Sato has another positive at Alabama track

Written by Associated Press

By JOHN ZENOR
AP Sports Writer

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (AP)  Takuma Sato could really start to like Barber Motorsports Park.

The Japanese ex-Formula One driver turned in the sixth-fastest qualifying time ahead of Sunday's Indy Grand Prix of Alabama. He made his IndyCar Series debut during testing here in February after signing with KV Racing Technology .

``It's a fantastic day for me and the team,'' Sato said on Saturday. ``We're very pleased about it.''

He said he was more comfortable with the car and the race circuit the second time around at Barber. Sato was off to a rocky start in his new series after 22nd-place finishes in both Brazil and St. Petersburg.

Saturday's qualifying was a welcome relief.

``I am just getting more confident and more comfortable and finally made it into Q3 (the third qualifying stage), which was great,'' Sato said.

WHELDON'S SPIN: Dan Wheldon had to drop his two best lap times during qualifying after a spin late in the first round because it led to a full-course caution. That put him in the 23rd position

Wheldon's lap times were among the six best in the group and he was in position to advance to the next round before he spun into the gravel at the hairpin No. 5 turn.

``It was unfortunately my mistake going into the hairpin and obviously we lost our best two lap times because of that,'' he said. ``The National Guard Panther boys had worked really hard overnight and we had such a better car today than we had yesterday, which was really good.

``We were certainly capable of making it through to the second round. As a team we've found a lot more speed and we're looking forward to the race we just have to start a bit further back than we would have liked.''

CENTURY MARK: Vitor Meira finds encouragement in one nice round number from Sunday's race: It will be his 100th start.

``A hundred starts is proof that I've been doing a good job because I never had to pay to drive, so I always had to prove that I could do the job that people were expecting,'' Meira said. ``I think that (100 starts) is one way to prove that and to feel good about it. There is a lot to be done still. I have not done nearly everything that I want to do so I'm still pushing with the same will I had at my first race.''

The Brazilian is in his second season driving the No. 14 ABC Supply car for A.J. Foyt Racing. A number he would really cherish would be 1. He has eight career second-place finishes in IndyCar but no wins.

DANICA'S SEARCH: Danica Patrick is still looking for answers at how to be more competitive both at Barber and overall.

The track hasn't been particularly kind to her. She qualified with the 19th-fastest lap on Saturday after finishing Friday's practice sessions in the same spot. Patrick was only one position better at February's testing. The problems haven't been confined to Alabama, but Patrick was searching for a fix.

``We've had a rough start to the season,'' she said. ``What am I going to do? Get mad?

``If I had the engine or what I could do to fix the problem and go faster, I would do it. There's nothing that I don't do to try and fix it.''

She said everything was on the table in searching for potential issues.

``I think about my style, my driving, all kinds of stuff,'' Patrick said. ``It's not that easy to find an answer.''

RAHAL'S RIDE: The license plates on Graham Rahal's cars _ IGTBG and IGTBG2 _ aren't precisely accurate at the moment. Sure, It's Good to be Graham, but it's also tough since his latest efforts to find a full-time ride fell through.

Rahal had hoped to sign a deal with Newman-Haas-Lanigan Racing, his old team.

``I thought as of last weekend that I was going to be starting in Kansas with a full-time ride for the rest of the year but unfortunately it fell apart at the very last minute,'' the 21-year-old said. ``The big hope now would be to focus on at least running the (Indianapolis) 500 and from there see what we can build upon.

``It's been pretty tough to recover from that.''

The good news is Sarah Fisher Racing has added the Long Beach race to his schedule, but Rahal thinks he'll have to settle for a piecemeal slate for the rest of the year.

``I think it's going to shape up to be something where we piece it together,'' he said. ``I don't see at this point that we're going to put together a full-time deal.''

Rahal was once the youngest driver to win an IndyCar race after capturing his debut event