HELIO CASTRONEVES earned $100,000 for the 2007 Indy 500 pole position Saturday at Indianapolis 500 Pole Day at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It was his second Indy 500 pole, with the first coming in 2003. This was Castroneves' third IndyCar pole this year and his 19th in the Indy Racing League.

ROGER PENSKE now lays claim to 14 poles and 14 victories at the Indy 500. "So, again, 14th pole, getting off that 13 number was a good thing," he smiled.

Castroneves had qualified fourth and was holding. His crew asked him what he wanted to do.

"Well, you know, at the beginning I was a little concerned," he said, "I'm like, man, I was really loose when I try my attempt and I was third. They're like, okay, we are hundred per cent behind you. I'm like that's not what I want to hear. I want to hear like, okay, buddy, cool down, that's fine.

"But, all of a sudden, like I said, we keep digging and we found what we were supposed to do. I say you know what? Let's do it. I spoke with [Tim] Cindric moments before we go and it's like remember 2005, we're in the same spot. We're fourth, second row, and we decided to take a chance and we end up fifth."

He was beaten by DANICA PATRICK, who started fourth that year - something Team Penske jokingly reminds Castroneves whenever possible.

Castroneves' team-mate, SAM HORNISH, came up just a bit short and was filled with conflicting emotions, one of which was being taken aback that Castroneves thanked him over the public address system.

"You don't get too many thanks from other drivers at any point in time," the reigning 500 champion said, "That was a pretty neat thing. So it's not like starting on the pole, but its a lot like being second. I was pretty happy with that."

"We worked as a team throughout the day," TIM CINDRIC, president of Penske Performance, said, "We didn't typically have both cars on the racetrack at any one point in time. We had one guy learn from the other guy, learn from the other guy back and forth throughout the day. I think that's what really paid off at the end of the day, is the communication between the two teams."

"I would say the drivers take their own particular set-ups, but it's based on knowledge not just from their own car, it's based on what they see their team-mate doing," Penske added, "I think these fellows sometimes are exact and other tines they might be different."

MICHAEL ANDRETTI and KIM GREEN garnered a unique niche in the 91-year history of the Indy 500 - they became the first team to place five cars in the first eleven of the Indy 500.

Sunday's schedule starts with an hour-long IndyCar practice at 1015 local time, and six hours of qualifying starting at noon.