Tony Kanaan used the cooler 'after dark' conditions at Richmond International Raceway to pip Andretti Green Racing team-mate Marco Andretti to pole for Saturday night's SunTrust Indy 300.
Both AGR pilots made the most of late qualifying slots to snatch the front row away from points leader Scott Dixon, while rookie Graham Rahal also demoted the Ganassi driver as he, too, enjoyed a run after sundown.
Dixon had previously looked comfortable in top spot, having deposed team-mate Dan Wheldon by over a tenth on a four-lap run of the shortest oval on the IndyCar schedule. Wheldon had earlier supplanted Oriol Servia, who managed to hold on for a top ten slot when all 26 cars had presented themselves for qualifying.
Run as tghe sun was dipping over the western horizon, the session presented each driver with slightly different conditions, but it was Kanaan who eventually came out on top, clocking 1min 04.3333secs for his four-lap run to deny Andretti by just 0.0309secs. By contrast, Rahal, in third, was fully two tenths adrift...
With Dixon remaining in fourth place, Buddy Rice built on his impressive practice pace to split the two Ganassi cars and fill the inside of row three, while Iowa runner-up Hideki Mutoh again came closest behind Wheldon as he took seventh spot. AJ Foyt, another to enjoy a seasons-best run at Iowa, was next up, heading Bruno Junqueira and Servia in the remainder of the top ten.
Neither Penske driver enjoyed the happiest of sessions, with Ryan Briscoe the better of the red-and-white machines in eleventh. Team-mate, and former Richmond winner, Helio Castroneves was so disappointed with his run that he found himself unable to give the obligatory post-qualifying soundbite, and was ushered away by his crew. The Brazilian, who ran fourth on the road, eventually wound up back in 18th place, sharing row nine with an equally disappointed Vitor Meira.
