St. Pete Qualifying:  “It was awesome," said Tony Kanaan, the reigning IndyCar Series champion who will start third. "I think it was very exciting, and I hope the fans liked it. I enjoyed it. We had to the opportunity to get better, and we did, so I enjoyed it even more.”

Herta was the biggest beneficiary. Sorry, Dario Franchitti. He had the fastest single-lap qualifying time (1 minute, 03.0384 seconds) but dropped to fourth in the shootout.

Here’s how it shook out:

Pre-Firestone Fast Six Standings	Final Qualifying Order
1. Dario Franchitti (1:03.0384) 2. Helio Castroneves (1:03.1975) 3. Tomas Enge (1:03.2650) 4. Bryan Herta (1:03.4260) 5. Sam Hornish Jr. (1:03.4515) 6. Tony Kanaan (1:03.7254)	1. Bryan Herta (1:02.5096) 2. Helio Castroneves (1:02.6933) 3. Tony Kanaan (1:02.9789) 4. Dario Franchitti (1:03.0384) 5. Tomas Enge (1:03.2650) 6. Sam Hornish Jr. (1:03.4515)

And here’s a play-by-play recap of the moves in the Firestone Fast Six:

A. Castroneves moves to P1, moving past Franchitti, on his third hot lap.
B. Herta moves to P3, vaulting Enge.
C. Kanaan moves to P4, jumping over Enge and Hornish.
D. Herta grabs P1 with the fastest lap of the weekend, supplanting Castroneves.
E. Kanaan moves to P3, leap-frogging Franchitti.

Whew!

“It’s easy for me to say it’s a good thing because it worked out for me, but I really do think it was cool," said Herta, who posted a fast lap of 103.664 mph. "I was on the fence about it, but it’s exciting. The single-car thing isn’t as exciting, but the six-car shootout was really exciting. It put a lot of pressure on the six of us trying to improve."

It is the second consecutive pole position for Herta, who grabbed the top spot for the XM Satellite Radio Indy 200 on the 1-mile Phoenix International Raceway oval March 19. He’ll be seeking his second IndyCar Series victory (2003 Kansas Speedway) and entry into the history book as winner of the first non-oval in the 10-year history of the IndyCar Series.

"You learn every time (on the street course)," Herta said. "After the single-lap qualifying run, I had made a couple of mistakes and we made a couple of adjustments. Between me getting a better lap and making the car a little better, those two things paid off.”

Castroneves was fastest overall (1:03.0836; 102.721 mph) in the No. 3 Marlboro Team Penske Dallara/Toyota/Firestone and had the option of the qualifying order straight up by those April 1 combined practice times or with a twist of descending order. It was no surprise he chose to be the final qualifier.

“One lap I was too cautious and the second one I was a little too much," he said. "I was trying too hard. I think in the back of my mind I was thinking, ‘If I stuff it in the wall, I’ll be sixth.’ It’s a shame. The car is good. We’re going in the right direction, but tomorrow is the day with the paycheck.”

ST. Pete Friday:  The Phoenix draw was a low point for the IRL, which has never drawn well at the mile oval. Many factors were blamed for the poor attendance, including the switch to Saturday, poor weather and a free air show at nearby Luke Air Force Base that drew an estimated 100,000 people.

“Phoenix was a shame,” said Dario Franchitti, who finished fourth in the race. “It was a really great race all the way through the field. It was definitely a shame, but to see the crowd and the enthusiasm here is nice.”

The event is being promoted by Barry Green, the former CART team owner and brother of Andretti Green Racing co-owner Kim Green. Michael Andretti, AGR and its engine partner, Honda, also are extensively involved in the event, which is being held on a 14-turn, 1.8-mile course that winds through an executive airport and city streets on the waterfront in downtown St. Pete.

“Street racing draws more attention,” said AGR driver Tony Kanaan. “You close the streets, so the people who don’t normally realize what’s going on will realize it. They see the traffic and all of this and know there's a race in town.”

* Another Andretti in the show

The IRL's first street race wasn't the only first being recorded Friday at St. Petersburg. Marco Andretti also made his debut.

Andretti, the 18-year-old son of Michael Andretti and grandson of Mario Andretti, recorded his first laps at an IRL Menards Infiniti Pro Series event. All indications are that he's inherited the family gift.

Marco recorded a top lap of 1 minute 9.9818 seconds, the third-best lap of the day for the IRL's training series, which, like the IRL IndyCar Series, is making its street-racing debut this weekend. Afterward, Andretti expressed disappointment in his effort, which came after the tires were replaced on the No. 26 Andretti Green Racing Infiniti/Dallara, which is being prepped by Keith Duesenberg Racing.

“We went a little quicker, but man, the balance was terrible,” Andretti said. “We had made a substantial change before we changed tires, but it was something we had to do anyway. Now we know it's not good, and we went the wrong way.”

New Zealander Wade Cunningham had the fastest lap Friday (1:09.5125 seconds) -- “We were just playing it conservative,” he said -- followed by Jeff Simmons. Al Unser, another son and grandson of famous racers, had the fourth-quickest lap.

But it was the newest Andretti, who declared he wanted to win the pole Saturday, who garnered most of the attention Friday.

“We wanted the quickest time, but tomorrow is more important,” Andretti said. “There's more to come.”

Chris Festa, who had the third-fastest lap in the morning session, crashed hard in the afternoon session. He was not injured. There was fluid leaking from the left sidepod of the car,” Festa explained. “My tire lost its grip from the fluid and caused me to spin.”


* Carpentier sits out One of the two drivers who raced on the St. Pete course in 2003 missed much of Friday's practice sessions because of mechanical issues.

His No. 83 Red Bull Cheever Racing Dallara-Toyota sat under the awning most of the day as mechanics dealt with a mysterious throttle problem. He completed just 14 laps, the lowest total among the 21 drivers who practiced Friday.

“I wasn't able to get in any serious laps,” Carpentier said. “It was unfortunate, but I am still hopeful for the race. I've always done my best under race conditions, so I think we can pull things together.”

Carpentier and Darren Manning are the only drivers in the field who competed in the St. Petersburg course in 2003, when it was a Champ Car World Series event. Manning had the fourth-best lap overall of Friday's two practice sessions.

HELIO NOT HAPPY:  “We’re going ‘raw’ into the first practice, having to take it very slowly at the beginning as we get used to the track, whereas they [Wheldon and Meira] are already one step ahead of everyone else,” Castroneves believes, reminding that the new road-course qualifying format makes practice times quite relevant, as they determine the order of Saturday’s single-lap qualy session.

For his part, Meira downplayed the supposed edge he now has, preferring to comment on his expectations for race day: “I think brake wear will be a decisive factor in the race’s later stages,” he believes. “But who knows? We have zero experience here after all.”

While Meira focused on brakes, Castroneves took a different guess on which factor can make a difference on Sunday.

“Pit stops will be crucial,” he thinks, “and since that has always been one of Team Penske’s fortes, I’m confident we can be in contention for the first-ever IRL road-course win.”

IRL QUALIFYING: The format would be similar to what Formula 1 used until last year if it weren’t for a crucial difference: the fastest six cars on single-lap qualifying will then come back to go head-to-head in an all-out, no-reins 10-minute session with unlimited laps - mimicking F1’s 1990’s procedure, which always accounted for thrilling moments as drivers simultaneously attempted to improve their times on the final minutes of qualifying.

Lap times form the single-lap session carry over to this final, 10-minute "shootout", which offers an opportunity for the top-six to "rearrange" the first three rows.

“Starting position is very critical on temporary circuits, street circuits and road courses," pondered IRL president Brian Barnhart. "We wanted to put some emphasis on qualifying and create some challenges to get some separation and let the cream come to the top and get it to the point where the pressure is on, the drama is exciting, [and] you can't make a mistake.”

"I think it's a neat format in that it balances the entertainment aspect and it's great for the fans," he continued. "They like to see the multi-car, multi-lap qualifying format, but if you do that too much, you have to be careful about the costs involved. By just doing single-car qualifying, locking in everybody but six, then doing multi-car for only 10 minutes, we're not going to be going through three sets of brakes a weekend.”