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Barracuda Racing Reaches Firestone Fast Six

Topics: Alex Tagliani, Chevrolet Indy Dual in Detroit

Barracuda Racing Reaches Firestone Fast Six

Monica Hilton
Bryan Herta Autosport
May 31, 2013

Alex Tagliani and his Barracuda Racing crew achieved a season-best P5 starting position for “Dual One” of the Chevrolet Indy Dual in Detroit Detroit race weekend.

The solid qualifying run came after the team earned the P1 spot in morning practice on Friday. It’s a good start to an unprecedented double-header race weekend that will feature Dual One on Saturday afternoon and Dual Two only 24 hours later.

When asked about the morning practice run, Tagliani stated, “With only one practice session and qualifying coming up, it’s very important for us to roll out of the truck fast. I’m really happy and the Barracuda Racing boys did a fantastic job. We were really good here last year – we qualified third – and if we can dodge bullets and get a bit of luck, this team is definitely capable of getting on the podium. That’s what we need to aim for.”

This marks the second consecutive year that Tagliani has reached the Firestone Fast Six on the 13-turn, 2.36-mile temporary street circuit at Belle Isle. While he was satisfied with the starting position, he felt that P1 was within reach.

“It’s really nice to be back in the front,” Tagliani stated. “Obviously we struggled a little bit with the new tires from the beginning of the year. The Barracuda Racing team worked hard and I was kind of nervous when we unloaded the car. Being a one-car team, there’s not too many chances. We didn’t know it yet, but the car was really fast so we were really happy about that. The team did a great job with that.

“The qualifying car was really good too. We made some changes and at the end we knew we had a chance at the pole and we kind of messed up a bit. That was unfortunate because the car was really fast, so hopefully we can make it up in the race.”

The Barracuda Racing team will get another opportunity to reach P1 tomorrow morning, as the IZOD IndyCar Series qualifies for Dual Two at 9:15 a.m. ET. Once the field is set for both duals, ABC will broadcast Dual One on Saturday from 3:30-6 p.m. ET and Dual Two on Sunday from 3:30-6 p.m.