IndyCar at Pocono: Pole for Castroneves, Kimball crashed

Team Penske captured top three starting positions for the ABC Supply 500 IndyCar race at Pocono Raceway. Helio Castroneves was the fastest, Simon Pagenaud was second and Will Power was third. Their teammate, championship leader Juan Pablo Montoya, qualified at 19th place.

Helio Castroneves earned his fourth Verizon P1 Award of the season with a two-lap average speed of 220.530 mph on the 2.5-mile triangular oval. It is his his 45th career pole in his 310th Indy car start. Pagenaud had average speed 220.485 mph, while Power recorded a two-lap average speed of 220.398 mph.

Montoya will enter the race (tomorrow 2 p.m. ET) with a nine-point lead over Graham Rahal (RLL Racing) in the championship standings. Scott Dixon (Chip Ganassi Racing) is in third place, followed by Castroneves and Power. Rahal qualified fifth and Dixon will start 11th. Ten drivers are mathematically eligible for the title, which will be decided August 30 in the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma on the Sonoma Raceway road course. That race carries double points.

The qualifying session was delayed 48 minutes for repairs to the catch fencing in Turn 3 after Charlie Kimball (Chip Ganassi Racing) made contact with the barrier and catch fencing on his first lap of qualifying. Kimball was checked at the infield care center and cleared to drive. The back-up car was being prepared to start from the last row in the race. Kimball turned the fastest lap in the 90-minute morning practice.