Pole day at Indianapolis Motor Speedway

The pole position and the top-11 starting spots for the Indianapolis 500 will be determined in qualifying Saturday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Mario Dominguez, driver for the Oxnard-based Pacific Coast Motorsports, was asked what his expectations are for the first day of qualifying.
The pole position is most likely out of the question. He said his team, making its first appearance in the Indy 500, is focusing on qualifying somewhere in the field and being in the top 22 when qualfying ends Sunday.
"Well, I have to be honest with you, I don't think at this point in time we have a shot at pole position Saturday," said Dominguez, driver of the No. 96 entry for Pacific Coast Motorsports. "We are years behind in development of cars. We just got the car a week and a half ago, and we will be competing against teams that have been developing this car for the past five years."
Dominguez is part of a 13-driver rookie contingent that is entered in the Indy 500. He had to begin a rookie orientation program earlier this week and completed three of the four phases. Pacific Coast Motorsports is one of the team's making the transition from Champ Car to the Indy Racing League IndyCar Series and it will be making its first IRL start of the year at Indianapolis.
While Dominguez said his chances of winning the pole are slim, he expects be one of the 22 drivers who qualify on Saturday and Sunday. Eleven drivers will qualify for the Indy 500 on Saturday. The next 11 drivers in the field will be determined on Sunday.
"But I think qualifying on Sunday, on the first week of qualifying, we have a very good shot of doing that," Dominguez said. "It's not going to be easy, but I think we can do it."
His time in the team's Indy car has been limited and coming from Champ Car will no doubt present some challenges. But Dominguez is learning quickly how his new car reacts to the track.
"I think what it takes to be fast around here, you need a car that doesn't have much grip," Dominguez said. "So you need to take a lot of aero out of it, and at the same time, it has to be steady. It has to be stable in the corners, because this place is tough. It can bite you pretty hard. And it's certainly a completely different oval to anything I've ever driven."