"Weeping" track forces cancellation of IndyCar qualifying.

Following a lengthy delay while the track workers and the safety crew dealt with "weepers" which began appearing near the end of the Firestone Indy Lights qualifying session, the IndyCar qualifying finally got underway well over an hour after the scheduled start time. Unfortunately the action was short lived as only 3 cars managed to get in a timed run before the session ground to a halt once again.

"Weepers" is the term used to describe water seeping through seams in the surface of a race track. Left to their own devices, they spread out over the racing line, wreaking havoc for the cars, especially open wheel cars.

Hideki Mutoh and Scott Dixon were the first two drivers to get their qualifying runs in, but the session was immediately delayed while the track workers went out to check the track following Dixon's run.

E.J. Viso was the next and the last to get a run in, as it was deemed to dangerous to run, and with the lengthy delays, impossible to get the session in prior to the scheduled Miller Light 100 Firestone Indy Lights race.

With the cancellation, the second year in a row at this event, the starting grid will be determined by entrant points, the benefactor once again being Helio Castroneves, thanks to Will Power who he convinced to join him during the pole award festivities.

"Those points definitely kept me in the front of the pits and now gave me the pole position at Iowa," said Castroneves, a two-time winner this season. "Unfortunately for the fans, they didn't get to see the excitement of qualifying. Fortunately, I ended up getting a great situation here with a good starting position. Now that we have a Team Penske front row, we'll go for the win."

Not surprisingly, the first two rows are made up of Penske and Ganassi teammates, followed by Danica Patrick and Dan Wheldon, winner of this event last year.

Probably the biggest benefactor of this turn of events is AGR's Marco Andretti, who will start 8th. Andretti was involved in a huge off during this morning's practice session, destroying his primary car, and forcing the team to spend the day building his back up car in time for qualifying.

In the unlucky department, the Dryer & Reinbold cars, who were running very well today and would likely have placed higher than their current points situation will place them, and Ryan Hunter Reay, who were he still driving the 21 car at Vision, would have been starting 10th based on points, but who will now start much further down on the grid.


Weather and track conditions permitting, the IndyCar teams will line up at 11:30am (local time) Sunday morning for the pre-race ceremonies in anticipation of the Iowa Corn Indy 250 which gets underway at 12:30pm.

INDYCAR SERIES POST-QUALIFYING QUOTES:

HELIO CASTRONEVES (No. 3 Team Penske, first):I have to thank Will (Power) because he helped by having this car finish sixth at St. Petersburg. Those points definitely kept me in the front of the pits and now gave me the pole position at Iowa. Unfortunately for the fans, they didn't get to see the excitement of qualifying. Fortunately, I end up getting a great situation here with a good starting position. Now that we have a Team Penske front row, we'll go for the win tomorrow." "

WILL POWER: (On accepting the PEAK Performance Pole Award with Helio Castroneves): "This was all Helio's idea. He's a great guy. I always like to help out. Starting on the pole here is really important, so it's great to see the two Team Penske cars on the front row. I love working with this team, and I have two great teammates. We all work well together. I experienced it during the month of May at Indy. I'm very glad to help out."

RYAN BRISCOE (No. 6 Team Penske, second): "Obviously, we'd much rather be out there qualifying. It's unfortunate. The good thing is that we're up there in the points and get the front row start. Hopefully, that will help us tomorrow. I felt good for qualifying. I felt like Team Penske had a good shot for the pole. It's so close at the front that it's hard to say, but hopefully they can get the track in good shape for tonight and tomorrow as well."

SCOTT DIXON (No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing, third): "It's tough. We should have been fairly decent. The car wasn't too bad in the run, but there was a fair bit of water on the track. The cautiousness there is the more cars you run, the more water you draw onto the track, the guys in the back were going to have a tougher time, and you could certainly crash your car. I think it was a tough decision for (Indy Racing League President of Competition and Racing Operations) Brian (Barnhart), but I think he made the right one."

DARIO FRANCHITTI (No. 10 TOM TOM, fourth): "It's disappointing because the Tom Tom car was quick. In practice, we did two qualifying (simulations) and both were really quick. We felt we had a car for the pole, but at the same time I think (Indy Racing League President of Competition and Operations) Brian (Barnhart) made the right decision. Scott (Dixon) had said that on the backstretch that the tire was flipping up water. The weepers were so bad. It's really unfortunate for our car and for the Target team and for the fans because they don't get to see qualifying. Starting fourth tomorrow makes things a bit more difficult, but we can still pull it off."

DANICA PATRICK (No. 7 Boost Mobile/Motorola, fifth): "We had a pretty good day; every change we made had a positive impact on the car. I think in general we have a strong race car, but at the end of the day qualifying is really important. I wish we would've had a chance to get out and make a qualifying run, because I think we could've had a higher starting position than fifth. But we will take it, have a few strong pit stops and hopefully bring home a win for the Boost Mobile car."

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