Helio Castroneves earns third straight pole position at Long Beach

The 43rd Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach will begin with a familiar driver leading the charge.

Helio Castroneves captured the pole position during the Firestone Fast Six qualifying session by breaking his previous track record from 2015, recording a quickest lap of 106.980 miles per hour.

“Today is extra special because Long Beach is a great place, and I remember winning here from the pole in 2001,” Castroneves said. “The last two years, we were right there.”

It’s the third consecutive time that Castroneves has won the pole at Long Beach (and his fourth overall). He has 48 pole positions in his career, which is fourth in the history of the sport, one behind Bobby Unser. But his previous two attempts at holding the lead at the Grand Prix were unsuccessful, culminating in second- and third-place finishes in 2015 and 2016, respectively.

“Qualifying is one thing, the race is another, but I feel that we have a very good chance,” Castroneves said of 2017’s event.

Last year’s winner at Long Beach, Simon Pagenaud, was eliminated from pole-position contention on Saturday after bumping teammate Castroneves during the first round of qualifying. He had recorded the top speed during that session, but it was invalidated by IndyCar officials, and he’ll start in last place (21st) on Sunday. He had the most disappointing result when accounting for Grand Prix expectations, but wasn’t the only one to suffer a setback: Will Power, who was fastest in practice, will begin in the No. 9 slot.

In a showing of how far IndyCar vehicles have come in recent years, Castroneves’s old track record was actually eclipsed by more than just himself — in fact, it was broken by 11 of the first 12 qualifiers. Castroneves was also the lone Chevrolet in the top six, trailed closely by a handful of Hondas. Those drivers recalled a time when Chevrolet reigned supreme at the Grand Prix.

“A couple years ago, it was literally a split field here,” Graham Rahal said of the difference between manufacturers.

Scott Dixon qualified second (106.679 mph), followed by Ryan Hunter-Reay (106.634 mph), James Hinchcliffe (106.492 mph), Alexander Rossi (106.443 mph) and Rahal (106.129 mph).

“I thought I had a really good lap today, until this guy spoiled it,” Hunter-Reay said about Castroneves. “Congratulations to Helio, it’s amazing what he’s been able to do over the span of his career.”

In other events:

— It was a family affair at the Can-Am Challenge Cup, as Craig Bennett defeated his brother, Kirk Bennett, to win the inaugural event at Long Beach. The 20-minute race was a mainstay at venues in Canada and the United States in the ‘60s and ‘70s. Its 2017 iteration featured cars from those prior decades — Craig Bennett was victorious on Saturday in a 1974 Shadow DN4.

— A wild finish in the final stretch of the Bubba Burger Sports Car Grand Prix allowed Jordan Taylor and his Cadillac DPi to cruise to an unlikely overall victory. Antonio Garcia was leading on the last lap, but was blocked off by a three-car collision that Taylor was able to maneuver around. Ryan Dalziel ended up in second, Jonathan Bomarito was third, and Garcia plummeted to 10th.

— Prerace ceremonies for Sunday’s Grand Prix begin at 12:30 p.m., and the race starts at 1:30. Television coverage on NBCSN will run from 1-4 p.m.