By Bruce Martin
SportsTicker Contributing Editor
HOMESTEAD, Florida - In its final season of Indy Racing League
competition, Chevrolet is prepared to leave in a blaze of glory.
Tomas Scheckter won the pole for Sunday's season-opening Toyota
Indy 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, giving the only engine
manufacturer from the United States reason to feel confident.
With only two cars in the 22-car field, Chevy is focusing all of
its efforts on Panther Racing. It appears to have paid off as
Scheckter's teammate, Tomas Enge of the Czech Republic,
qualified third.
Scheckter recorded a lap of 215.115 miles per hour around the 1
1/2-mile oval, driving a Dallara chassis with a Chevrolet
engine.
It was Chevrolet's first IRL pole in 19 races since Richie Hearn
posted the best qualifying time at Chicagoland Speedway in
2003.
"What you saw in qualifying is what we are going to run in the
race," said Joe Negri, the IRL program manager for GM
Motorsports. "We aren't backing down this year. It's pedal to
the metal. We have nothing to lose. We are going to run hard and
run strong this year."
Vitor Meira of Brazil qualified second at 214.317 mph in a
Panoz/Honda, followed by Enge at 214.152 mph.
Defending Indianapolis 500 winner Buddy Rice, who established
the qualifying record of 217.388 mph here last year, was fourth
at 214.006 in a Panoz/Honda. Dario Franchitti of Scotland
completed the top five in a Dallara/Honda.
It was Scheckter's sixth pole of his IRL career and first since
starting on the pole at Michigan International Speedway in July
2003.
"I feel like I'm in an odd situation because last year I had to
make excuses but now I can say everybody on the team did a good
job," Scheckter said. "This means so much to me how hard
Chevrolet worked. A lot of people put them down and to throw it
back in everybody's face and get a pole position here is great.
Hopefully, there is a lot more to come."
Scheckter has one career victory Michigan in 2002 but has
always been very fast.
"We worked on race setup Friday and we worked on speed this
morning," Scheckter said. "As much as I was in touch with
everybody at Chevrolet, you think the good and the bad. But
Chevrolet has really worked hard and are dedicated to winning.
It makes a great combination."
Meira is hoping his spot in the front row will propel him to his
first IRL victory.
"Everything we did here proves we did our work over the winter,"
Meira said. "Every time we came back to the track we were a bit
quicker. We were quicker than our previous test here and it
shows that we worked right. It's always good to qualify on the
first row but it doesn't mean a lot for the race. Honda will be
good from beginning to end and start up front makes everything a
little more comfortable."
Sam Hornish Jr., the defending champion who has won three of
four events here, will start eighth after running a lap at
212.887 mph in a Dallara/Toyota. His Penske Racing teammate
Helio Castroneves, who tied a record with four straight poles to
end last season, will start seventh.