Briscoe Takes Pole At Watkins Glen

WATKINS GLEN, July 3, 2010: IZOD IndyCar Series points leader Will Power continued Team Penske's domination of qualifying by earning the pole for the Camping World Grand Prix at The Glen . It was his series-leading fifth PEAK Performance Pole Award of the season.

Power's top lap of 1 minute, 29.3164 seconds, 135.832 mph in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske machine kept Team Penske's perfect pole record over the six years of this race at Watkins Glen International. Penske will seek its first victory in the event when the race starts at 3:30 p.m. (ET) Sunday, July 4 (live on ABC, IMS Radio Network).

Team Penske drivers swept the top three spots in the Firestone Fast Six shootout. Helio Castroneves qualified second at 1:29.4609, 135.612 in the No. 3 entry, while Ryan Briscoe was third at 1:29.9346, 134.898 in the No. 6 entry.

It was the first time this season one team has swept the front row in qualifying. The top three rows were separated by less than a second. Six different teams are represented in the first six rows.

Reigning IZOD IndyCar Series champion Dario Franchitti qualified fourth at 1:29.9601, 134.860 in the No. 10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing car, with rookie Takuma Sato fifth at 1:30.1410, 134.589 in the No. 5 Lotus-KV Racing Technology entry.

2009 Watkins Glen winner Justin Wilson rounded out the Firestone Fast Six at 1:30.2667, 134.402 in the No. 22 Team Z-Line Designs/Dreyer & Reinbold Racing car.

Also on July 3, 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.