Published: May 10, 2008 11:21 pm            

Dixon on Indianapolis 500 pole, Wheldon second

INDIANAPOLIS — One-third of the field for the 92nd Indianapolis 500 was filled on a busy Saturday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway with Scott Dixon turning in fast time to earn the pole for the May 25 race.

Three “super teams” will make up eight of the first 11 slots with Dixon and teammate Dan Wheldon filling the first two positions for Target Chip Ganassi Racing and Ryan Briscoe of Penske Racing being the third member of the front row.

Four drivers held the pole slot during the day in which 32 qualifying attempts were made with Dixon being the second and last to occupy the No. 1 position for the IndyCar Series race.

The New Zealand native turned in his pole-sitting four-lap run, averaging 226.366 miles per hour, just after 3:30 p.m. to knock Briscoe from the pole and survived a late challenge from Wheldon to keep it as Wheldon took the second spot from Briscoe in the process.

It is Dixon’s third pole of the season and his first at Indy. He has started either fourth or 13th in his five previous races.

He will be seeking his first win in the race, having finished second last year and in the top 10 two other times.

Chip Ganassi not only has his two drivers in the first two spots , but Dixon is his first driver to be on the pole since Bruno Junqueira claimed the honor in 2002.

“It hasn’t really sunk in what this means. It’s definitely one of the top accomplishments of my career … and for the team. We both had great cars and had the field covered,” said Dixon.

“Today is a real tribute to the team and all the hard work everyone put in during the off-season,” echoed Ganassi.

“We have been playing poker here for a long time. Sometimes, you have all aces, sometimes you are bluffing. Today, we had the good hand … all the aces,” he added.

Qualifying and the run for the pole started shortly after noon in pleasant conditions marked by a wind much of the day.

Briscoe was first to attempt a qualifying run and was on the pole for about half an hour before Dixon took over following his first run.

Danica Patrick then had the No. 1 slot for awhile until Wheldon took over and sat on the pole for some time until the second-attempt runs began.

Briscoe held it again for a short time until Dixon reclaimed it and remained No. 1 the rest of the day.

Dixon’s first attempt went 225.182, 225.169, 225.166, 225.194 — the most consistent four-lap run in 500 history.

Mike Hunt, team manager for Ganassi Racing, said he knew it would take more than one attempt to gain the pole and said the fact that Dixon drew a low number for his first attempt was a key especially since weather conditions changed as the day progressed.

Helio Castroneves (Penske), Patrick (Andretti Green Racing) and Tony Kaman (AG) will be in the second row race day with Marco Andretti (AG), Vitor Meira and Hideki Mutoh (AG) in the third and Ed Carpenter and Tomas Scheckter in slots 10 and 11.

Meira was the fastest qualifier not from the three main teams and went from 10th to eighth with a late second attempt in the only car entered by Panther Racing this year.

Carpenter drives for Vision Racing and Scheckter for Luczo Racing.

Mutoh is the only rookie in the top 11 and had to qualify twice when his AG Racing car failed technical inspection after his early run. He bumped another rookie, Graham Rahal, when he put it back into the lineup.

Davey Hamilton also drives for Vision Racing and was the next-to-last driver bumped. He and Rahal both had better speeds than they had gotten in practice runs cut short by rains during the week.

He and Rahal and others will have a chance to be in the top 22 when the second 11 slots are filled today, weather permitting. Qualifying will begin at noon and is slated to run until 6 p.m.

Saturday was free of accidents until the final hour when Ryan Hunter-Reay of Rahal Letterman Racing hit the wall in the third turn in his second attempt to make the field. Alex Lloyd, driving a RH car, was injured in an accident Friday and was not cleared to drive this weekend but should return to the track next weekend.

Marco Andretti had the top lap in practice of 228.318 mph that preceded qualifying. He was followed, in order, by Wheldon, Briscoe, Scheckter and Dixon.

        

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