Gordon

	Kanaan

INDIANAPOLIS -- For the first week of practice leading up to Pole Day for the Indianapolis 500, Andretti/Green Racing seemed to own the spotlight at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The four-car brigade put together by team owners Michael Andretti, Kim Green and Kevin Savoree were fast all week with the foursome battling each other for top speed honors nearly every day. For most of Sunday's pole qualifications for the 87th Indianapolis 500, it appeared that an Andretti/Green driver would win the prized pole position.

That was before Marlboro Team Penske driver Helio Castroneves sent a strong reminder why the team didn't become the winningest operation in the sports' history. Castroneves won the pole, giving team owner Roger Penske a record 12th Indy 500 pole, but Andretti/Green Racing still owns two-thirds of the front row for the May 25 race.

Tony Kanaan starts second after running a four-lap average of 231.006 miles per hour in a Dallara/Honda. NASCAR Winston Cup driver Robby Gordon starts on the outside of the front row after running a four-lap average of 230.205 mph.

Rookie Dan Wheldon will start fifth in a AGR entry at 229.958 mph. Andretti starts 13th after qualifying at 227.739 mph.

The fearsome foursome of the Indy 500 may not have won the pole, but the big prize comes at the end of the month on race day. And they have gotten there by teamwork and that was evident on Pole Day.

Shortly after Gordon put his car on the pole, he gave the setup to Kanaan's crew to help that driver go faster. Kanaan then put his car on the pole and stayed there until Castroneves knocked him off and kept the No. 1 starting position at the end of the day.

"If we lose the pole, the team can put the blame on me because I was definitely too conservative on my warmup lap coming to Lap 1, and I didn't have enough speed coming to the line," Gordon said. "If we get beat, I'll chalk that one up to being too conservative, but that's kind of how we're going to race this race. I've always been a better racer at Indianapolis than a qualifier."

Gordon's first lap was slower than expected, leading many to believe he couldn't claim the top spot. After running a first lap at 228.829 miles an hour, he upped his speed to 230.529 on his second lap followed by laps at 230.769 and 230.807 mph.

	Kanaan, right, almost found his way to the pole in his Andretti Green car.

"My wide open is just a little more wide open than everybody else, so when I come back conservative, that's like everybody else's wide open," Gordon said. "Kanaan went out this morning and wasn't as fast as we went, so they put my setup on. The key is, we work as a team and he has all the information available to him that we do."

There was a time when Gordon and Andretti were fierce rivals on the race track, including a time after the Cleveland Grand Prix when Gordon put a wheel into Andretti's car after the race had concluded. Another time, Gordon and Paul Tracy wore T-shirts that said, "Michael Andretti Driving School for the Blind -- If you can't see them, hit 'em."

But on Sunday, Andretti and Gordon shared a hug after the two had made the field.

"Driving for Michael Andretti has been a real pleasure," Gordon said. "Let's get all this junk out of the way -- that happened a long time ago and we have mutual respect for each other. Michael has put together a great race team and has continued a great operation started by Barry Green."

Gordon is driving for the injured Dario Franchitti, who suffered a compression fracture of the L-5 vertebra after crashing his motorcycle in Scotland. According to Andretti, Gordon contacted the team and said he wanted to compete in the Indianapolis 500 for the ninth time in his career.

In addition to racing in the Indy 500, Gordon will also compete in the Coca-Cola 600 NASCAR race after the same day.

"Robby has always been an open-wheel racer," Andretti said. "That's his thing. I think he is more accepted here than he is there, because they kind of pound him around in NASCAR and he pounds them back. Robby is a guy that stands on the gas and he can win the race for us."

Kanaan has proven that he can still be fast, despite a fractured left wrist that he suffered in a crash with Scott Dixon in the Bridgestone Indy Japan 300 at Twin Ring Motegi on April 13. Ironically, if the team had stuck to its original plan of having 63-year-old Mario Andretti step out of retirement to qualify Kanaan's car, instead of starting on the front row, Kanaan would have had to start in the last row because of the driving switch.

But when Andretti survived one of the most unbelievable crashes in the history of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway during a private test on April 23, when his car went airborne after hitting a piece of debris and nearly sailed over the fence, the video of that accident was enough to convince Andretti to stay retired.

Instead of starting in the back, Kanaan finds himself up front for the biggest race of the year.

"It's huge," Kanaan said. "Nobody wants to start in the back of the pack. I think if Mario had drove this car he would have put it on the pole and then I'd be out of a job by the time we get to the '500' because he'd want to be racing. Mario Andretti is a big part of my run today and has been with me all weekend. Just having him around, he called me 'Champ' in Italian. It has given me an extra boost to go and do well. Every time he comes over, he has nice things to say. He has helped bring my confidence back, for sure."

Kanaan was able to recover from his injuries quicker than Dr. Terry Trammell expected and he was able to return to his race car for practice last Tuesday.

Kanaan continues to wear a brace on his injured wrist and admits his leg is still in pain from where a piece of suspension pierced through it during his crash.

"When I first got hurt, people told me that it would be Bump Day before I could return, and obviously we sped that up," Kanaan said. "I believe in fate. If I wasn't OK, Mario was going to qualify for me, but if I was OK to qualify, he was going to step out of the car."

Michael Andretti is retiring as a race driver after this year's Indianapolis 500 so that he can concentrate on his new duties as a team owner.

"It was awful," Andretti said of his qualification attempt. "The first lap, I almost hit the wall in Turn 2. A gust of wind just caught me. I thought I was going to hit the wall. I made changes in the cockpit, and I just missed it. From then on, I knew it just wasn't going to happen. The rest of the three laps were really eventful. The car was just all over the place. I kept making adjustments in the cockpit, and then whatever the car did in that turn the lap before, it would do something different in the next. It was just really bad.

"It's days like this that make me glad that I'm going to retire. I just wanted to do a more respectable job. It was all about pride to me."

Wheldon is the rookie on the team and the driver from England has had to endure his share of practical jokes, from his teammates hanging his uniform from the ceiling of the garage so he can't reach it, to the jokesters scattering the locker of a driver known for his fastidiousness.

Throughout it all, Wheldon has remained fast and fearless.

"My Andretti Green Racing team have given me a fantastic car leading into this qualifying day," Wheldon said. "And certainly, with the help of Michael Andretti, Tony Kanaan and Robby Gordon, it's been strong. I'm very happy to be on the front row."