RICHMOND, VA. ? Gil de Ferran and Helio Castroneves showed that perhaps the only thing in the IRL capable of outrunning a Roger Penske-owned car might be another one.

De Ferran turned a lap at 168.705 mph Friday night in qualifying for Saturday’s SunTrust Indy Challenge. He obliterated teammate Castroneves’ record lap at 168.013 and earned the pole on the shortest track in the series.

De Ferran

The Marlboro-sponsored drivers, popular in a city that also is home to Marlboro maker Philip Morris’ biggest cigarette factory, drew roars from the crowd when their lap times were posted.

De Ferran’s lap came near the end of the session and earned him his second consecutive pole, his third of the season and Penske’s fourth.

No driver came within 2 mph of de Ferran and Castroneves. The duo incurred the ire of Sarah Fisher, who qualified 17th.

“They’ve got a lot more resources than the average team does,” she snapped when asked if the goal for the race was chasing the Penske teams. “They’re testing every week. If we had a $20 million budget, I’m sure we could do 168, too.”

Sam Hornish Jr. qualified third at 165.807 despite crashing in practice. Buddy Lazier, who dominated this race last year by leading a series-record 224 of the 250 laps, qualified fifth, behind rookie Laurent Redon.

CART underway today

Cicero, Ill. Racing gets underway today with practice and qualifying on the 1.029-mile oval at Chicago Motor Speedway. Cristiano da Matta owns a 20-point lead over fellow Brazilian Bruno Junqueira and Michel Jourdain of Mexico going into Sunday’s Grand Prix of Chicago.

Cook wins truck pole

West Allis, Wis. Terry Cook was the fifth and final competitor to take the No. 1 starting position for the GNC Live Well 200. The Ford driver posted a fast lap speed of 119.784 mph to take the pole for today’s NASCAR truck series race at The Milwaukee Mile.