Recording: Castroneves and Kanaan Battle for 2007 Indy 500 Pole

Talk about drama! As those who were there in person can attest, the battle for pole position in the 91st running of the Indianapolis 500 went right down to the wire, with Helio Castroneves ultimately coming out on top with a four-lap average speed just .06 seconds quicker than that of last-minute challenger Tony Kanaan. This recording captures the exciting final ten minutes of qualifying as called by Dave Calabro and cheered on by thousands of fans.

I’m not sure I can adequately describe the feeling at the track that afternoon (you had to be there!). It was a beautiful, breezy sunny day and shadows had started to cover the front stretch as they always do late in the day. Sam Hornish Jr. had made an attempt at the pole held by Dario Franchitti since the first hour of the session and had fallen just short, as had Scott Dixon. Helio Castroneves withdrew his previous time for a final shot at the pole and grabbed it, with a four-lap average speed of 225.817 mph.

Tony Kanaan was the next and final qualifier of the day and the tension would build as the average of his first three laps were quick enough to win the pole. If you listen closely you can hear the firing of the gun signifying the end of qualifying just after Kanaan’s second lap. Heightening the drama was the strained friendship between the two drivers in the past year. Everyone was on their feet and cheering one way or the other as Kanaan crossed the start/finish line for the fourth and final time… and just missed the pole with a four-lap average speed of 225.757 mph!

Listen for yourself… this is great stuff!

This recording was made at the start/finish line on the inside of the track just behind the pit area, so you will hear the cars move from right to left. Unfortunately, it suffers from a bit of wind noise and some odd distortion, but is otherwise okay… the important thing is that it captures the moment!