SPARTA, Kentucky (AP) IndyCar Series points leader Will Power qualified second on Friday for the Indy300 at Kentucky Speedway, hoping to put some distance between himself and defending champion Dario Franchitti in Saturday's race.
Veteran racer Ed Carpenter captured the first pole of his career.
Power's seemingly comfortable series points lead took a major hit at the previous race in Chicago when he didn't receive enough fuel during a late pit stop, forcing him to head back in with a few laps remaining. The miscue dropped Power to 16th and when Franchitti took the checkered flag, the Australian's advantage had been trimmed to just 23 points with three races remaining.
After admittedly stewing about it on the short drive back to Indianapolis, Power says he was over it by the time he went to bed.
A week later, he'll start from the front row for the 11th time this season on Saturday.
``We're got to have a good finish,'' Power said. ``We can't afford another bad one.''
Not the way Franchitti is driving. Power has joked he hears the theme music from ``Jaws'' every time he sees Franchitti in his rearview mirror. The two-time Indy 500 winner is suddenly larger than ever.
``I'm chasing him as hard as I can,'' said Franchitti, who will start 11th.
Franchitti chastised Power, a road racing ace who is still searching for his first win on an oval for erratic driving in Chicago.
``He was being pretty crazy on Saturday night,'' Franchitti said. ``He was doing some stuff that was really beyond what you would normally consider almost safe at some points. He had three or four accidents; he just didn't hit anything.''
Power politely disagreed, arguing he had to race as aggressively as possible just to keep up.
``I just raced like all the other maniacs were racing out there,'' Power said. ``When you go to a track that creates a pack race that requires everyone to race 100 percent throttle all the time, you have to do crazy things to get to the front.''
That doesn't mean Power feels he crossed the line, and Franchitti was quick to point out that Power wasn't the only driver dancing dangerously close to the edge at Chicago.
With hundredths of a second separating the majority of the field, there just isn't a lot of room to move. Although it can make for a compelling product, the drivers don't always enjoy it.
``It can be quite a frustrating type of racing,'' Franchitti said. ``When people pull stupid stuff like they were doing on Saturday night, it can get pretty dangerous too.''
Things might not be much better at Kentucky. Carpenter nearly picked up the first win of his lengthy career at the bumpy circuit last August. He led late before Ryan Briscoe slipped by on the outside to win in one of the closest finishes in series history.
Carpenter has spent most of the season watching races from home after Vision Racing closed shop following the 2009 season.
He ran a respectable 17th at Indianapolis before signing a three-race deal to drive the No. 20 car for Panther Racing last month. Carpenter finished 20th at Chicagoland before his surprising run Friday.
The 29-year-old will make his 102nd career start on Saturday. It's an opportunity he isn't taking for granted.
``I'm not ready for my career to be over,'' he said. ``Every time I get in the car for practice, qualifying, racing, I'm trying to maximize all my potential.''
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