Scott Dixon qualifies on pole at Kansas Speedway

Shaking up the front of the grid was an intended byproduct of four-lap oval qualifying, which was instituted this year partly to test car/driver consistency.

That the Target Chip Ganassi Racing cars will share the front row for the Road Runner Turbo Indy 300 at Kansas Speedway wasn't totally unexpected, the remainder of the top 10 will raise some eyebrows. Two Vision Racing cars? Marty Roth and Tomas Scheckter? Where are TK and Marco?

Scott Dixon, who won the season opener at Homestead-Miami Speedway from the pole, earned the PEAK Motor Oil Pole Award with a four-lap average speed of 213.956 mph (1 minute, 42.3014 seconds). Dixon, driving the No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone, will share Row 1 with teammate Dan Wheldon, the defending race winner. Wheldon, the final qualifier, had a four-lap average of 213.641 mph (1:42.4521).

"It's going to be interesting," said Dixon, who claimed the 10th pole of his IndyCar Series career and second at Kansas Speedway (2003). "Obviously, we're happy starting 1-2 and want to keep it that was at the end of the race."

It's the 34th time in series history that teammates have qualified 1-2 (fourth time for TCGR).

"I was a little surprised with the time chart," said Wheldon, who won last year's race from the fourth starting spot. "But that's good for the sport. As we move on into 2009, you want a lot of different people from different teams running up front and creating surprises as the weekend goes on.

"It puts a premium on car handling because on some of these tracks you can hold your breath for a lap. Even if your car isn't good enough, you can put in a reasonable time. This adds another challenge."

Danica Patrick, who six days earlier made history by becoming the first female to win a major closed-course auto race, posted a four-lap average of 213.225 mph (1:426519) and will start third. Tomas Scheckter, making his IndyCar Series season debut in the No. 12 Luczo Dragon Racing car, will join her on Row 2. He had a qualifying effort of 212.762 mph (1:42.8753).

"We arrived here with a good Motorola car," said Patrick, who recorded her first pole start at Kansas Speedway in 2005. "We had a good first run and the car is really well-balanced. Hopefully, we can get out in front of the red and white cars."

Vision Racing teammates A.J. Foyt IV (212.478) and Ed Carpenter (212.478) will share Row 3, with Foyt checking in with a career-best fourth. Both cars also were up front in qualifications at Homestead, but were sent to the rear of the field after failing post-qualifying technical inspection.

"Our car has been really good and both Vision cars are going to be up front for the start of the race, so we've got to be happy," said Foyt, who advanced 16 positions to finish ninth at Homestead. "We've definitely got the cars and the team to get a win; we just have to have everything come together for us to be able to do it."

Marty Roth, driving the No. 25 Roth Racing car, qualified an IndyCar Series-best seventh (212.182). Helio Castroneves (212.078), who will start eighth, had a six-race streak of starting in the top five ended. His Team Penske teammate, Ryan Briscoe (211.979) will start ninth and Panther Racing's Vitor Meira matched his Homestead starting spot in 10th.

Kanaan, whose streak of 20 top-10 starting spots ended, will be joined on Row 6 by Rahal Letterman Racing's Ryan Hunter-Reay (211.681). Marco Andretti, who finished second to Dixon at Homestead-Miami Speedway, will start 14th. Jaime Camara, making his IndyCar Series debut in the No. 34 Conquest Racing car, qualified 19th.

"I'm really happy with my first IndyCar Series qualifying," said Camara, a three-year veteran of Firestone Indy Lights. "We made some progress throughout the day and the car was pretty good. I'm happy with the balance we have on the car and now we are going to focus on the race and prepare a good race car. I'm looking forward to it because it will be special to me because it will be my first IndyCar Series race."

POST-QUALIFYING QUOTES:
 
SCOTT DIXON (No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing, qualified first): “The Team Target cars were very close right off the trailer. We didn't have to do too much to them. We changed the balance here and there a little bit. Dan (Wheldon) was maybe a tenth (of a second) quicker than us this morning. It was hard to tell because there were so many cars on track that you couldn't get a clean lap. I think we have to put a lot of it down to the guys on the team. The guys that prepare these cars are very critical to aerodynamics, especially when you're by yourself. In a pack, it doesn't show that much, but a lot of credit goes to them for being ready for today.”
 
DAN WHELDON (No. 10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing, qualified second): “It was a good day for Target Chip Ganassi Racing. I probably wasn’t as aggressive as I should have been. But we do have a lot of work to do to be competitive tomorrow.”
 
DANICA PATRICK (No. 7 Motorola, qualified third): “We arrived here with a good Motorola car. We had a good first run today, and the car is really well-balanced. Hopefully, we can get out in front of the red and white cars. My crew has worked really hard this week turning the car around.”
 
TOMAS SCHECKTER (No. 12 Luczo Dragon Racing, qualified fourth): “I'm really happy. These guys have done a great job. We've worked really hard on the setup for a very clean, team car. It has paid off sitting out of the car for a couple of races to now when I'm in a good situation. I'm looking forward to the race and looking forward to Indy as well.” (About his first start of the season): “It will be good to get back into a race. I tried to get racy with a few people today. It seems like it was just yesterday for me. The main thing for tomorrow’s race is to stay out of trouble and be good in traffic. There are more cars than what I'm used to running around with, so my goal is to stay out of trouble and race the last 15, 20 laps. If we can come away with a top-five finish and a car that is in one piece, we'll be extremely happy.”
 
A.J. FOYT IV (No. 2 Vision Racing, qualified fifth): “I'm really happy. Our car has been really good, and both Vision cars are going to be up front for the start of the race, so we've got to be happy with that. We've definitely got the cars and the team to get a win; we just have to have everything come together for us to be able to do it. Our cars are very strong so I am looking forward to the race tomorrow.”

Qualifying Saturday for the Road Runner Turbo Indy 300 IndyCar Series event on the 1.5-mile Kansas Speedway, with starting position, car number in parentheses, driver, chassis-engine and speed:

1. (9) Scott Dixon, Dallara-Honda, 213.956
2. (10) Dan Wheldon, Dallara-Honda, 213.641
3. (7) Danica Patrick, Dallara-Honda, 213.225
4. (12) Tomas Scheckter, Dallara-Honda, 212.762
5. (2) A.J. Foyt IV, Dallara-Honda, 212.478
6. (20) Ed Carpenter, Dallara-Honda, 212.401
7. (25) Marty Roth, Dallara-Honda, 212.182
8. (3) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Honda, 212.078
9. (6) Ryan Briscoe, Dallara-Honda, 211.979
10. (4) Vitor Meira, Dallara-Honda, 211.843
11. (11) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Honda, 211.804
12. (17) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dallara-Honda, 211.681
13. (27) Hideki Mutoh, Dallara-Honda, 211.346
14. (26) Marco Andretti, Dallara-Honda, 211.256
15. (24) Jay Howard, Dallara-Honda, 210.617
16. (14) Darren Manning, Dallara-Honda, 210.341
17. (33) EJ Viso, Dallara-Honda, 210.112
18. (8) Will Power, Dallara-Honda, 210.091
19. (34) Jaime Camara, Dallara-Honda, 209.922
20. (06) Graham Rahal, Dallara-Honda, 209.799
21. (15) Buddy Rice, Dallara-Honda, 209.766
22. (02) Justin Wilson, Dallara-Honda, 209.405
23. (5) Oriol Servia, Dallara-Honda, 209.239
24. (23) Milka Duno, Dallara-Honda, 208.516
25. (36) Enrique Bernoldi, Dallara-Honda, 208.442
26. (18) Bruno Junqueira, Dallara-Honda, 208.022
27. (19) Mario Moraes, Dallara-Honda, No speed