Sun, Jun 29, 2003 page22

• Scott Dixon secures pole in Virginia

  SUNTRUST INDY CHALLENGE The rookie turned a lap at 168.138mph Friday night on the three-quarter-mile oval

  • AP
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  Scott Dixon's inconsistent rookie season in the IRL took an upward turn when he won the pole at Richmond International Raceway.

  Dixon turned a lap at 168.138mph Friday night on the three-quarter-mile oval -- the shortest on the circuit. He nudged Sarah Fisher and her lap of 167.004 to the outside of the front row for Saturday night's SunTrust Indy Challenge.

  

  American Scott Sharp, driver of the Kelley Racing Dallara Toyota, steers his car during qualifying for the SunTrust Indy Challenge, round six of the Indy Racing League series at the Richmond International Raceway in Richmond, Virginia on Friday.

  PHOTO: AFP

  Fisher also started second two years ago in the inaugural Richmond IRL race.

  Dixon, second in the points race and only 49 behind leader Tony Kanaan, turned his top speed on his first lap. He thought he had a batter trip going the second time around, but ran out of fuel between the third and fourth turns.

  For a change, Dixon said, the misfortune didn't cost him.

  "It seems like everything that can go wrong with our car or with the G-force in general has happened to our team," he said. "I think we've had speed everywhere we've gone, and that's normally the hardest thing to find, so at least we have that. We just need to get some consistency."

  Dixon came over from CART this year, and has at times seemed capable of dominating and at other times has finished like a newcomer.

  He's the only driver with two victories in the first six races, and has a sixth-place finish. He also has three finishes of 15th or worse.

  Fisher, like Dixon, got a break from the weather as a quick rain storm washed some of the rubber off the track and cooled the surface after 14 qualifying runs. The 1-hour delay was the longest in qualifying in IRL history, and gave the last eight drivers a better surface to run on.

  Fisher, 19th in points, also needed an upgraded performance.

  "I have been frustrated," she said. "But that's something where you've got to evaluate it from the outside and say, `Look, we're all committed to this. We're all working really hard. It's a team effort.'

  "You can't point fingers and say, `It's your fault,' or, `It's your fault.' We all have to work our hardest and get through it."

  A return to her racing roots helped it happen, for at least a day.

  "I love Richmond. It brings me back to my short-track days," she said. "There's something about hustling an Indy car, and this is really the only place that you can do that and get away with it, time after time."

  The starting grid has Tora Takagi and defending series and race champion Sam Hornish Jr. in the second row, Kanaan and Greg Ray in the third, Indy 500 winner Gil de Ferran and Felipe Giaffone in the fourth, and Bryan Herta and Vitor Meira in the fifth row.

  The rain delay came with Hornish in the top spot among 14 drivers.

  Two years ago, he finished second to Buddy Lazier. A year ago, Hornish arrived here in need of a confidence boost after three poor showings early in the season and a crash in practice that left him playing catch-up.

  He got that boost in the race, blowing by de Ferran with less than two laps to go to win. The victory got his season back on track and he never let up en route to his second consecutive series championship.

  "It's definitely a track we like to come to," Hornish said.

  The same can't be said for two-time Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves, whose pole a season ago rates as his highlight at the track.

  Castroneves was the first driver to make a run Friday night. He struggled in the loose rubber from practice and slipped to 11th on the grid.

  "This race you don't win on the first lap. That was proved last year," Castroneves said, noting he started first and crashed after eight laps. "I just hope it rains."

  He got his wish, but the rain didn't last long enough.
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