FONTANA, Calif. -- Penske Racing was perfect Friday in the first phase toward pushing Helio Castroneves to the IndyCar championship. Will Power, Castroneves and AJ Allmendinger swept the front row in qualifying for Saturday nights season finale at Auto Club Speedway, where Castroneves is trying to chase down Scott Dixon for the IndyCar title. "They did a hell of a job to be a front-row lockout, so job accomplished for those guys," said Dixon, who takes a 25-point lead over Castroneves into the finale. Dixons lead could have been cut to 24 points at the start of the race. Power turned a lap at 220.775 mph to bump Castroneves from the pole, snatching away the bonus point his teammate would have earned for qualifying in the top position. "It would have been nice for Helio to get the point, but Scott didnt, so it kind of still keeps it alive," Power said. Castroneves, who had a 49-point lead in the standings before two disastrous races in Houston two weeks ago, has a ton of work to do to win his first title. The Brazilian likely needs to win the race, while Dixon wins his third championship simply by finishing fifth or better. "Unfortunately, we didnt have a crystal ball to tell my buddy here to slow down," Castroneves said. "Those guys were behind him, so Im glad he went for it. Thats what the car was able to do. We showed that we did our homework. Its a game. Youve got to play the game on the odds. In that position, it was the right thing to do." Dixon qualified seventh and said he never had a shot at catching the Penske drivers. Castroneves was the class of the field in an open test last month, and everybody expected his Chevrolet to be fast at the finale. But the qualifying order had Castroneves go out fairly early, and Power knocked him from the pole, saying after he wanted to ensure that Dixon couldnt grab the top spot when he made his late run. "Im surprised they thought we had that kind of speed in us," the New Zealander said. "Thats kind of nice because it obviously helped us. Ill have to thank Will for taking that point. Whether that comes into control tomorrow night, thats a different subject." Both Castroneves and Dixon made engine changes before the weekend and will take 10-spot penalties on the starting grid. It means both will have to drive through early traffic in their championship race. Allmendinger was brought in by team owner Roger Penske as an added aid to Castroneves battle, and both he and Power have said theyll do whatever is needed to help their teammate. "Obviously, Helios got a championship on the line, and if I can help that, I will," Allmendinger said. But Power bristled when asked if a recent manipulating scandal in NASCAR by Michael Waltrips team could reflect poorly on any Penske attempt to assist Castroneves. "No, cmon. If you just sit there and say Im going to race my teammate really hard for the win, what are we talking about?" Power said. "Everyone knows what the deals going to be. Thats what its going to be. Every single team in this pit lane in this situation would do the same thing. Not just back off over the line. Not going to let him go, but not going to race him hard." Castroneves, usually light and playful, turned serious on the issue. "Were going to race as hard as we can without taking each other out," Castroneves said. "Well see what happens. If we got in that position, thats a great problem to have. Hopefully it will be like that, then well talk about it later." Dixon will be racing with Alex Tagliani filling in for regular teammate Dario Franchitti, who is recovering from injuries suffered in a last-lap crash at Houston two weeks ago. The four-time series champion suffered a broken ankle, two fractured vertebrae and a concussion in the accident, and was hospitalized for almost two weeks. Castroneves did not believe Dixon would suffer from not having his usual Target Chip Ganassi Racing teammate on the track. "Scott and Ganassi, not the first-time rodeo for them," he said. "They know what they need to do. We know what we need to do, as well." IndyCar moved the start of the race back 20 minutes to address driver concerns about the glare from the sun in Turn 3. Air Max 95 Pas Cher . -- Tony Finau won the Stonebrae Classic on Sunday for his first Web. Chaussure Pas Cher Site Chinois . This is an exercise I have undertaken a few times, starting in 2009, and hope that Ive refined my approach a little bit in that time to help paint a better picture. https://www.grossistechaussurepascher.fr/nike-air-max-pas-cher-52a.html . Claude Noel will be the man behind the bench when the team hits the ice of the MTS Centre to begin its inaugural season. Grossiste Chaussure Pas Cher . Patton was placed on the restricted list testing positive for a banned amphetamine. Patton took Adderall, a drug commonly used to combat Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, late in the 2013 season and then was given a random drug test. Grossiste Chinois Nike Air Max . This weeks topics include his take on the Kevin Pillar incident, All-Star snubs, the firing of Padres general manager Josh Byrnes and more. ST. LOUIS -- Lance Lynn figured the numbers did not lie and Bartolo Colon would be an automatic out. The rest of the St. Louis Cardinals, too. Lynn was philosophical about the 41-year-old Colons first extra-base hit of his career and first hit -- period -- in nine years that keyed the rally that helped the New York Mets win 3-2 Wednesday. Lynn joked that Colon was probably due. "I thought there was no way he was swinging, and he swung," Lynn said. "In all honesty, that at-bat right there cost us the game. "You dont expect him to be the one that starts something like that, and he did." Colon said through an translator he got what he wished for -- a fastball -- and would have whiffed on a breaking pitch. Twice, he loosened up the dugout running the bases. "It made everybody laugh," leadoff man Eric Young Jr. "Sometimes laughter gets everything going and you can start having fun playing baseball." In addition to his keepsake double, Colon worked eight dominant innings in 91-degree heat against a lineup that totalled 11 runs the first two games. "He got a lot of weak contact," catcher Taylor Teagarden said. "Thats exactly what you want from your starter on a tough day game, a get-away game after already being down 0-2 in the series." Eric Young and David Wright had an RBI apiece in a two-run sixth that put the Mets up by a run, and Young added an RBI double off Seth Maness in the seventh -- a run aided by Colons second sacrifice of the game. A day after dropping their sixth straight series in St. Louis, the Mets ended an eight-game road losing streak dating to June 3. Matt Carpenter hit his third career leadoff homer for the Cardinals, who lost for the second time in nine games. They had just one runner in scoring position against Colon (7-5), who retired 13 in a row before Daniel Descalso singled with two outs in the eighth. "He left one out over the plate and I was able to put a good swing on it," Carpenter said. "But he didnt make any mistakes after that one." Colon was 0 for 43 at the plate since June 10, 22005, when he was with the Angels and singled off the Mets Mike DeJean.dddddddddddd He had taken only 17 at-bats while in the American League from 2006-13. Colon surprised Lance Lynn (7-5) with a double just inside the third-base line to open the sixth. He scored his second career run, and first since 2002 with the Expos at Milwaukee, when Young followed with a double. Colon won his fifth straight decision and matched his season best for innings, needing just 86 pitches. He allowed four hits, had a season-low one strikeout and walked none, substituting deception for velocity. The Mets batted the pitcher eighth the first two games of the series but returned to a traditional look for the finale with Colon taking a turn. Left-hander Dana Eveland retired lefty swinging Matt Adams for the final out and his second career save, and first since 2005, after Allen Craigs infield RBI single off Jenrry Mejia. The Mets won for just the fourth time in 15 games. Collins said he took out Mejia because Adams has been so dangerous. "You keep reading every day in the notes that hes won game after game with a home run or a hit off right-handed pitching," Collins said. "So he was going to have to get a hit off a lefty." Wright just missed giving the Mets three doubles in four at-bats, settling for the go-ahead RBI single. Wright beat the relay to second on an opposite-field flare down the right field line but was tagged out by Descalso when he tried to switch feet. Lynn worked six innings and allowed five hits and two runs. NOTES: Colon is 5-0 with a 1.66 ERA his last six starts. ... The Cardinals begin a four-game series against the Phillies Thursday with Shelby Miller (7-5, 3.42) opposing David Buchanan (2-3, 3.97). The Mets begin a four-game set at Miami with Zack Wheeler (2-7, 4.38) facing Andrew Heaney, making his major league debut. ... Carpenter had two hits after getting a day off. ... The Mets optioned OF Matt den Dekker to Triple-A Las Vegas and recalled OF Kirk Nieuwenhuis. ... The Cardinals had three outfield assists the first 71 games, and two Wednesday. ' ' '