Dario Franchitti captured the pole for the
Firestone Indy 300, while his Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Scott Dixon
qualified second and Ryan Briscoe from Team Penske claimed third, as the three
drivers duke it out for IndyCar Series championship in Saturday's season-
ending race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Franchitti, the second driver to qualify in the 23-car field, turned a four-
lap average on the 1.5-mile oval at 212.696 m.p.h. for his fifth pole of the
season and the 11th of his IndyCar career. By winning the pole, he was awarded
one bonus point, which moved him to within four points of leader Dixon.
"I was pleasantly surprised since we hadn't run quite well in practice this
morning," Franchitti said.
Dixon qualified 0.25 seconds behind Franchitti to give Ganassi the front
starting row for the second straight race.
"The car was loose to start with," Dixon said. "That was a handful, but the
car is still strong. I just went the wrong way on some adjustments."
Last month in Japan, Dixon grabbed the pole and Franchitti secured the second
position. Dixon went on to lead 139 laps en route to his series-leading fifth
victory of the season.
Briscoe enters the season-finale eight points behind Dixon.
"I don't know if the track got slower at the end, but I think we did about
what we were expecting to do," said Briscoe, who qualified late in the
session for a third-place effort.
Ed Carpenter will share the second row with Briscoe, while Alex Lloyd and
Graham Rahal will begin from row three.
Danica Patrick qualified seventh, followed by Marco Andretti, Raphael Matos
and Mario Moraes.
Helio Castroneves will start 11th in a backup car after wrecking his primary
in practice earlier in the day. Castroneves complained of soreness in his
knees and shoulders, but had been cleared by medical officials to drive.
Tomorrow's 300-mile is scheduled to begin around 5:00 p.m. (et).
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