Target Chip Ganassi pairing Scott Dixon and Dan Wheldon will lead the way when the grid for the 92nd edition of the Indianapolis 500 forms up in two weeks' time, but it was the Kiwi who walked off with the $100,000 prize for pole position.
With the week's rain having abated in time for the six hours of practice and qualifying that make up the bulk of Pole Day, all contenders were able to get ample track time in preparation for an assault on the front row but, in reality, it was only the IndyCar Series' traditional powerhouses that would be in the running to make the first day cut-off of eleventh place.
Heading into the final hour of action, Dixon was already at the head of the timesheets, his four-lap average of 226.366mph putting him ahead of Penske's Ryan Briscoe and Ganassi team-mate Wheldon, with Helio Castroneves, Danica Patrick and Tony Kanaan forming the provisional second row. The Kiwi was fifth on the grid mid-afternoon, but pulled his qualified time from his first attempt and put in another four-lap effort that was good enough to take the PEAK Motor Oil Pole Award presented by AutoZone from Briscoe.
“I turned around, and Dixon was taking it away from me," the Australian sighed, "Aside from that, I thought I had a really good run. The car was balanced really well for the downforce level we trimmed out to, and it was a solid gain, for sure. Dixon put out a pretty quick time there, so we have a little bit of work to do. I'm happy with the gains we made in that second run, but I guess now we'll just look at everything closely and see if we can get any more speed out of the car.”
There was still time for Dixon to be toppled, however, while those who knew that their speed was not good enough for pole still had eleventh-placed Graham Rahal to aim at. In all, eight drivers mad qualifying attempts on Dixon's benchmark, but the Kiwi's speed - the most consistent four-lap qualifying effort in Indianapolis 500 history with four laps separated by 0.0049secs - held up to secure his eleventh career pole and scoop the $100,000 cheque that came with it.
