INDY 500 DRIVERS MAKE SWITCH TO HONDA.

Byline: TIM HADDOCK MOTOR SPORTS

It might be a coincidence, but the teams with the four fastest cars in qualifying for Sunday's Indianapolis 500 used Toyotas last year.

Marlboro Team Penske drivers Sam Hornish Jr. and Helio Castroneves have the top two starting spots in the race.

Chip Ganassi's Team Target drivers Dan Wheldon and Scott Dixon are third and fourth.

This year every team in the race is using a Honda engine, produced and tested at Honda Performance Development in Santa Clarita. It seems to have benefited the Penske and Ganassi drivers the most.

Hornish, who won the pole with a four-lap average speed of 228.985 mph, said the new engine program has made a significant difference at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

``I think it's been a big part of the success,'' said Hornish, driver of the No. 6 entry for Team Penske. ``But I think the old engine program has a lot to do with it, too. We were not far off with the Toyota, but we could never get close enough to where at every track we felt like we were competitive.''

Hornish won two races last year with Toyota power, the most of any Toyota driver in the Indy Racing League.

But Toyotas only won four of the 17 IRL races last year while Honda drivers won 12.

Hornish said there were certain tracks where the Toyotas could compete with the Hondas, but there weren't that many.

``It tended to be the handling tracks where we seemed to do a lot better at,'' Hornish said. ``I think we worked on the handling of the car, downforce, drag, trying to minimize the drag on the car, trying to make the cars better. I think everybody worked together real hard to be able to make them better.''

Despite the struggles with Toyotas, Hornish said his team benefited from the adversity.

``I think that is what has allowed us to be as competitive as we are now, the fact of how hard we've worked over the past couple years,'' Hornish said. ``It's Team Penske. They tend to know how to get things done as far as the team is concerned. I think that's a big part of it, as well.''

This will be Hornish's seventh Indy 500 start. His best finish came in 2001 when he finished 14th driving for Panther Racing. This is the first time he has won the pole for the Indianapolis 500.

``The big thing for me to look at it, I've got a great shot at it,'' Hornish said. ``We've been quick all month. But it is a long race. Like I said, it's not always the fastest guy that wins. How do we get ourselves past that point and figure out how to make the least amount of mistakes. Pit stops have to be right. We have to make good decisions in the car. I have to make good decisions. You need to have a little bit of luck on your side as well.''

Valencia's Bryan Herta will be starting 16th in the Indianapolis 500, his best position in five races at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

In his career, Herta, a Hart High of Newhall graduate, has posted three top 10s and has finished in the top five the past two years.

Last year, he was third, his best finish in the Indianapolis 500.

``There's so much history and tradition with the Indianapolis 500,'' said Herta, driver of the No. 7 entry for Andretti Green Racing. ``I think more than any other race, it's probably the only single-race victory that means as much or more than a championship. I think it's bigger than winning a Daytona 500, bigger than winning Monaco in F1.''

Herta has won two races in his IRL career, but none would be bigger than winning the Indy 500.

``If you were going to win one race in your entire career, I think most drivers, if you were honest, this would be the one you'd want to win,'' Herta said.

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series: Ron Hornaday Jr. is coming off his best finish of the season and heading to a track where he won the pole last year.

Hornaday, driver of the No. 33 Chevrolet Silverado for Kevin Harvick Inc. on the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, finished fifth at Lowe's Motor Speedway last Friday night.

It was his first top-five finish of the year and moved the former Saugus Speedway champ from Palmdale up to 16th in the Truck Series standings.

He won the pole at Mansfield Motorsports Speedway in Ohio, site of tonight's race, and finished 11th last year.

Two drivers with familiar names will be making their Truck Series debuts in the Mansfield race.

Former Boston Red Sox outfielder Mike Greenwell and Champ Car veteran Michel Jourdain Jr. are entered in the Mansfield race.

Greenwell has been racing Late Models in Florida and has won 37 races. He will be driving the No. 08 Chevrolet Silverado.

Jourdain will be driving the No. 50 Ford F-150 for Roush Racing at Mansfield.

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