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#12 Will Power thanks his team after a successful Pole run

“I think three wins a row is possible, but pretty tough to do. I just have to keep executing in the races." "

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Will Power topping the Timing & Scoring lap time has been a familiar sight at Barber Motorsports Park.

Let’s see, there was the IZOD IndyCar Series Open Test back in late February. Then there was practice on April 9 and the first two rounds of qualifications the next morning. Finally, the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske car had the quickest lap time in the 10-minute Firestone Fast Six knockout session and Power claimed his second consecutive PEAK Performance Pole Award.

That’s all great, but what matters most to the Aussie and his crew is taking the checkered flag in the inaugural Indy Grand Prix of Alabama presented by Legacy Credit Union on April 11. It would increase his 45-point lead in the championship standings heading to the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach and secure an IZOD IndyCar Series record.

He'd be the first to win the first three races of the season (and tie Scott Dixon, Dan Wheldon and Kenny Brack in winning three in a row overall) in the Indy Racing League. A.J. Foyt (1964 USAC), Al Unser (1971 USAC), Paul Tracy (2003 CART) and Sebastien Bourdais (2006 Champ Car) also have won three Indy car races at season's start.

It won’t be a Sunday afternoon walk through the picturesque venue, however, for Power, who recorded a quick lap of 1 minute, 10.1356 seconds on the 2.38-mile, 17-turn circuit. Five teams were represented in the Firestone Fast Six, and the competition will attempt to press Power into an uncharacteristic mistake during the 90-lap race.

“I think three wins a row is possible, but pretty tough to do,” said Power, who earned the fourth pole start of his IZOD IndyCar Series career. “I just have to keep executing in the races. I guess in a way you probably can relax a little bit more, but the schedule coming up we've got tough races."

The Long Beach event concludes the four street/road course races to start the season -- and then it's on to four ovals of varying length. 

"It's a long season, and I haven't changed my approach," Power said. "I still go into every race trying to get as many points as I can and make no mistakes."

At the start at least, Mike Conway will be his chief adversary. Conway will make his first front-row start, posting a quick lap of 1:10.6501 in the No. 24 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing car. His previous best was sixth in back-to-back races at Watkins Glen and Toronto in ’09.

“I owe a big thank you to the team who has spent a lot of time getting the car ready for this weekend,” said Conway, who posted one top-five finish (third at Infineon) in his rookie season of ‘09. “They are doing a great job, but we still have some work to do tonight before the race.”

Power’s teammate, Helio Castroneves, will share Row 2 with Marco Andretti, who will make his second consecutive top-six start in the No. 26 Team Venom Energy car for Andretti Autosport. Castroneves, also was making his second consecutive Firestone Fast Six appearance, is three shy of 100 top-five starts in the series.

Scott Dixon, who extended his series record for top-10 starts to 35, will be on Row 3 in the No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing car. He’ll be joined by rookie Takuma Sato, who earned his highest start of the season in the No. 5 Lotus-KV Racing Technology car.

Dario Franchitti, who missed out on reaching the Firestone Fast Six by less than a tenth of a second, will be on Row 4 in the No. 10 Suave entry for Target Chip Ganassi Racing with Tony Kanaan in the No. 11 Team 7-Eleven entry for Andretti Autosport.

"“We took a risk and made a change to the 7-Eleven car for our last run, and it didn't work like we were hoping," said Kanaan, who competed in the first two Firestone Fast Six sessions of the season (starting sixth and second). "If it had worked, we'd be standing here laughing but instead we're wondering why we did what we did. We are a lot better than people expected us to be and the field is very, very close. We have one car in the top five and that is great for the team."

All teams worked through the afternoon to tweak cars for the sweeping turns and narrow straights of the racetrack. Sunshine and temperatures in the mid-70s is expected for the mid-afternoon race.Team Penske’s Ryan Briscoe, the third-place finisher at St. Petersburg two weeks ago (advancing 16 positions), will start ninth and E.J. Viso will start 10th in the No. 8 PDVSA-KV Racing Technology car.

Conway’s teammate, Justin Wilson, who started third and fourth in the first two races, posted a best lap of 1:10.7760 (ninth in Round 2) and will start on Row 6 with KV Racing Technology’s Mario Moraes (his highest start in three races).

“The KV Racing Technology engineers came up with a change that really improved the car from yesterday to today,” said Moraes, who didn’t participate in the Open Test. “That made all the difference in qualifying.  I think we could have done a little better, but overall it was a good qualifying.”