Fast Six

March 29, 2011

Dario Franchitti





Dario

Fast Six

The second day in St. Petersburg for the 2011 Indy Car Grand Prix was spent mostly at the track for qualifying for the race on Sunday. There were a couple of support races during the day, including the Acura Sports Car Challenge race , A Star Mazda race and finally a USF2000 race, but the main attraction for me was the qualifying session for the Indy Car race.





Danica Patrick

I was up early, enjoyed a delicious breakfast at the Larelle House and then walked down to the track just in time for the final Indy Car practice. The practice session was mostly uneventful except for an unfortunate crash by Sebastian Bourdais which would end up keeping him from being able to participate in the race.

Ana Beatriz





The break between the final practice and the start of qualifying was filled by support races as well as a cool demonstration of Drifting cars and an air show that included a stunt plane, stunt helicopter and some sky divers. In between the air show, I was able to take a helicopter ride of my own on one of the Safari Copters that operate out of the airport that makes up part of the track. While the track utilizes one runway, the remainder of the airport stays open, allowing for planes to keep flying and helicopters to keep their tours of St. Pete flying as well.







Safari Charters offered a special flight over downtown St. Pete and the Indy Car track that looked too cool to pass up, especially considering the awesome weather. So during the Acura sports car race, I took the shuttle over to the airport and boarded the helicopter for a quick tour.







The perfectly clear weather made for a beautiful view of the skyline, marina and out into the Gulf of Mexico as well as a cool overview of the race that was taking place below, I felt like I was in the Goodyear Blimp or something, it was awesome.



Justin Wilson



Once back on land, it was back to the track to get a seat to take in the unique Indy Car qualifying session. Actually it is three sessions, each designed that the fasted 6 move on until there are only six remaining who then shoot it out in what is known as the Fast Six to determine who will start on the coveted pole position. Strategy and skill both play a factor as different tire compounds and limited time make the jockeying for position intense.





Justin Wilson

Penske driver Will Power continued his mastery of the road circuits by snaring the pole for the second straight year, just edging out Target driver and two time defending series champion Dario Franchitti. Scott Dixon got the third position and Mike Conway, who is making his first race back after recovering from the devastating injuries sustained at the Indy 500 last year. Having seen that wreck happening right in front of me at the 500; it is a miracle that he even survived, let alone is back in a car and doing so well. It was great to see him back.

Dario



After qualifying, it was back to the Larellle House where I rested up and watched Butler University beat the University of Florida 74-71 to advance to the Final Four for the second straight year, pretty cool. After the game, I headed out to the local Northeast Tavern to celebrate another great day.