway, leading a race-high 69 laps until a stuck gear box dropped him out of the race and to an 18th-place finish last year.

His team battled balance issues during qualifying, leaving him unhappy with the run. He knows the track very well and isn't worried.

“I'm not too concerned,” Franchitti said. “It's all about how good your race car is so hopefully we do a better job with that than the qualifying run.”

Rookie driver Charlie Kimball qualified 21st in the 24-car field. Kimball, the first licensed IndyCar racer with Type I diabetes, stopped at Hawkeye Downs on Wednesday to talk with children and their families dealing with diabetes for an event with the Eastern Iowa Chapter of the Junior Diabetes Research Foundation.

He recorded an average speed of 177.280 in his two qualifying laps. Kimball said he had a good car, but his team took a conservative approach to qualifying.

“I had a solid run,” Kimball said. “I was really happy with that.”