Dario Franchitti earned his first Indy car pole start on the streets of Toronto in 1997. He claimed No. 29 on the 1.75-mile, 11-turn Exhibition Place street circuit for the Honda Indy Toronto.Franchitti posted a lap of 59.3510 seconds on the last of his five laps in the Firestone Fast Six to wrest the pole from Will Power, the 2011 pole sitter, in the final 20 seconds of the 10-minute session. Power, the IZOD IndyCar Series championship front-runner in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske car, was .0247 of a second back.It's the third consecutive race in which Franchitti, driving the No. 10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing car, will start from the pole.Five different teams were represented in the Firestone Fast Six, and the six were separated by .2106 of a second.Justin Wilson, who set an IZOD IndyCar Series track record of 59.0663 seconds in Round 2, will start third in the No. 18 Sonny's BBQ car for Dale Coyne Racing. Sebastien Bourdais gave Dragon Racing its highest start of the season in fourth, while Scott Dixon, the 2011 race runner-up to Franchitti, was fifth.Also on July 7, Gustavo Yacaman prevailed over his childhood rival Sebastian Saavedra in the Toronto 100, winning by 2.2874 seconds.Pole sitter Victor Carbone finished third, Peter Dempsey (in his first race with Belardi Auto Racing) posted a season best of fourth and Oliver Webb finished fifth.It was the second victory of the season for Yacaman, driving the No. 2 TMR-Tuvacol-Xtreme Coil Drilling car, and his third in the past two seasons. Yacaman overtook Carbone in Turn 3 of the 1.75-mile, 11-turn circuit on Lap 13 of 50.DAY 2 NOTEBOOK:A.J. Stinger of Marion, Ind., is attending the Honda Indy Toronto with his father.The 12-year-old, who is a year out of treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukemia, was Indiana's ambassador for the 2009 Children's Miracle Network Champions Program that honors youngsters who have triumphed despite severe medical challenges. He continues to support Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis, where he received treatment, through various outreach programs for patients and staff.***Following the second practice June 6, the National Guard Panther Racing crew discovered a faulty right-rear brake rotor, which dramatically affected the No. 4 car's performance in both practice sessions. Driver JR Hildebrand was 22nd overall.***Ed Carpenter Racing General Manager Derrick Walker will miss this weekend's race at Toronto as he is overseeing Falken Racing's efforts in the American Le Mans Series at Lime Rock Park.***James Hinchcliffe is more visible in his hometown this week than Mayor Rob Ford, which is "like really weird," according to the freshman Andretti Autosport driver.Go Daddy, primary sponsor of Hinchcliffe's No. 27 Chevrolet-powered car, has blanketed the metro area with bus stop/subway and billboard advertising, featuring Hinchcliffe's bearded face, surrounding the Honda Indy Toronto. Glance up on the Gardiner Expressway and his mother, Arlene, can see her youngest child larger than life."I feel sorry for the people of Toronto, I apologize on behalf of myself and GoDaddy for doing that to them," said Hinchcliffe, who rules over his own web domain as the "Mayor of Hinchtown." "It's great that Go Daddy is so behind it. To see the level of activation that they've taken here in Toronto is incredible. I have had lots of friends from high school calling me saying they have never seen me as much as they have this week."I don't think you get used to seeing that but it's cool; it's all part of it."Hinchcliffe has received considerable attention this season as the driver taking over for Danica Patrick in the GoDaddy.com car, and the media coverage is trending toward his on-track results. He enters the 85-lap race on the 1.75-mile, 11-turn Exhibition Place street circuit only 30 points behind IZOD IndyCar Series championship front-runner Will Power. There are six races remaining (five on street/road courses), with the finale at Auto Club Speedway on Sept. 15.Hinchcliffe has seven top-10 finishes, including two podiums, in the nine races."It's obviously been a tremendous year for us up to this point," said the 2011 series Rookie of the Year. "We have been consistently quick, and that's what we can be proud of as a team. Whether it was road courses, street courses, short ovals or superspeedways, we have been fast at every kind of racetrack, and that's why we found ourselves in the position we were in - as high up as second in points."He'll incur a 10-grid spot penalty June 8 because of an unapproved engine change, stemming from an issue that developed in practice June 6.***In lieu of admission on Free Friday, spectators were encouraged to make a cash donation to Make-A-Wish with Honda Canada matching each donation dollar-for-dollar.With support from organizations such a Honda Canada and the Ontario Honda Dealders Association, Make-A-Wish grants more than 400 wishes a year through eight regional chapters across the country.***IZOD IndyCar Series driver Graham Rahal and David Clarkson of Stanley Cup finalist New Jersey Devils met at the track July 7 to promote awareness of their individual foundations, Kitchener Rangers' "Clarky's Kids" and the Graham Rahal Foundation.

Both charities raise funds to help chronically ill children and their families. The pro athletes exchanged jerseys (left).IZOD INDYCAR SERIES POLE QUALIFYING:IZOD IndyCar Series Pole Qualifying consists of three segments. In Segment One of qualifying, each group receives 15 minutes of track time. The fastest six cars from each group advance to Segment Two, while the remaining cars are assigned positions 13-26. Group One drivers will occupy the odd-numbered positions (13, 15, 17...) while Group Two drivers will occupy the even-numbered positions (14, 16, 18...) based on their fastest lap times.During Segment Two, the 12 advancing cars receive 10 minutes of track time. The fastest six advance to the Firestone Fast Six Shootout while the remaining six cars are ranked in positions 7-12 based on their fastest laps.During the Firestone Fast Six, the six cars receive 10 minutes of track time, with a guarantee of five minutes of green flag time. Each car receives one additional set of Firestone Firehawk tires for use during this final segment. At the end of the session, the cars are ranked 1-6 based on their fastest laps.Any driver who causes a red flag during any of the groups will lose their two quickest laps.The time line for qualifying today is between Turns 8 and 9.The outright lap record is 57.143 seconds set by Gil de Ferran in July 1999. Will Power set the IZOD IndyCar Series lap record at 59.3535 seconds last year.At 1 p.m., the ambient temperature was 77 degrees with a relative humidity of 63 percent. Skies were cloudy. The track temperature was 105 degrees, according to Firestone engineers.1:05 p.m. - GREEN. Round 1. Group 1.1:20 p.m. - CHECKERED. Advancing to Round 2 are: #77 Pagenaud, #18 Wilson, #38 Rahal, #3 Castroneves, #15 Sato and #7 Bourdais.1:25 p.m. - GREEN. Round 1. Group 2.1:40 p.m. - CHECKERED. Advancing to Round 2 are: #10 Franchitti, #9 Dixon, #98 Tagliani, #28 Hunter-Reay, #27 Hinchcliffe and #12 Power. #5 Viso has been penalized with the loss of his two fastest lap for qualifying interference.1:45 p.m. - GREEN. Round 2.1:52 p.m. - #9 Dixon sets fastest lap of the weekend at 59.1978 seconds.1:54 p.m. - #15 Sato has been penalized with the loss of his two fastest lap for qualifying interference.1:55 p.m. - #18 Wilson sets fastest lap at 59.0663. CHECKERED: Advancing to Firestone Fast Six are: #18 Wilson, #9 Dixon, #12 Power, #7 Bourdais, #98 Tagliani and #10 Franchitti.At 11:30 a.m., the ambient temperature was 77 degrees with a relative humidity of 63 percent. Skies were cloudy. The track temperature was 105 degrees, according to Firestone engineers.At 2 p.m., the ambient temperature was 81 degrees with a relative humidity of 57 percent. Skies were cloudy. The track temperature was 109 degrees, according to Firestone engineers.2:05 p.m. - GREEN. Firestone Fast Six.2:10 p.m. - With five minutes remaining, Fastest is #18 Wilson at 60.3264 seconds.2:12 p.m. - #98 Tagliani sets fastest lap 59.5616 then 59.5522 seconds.2:13 p.m. - #18 Wilson sets fastest lap 59.4506 seconds.2:14 p.m. - #12 Power sets fastest lap 59.3757 seconds.2:15 p.m. - CHECKERED. #10 Franchitti sets fastest lap 59.3510 seconds and wins the pole for the Honda Indy Toronto.IZOD INDYCAR SERIES POST-QUALIFYING NOTES: This is Dario Franchitti's fourth pole at Toronto. He won his first Indy car pole here in 1997. This is Franchitti's 29th career Indy car pole and his third consecutive pole this season (Milwaukee & Iowa). Will Power qualified second. It his fourth front row start of 2011 and the fourth consecutive front row start here in Toronto. Justin Wilson qualified third, matching his best start of the season - third at Long Beach. Sebastien Bourdais qualified fourth, his best start of the season. He's previous best start his year was ninth at Belle Isle. Scott Dixon qualified fifth. He has qualifed in the top 10 in every road/street event this season Alex Tagliani qualified sixth. He has qualified in the top 10 at Toronto in his four most recent starts at Toronto.TORONTO 100 RACE SPECIFICS (FIRESTONE INDY LIGHTS) RACE SPECIFICS:The race is 50 laps or 60 minutes, whichever comes first, on the 11-turn, 1.755 -mile street course.The pit road speed limit is 45 mph.Pole sitter Victor Carbone has opted to grid on driver's right.The green flag to start the race will be show the second time by the start-finish line.Three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Johnny Rutherford will drive the Honda Civic Si Safety CarThe race leader will accelerate exiting Turn 11 on restarts.TORONTO 100 (FIRESTONE INDY LIGHTS) RACE RUNNING:At 3:45p.m., the ambient temperature was 80 degrees with a relative humidity of 58 percent. Skies were cloudy. The track temperature was 102 degrees, according to Firestone engineers.3:53 p.m. - Command to start engines. All cars are running and rolling on the grid.Lap 1: GREEN: #3 Carbone leads the field off of Turn 11. #11 Guerrieri takes lead on the front stretch. #77 Vautier takes the lead in Turn 1. Guerrieri and Vautier makes contact in Turn 1 with Vautier hitting the wall at the exit of the corner. #11 Guerrieri is off the pace in Turn 3. #77 Vautier is off course in Turn 6.Lap 2: #11 Guerrieri on pit lane new tires. #26 Munoz is off course in Turn 3. FULL COURSE YELLOW. Leader is #3 Carbone.Lap 6: #11 Guerrieri on pit lane for new nosecone.Lap 7: GREEN. #3 Carbone leads the field off of Turn 11 and into Turn 1.Lap 10: #3 Carbone leads #2 Yacaman by. 5407 of a second.Lap 13: #2 Yacaman passes #3 Carbone for the lead in Turn 3. He leads #3 Carbone at the line by .9615 of a second.Lap 14: #27 Saavedra passes #3 Carbone for second in Turn 3.Lap 16: #2 Yacaman leads #27 Saavedra by .6462 of a second.Lap 18: #2 Yacaman leads #27 Saavedra by 1.1760 seconds.Lap 20: #2 Yacaman leads #27 Saavedra by .9565 of a second.Lap 23: #2 Yacaman leads #27 Saavedra by .8277 of a second.

Lap 25: #2 Yacaman leads #27 Saavedra by .7016 of a second.Lap 27: #2 Yacaman leads #27 Saavedra by .7721 of a second.Lap 30: #2 Yacaman leads #27 Saavedra by .9234 of a second.Lap 33: #2 Yacaman leads #27 Saavedra by 1.2180 seconds.Lap 35: #2 Yacaman leads #27 Saavedra by 1.2160 seconds.Lap 38: #2 Yacaman leads #27 Saavedra by 1.1012 seconds.Lap 40: #2 Yacaman leads #27 Saavedra by .7255 of a second.Lap 42: #2 Yacaman leads #27 Saavedra by 1.0584 seconds.Lap 45: #2 Yacaman leads #27 Saavedra by 2.2180 seconds.Lap 47: #2 Yacaman leads #27 Saavedra by 2.7422 seconds.Lap 49: WHITE: #2 Yacaman leads #27 Saavedra by 2.7833 seconds.Lap 50: CHECKERED: #2 Gustavo Yacaman wins the Toronto 100 by 2.2874 seconds.TORONTO 100 POST RACE NOTES:         This is Gustavo Yacaman's second win in 2012 and the third win in his Firestone Indy Lights career. He previously won at Baltimore in 2011 and Belle Isle earlier this year.         This is Team Moore Racing's eighth win in Firestone Indy Lights. It has previously won with James Hinchcliffe (3), Yacaman (3) Victor Garcia (1) and Pablo Donoso (1).         Sebastian Saavedra finished second, his fifth podium finish of 2012.         Victor Carbone finished third, matching his season-best finish. It is his seventh-straight top-six finish this season.         Peter Dempsey finished fourth, his best finish of the season.         Oliver Webb finished fifth, his third top-five finish.SUNDAY'S SCHEDULE:6:30 a.m. - Garage opens8:30 - 9 a.m. - IZOD IndyCar Series warmup9:50 - 10:30 a.m. - Star Mazda Race #2Noon - Honda Indy Toronto pre-race12:53:30 p.m.  - Command to start engines1 p.m. - Honda Indy Toronto (85 laps), ABC/TSN (Live)