For the second year in a row at Watkins Glen International, Helio Castroneves will select the order (straight up or inversed) for single-lap qualifying June 3.

It’s the third time in five IndyCar Series street/road course events that the driver of the No. 3 Marlboro Team Penske Dallara/Honda/Firestone topped the combined speed chart in first-day practice, earning the right to select the qualifying order. His quick lap of 1:30.6783 (133.792 mph) was just off his pole-winning 1:30.6688 (133.806 mph) in September.

Under the IndyCar Series format, the quickest driver selects the qualifying order. The fastest six from single-car qualifying return for the 10-minute, all-car “Firestone Fast Six,” which determines the first three rows.

“The car seems to be very good,” said Castroneves, a two-time Indianapolis 500 winner who crashed in the race five days earlier. “We had a little issue this morning, actually a lot of issues. We had to stay in the pits for a long time, but Marlboro Team Penske did a hell of a job. They fixed the car in time, and with 20 minutes to go, I was able to get out there and come back with a time. Every time you’re in the pits here, you lose time, because the track gets better and better. So it was good to be able to come out and set a fast time.”

Tony Kanaan (1:31.0462; 133.251 mph) in the No. 11 Team 7-Eleven Dallara/Honda/Firestone was second on the chart. Rookie Marco Andretti, who was the runner-up to Sam Hornish Jr. in the 90th Indianapolis 500 on May 28, was third (1:31.1722; 133.067) in the No. 26 NYSE Group Dallara/Honda/Firestone.

Target Chip Ganassi teammates Scott Dixon (1:31.2363; 132.973) and Dan Wheldon (1:31.5971; 132.450) completed the top five. Hornish, coming off the first portion of his Victory Tour, was sixth quick on the chart (1:31.8463; 132.090).