Sharp beats Cheever to Kansas pole.

Scott Sharp edged out practice pace setter Eddie Cheever to take pole position for Sunday's Ameristar Casino Indy 200 at a very hot Kansas Speedway with the Kelley Racing driver taking his first pole since that fateful day at Indy in May.

Kelley Racing's Scott Sharp gave himself the perfect opportunity to exorcise a few more Indianapolis 500 demons by taking his first pole since this year's Indy 500 with the fastest lap in MBNA Pole Qualifying for the inaugural Ameristar Casino Indy 200 at the beautiful 1.5-mile Kansas Speedway.

Sharp lapped the billiard-table smooth venue in a time of 25.3128-seconds, a standard not even the previously dominant Eddie Cheever could manage under baking hot skies in America's Mid West. Ambient temperatures soared into three figures during Saturday afternoon's qualifying session making the track somewhat slick and thus making it impossible for anyone to challenge Cheever's fastest speed from unofficial practice.

The pole was the fourth of Sharp's Indy Racing Northern Light Series career and his first since this year's Indianapolis 500 in which he led the field into turn one and then lost control of his Dallara-Aurora and smacked the outside wall eliminating him from the race. On Sunday the pressure will not be as great on Sharp but even if this was a dirt race sprint on a Friday night at the local fair, Sharp will be absolutely adamant that there will be no repeat of Indy and he could prove tough to beat in Sunday's race.

Cheever, who had set the pace in both Friday's practice sessions, came within a whisker of continuing his streak at the top of the lap-charts with a best lap of 25.3234-seconds, one hundredth slower than Sharp. The Infiniti engine flag bearer will start on the outside of the front row and can take solace from the fact that other than Sharp, he was the only driver to break the 216mph barrier despite the track conditions.

Eliseo Salazar and Infiniti's other representative, Robbie Buhl, share the second row of the grid while current IRNLS points leader Sam Hornish Jr was comfortably placed in fifth and looks in good shape to sustain his advantage at the head of the points table.

Felipe Giaffone recorded the sixth quickest time after a disappointing day on Friday while Mark Dismore could not match his Friday pace and dropped to seventh overall ahead of Billy Boat, the impressive Shigeaki Hattori who ripped off his best lap of the weekend to take ninth, and Greg Ray whose Menard engine did not take to the extreme heat well.

Buddy Lazier, comfortable winner of the last two IRNLS events, was only 12th fastest and half a second slower than Sharp while Robby McGehee will start his comeback race from 14th position. Al Unser Jr and the Galles Racing squad lost their way as Little Al and team-mate Didier Andre fell to 15th and 16th respectively after a promising Friday while Sarah Fisher continued to struggle and will start 17th.

Airton Dare was the only driver not to make a qualifying run after losing control of his Team Xtreme G Force-Aurora and hitting the wall and the young Brazilian driver will have to start Sunday's race from 22nd and last position.