– Hélio Castroneves was nearly a full mile-per-hour clear of the field to claim pole position in Phoenix—the first time in a decade that IndyCar has returned to the one-mile oval.The 46th pole of his career also set a new lap record (192.631mph en route to a two-lap average of 192.324mph), previously held for over 25 years by Arie Luyendyk. In pit-lane, Luyendyk, a two-time Indy 500 winner, bowed and ceremoniously placed a crown on Castroneves' head while the Brazilian accepted his Verizon P1 Award.Tony Kanaan was the next closest competitor, besting Hélio's Penske team-mate Juan Pablo Montoya by a 0.1mph. Kanaan got his first IRL win at Phoenix back in 2003.Charlie Kimball had a...
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