Dixon wins pole in Texas

Scott Dixon accepts pole award

Shawn Payne/IRL

The heat and the wind were once again present in Texas when qualifying for the Bombardier Learjet 550k got underway today.

Scott Dixon has converted three pole starts into two victories and a third place this season. What will the IndyCar Series points leader do with his fourth pole on the action-packed Texas Motor Speedway.

Dixon, driving the No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing car, topped the record-tying 28-car field to win the PEAK Motor Oil Pole Award presented by O'Reilly Auto Parts with a four-lap cumulative time of 1 minute, 37.5063 seconds (214.878 mph average) on the high-banked 1.5-mile oval.

Team Penske's Helio Castroneves, 28 points behind Dixon in the championship standings, will join the reigning Indianapolis 500 winner on the front row. He recorded a 214.777 mph average (1:37.5525). His teammate, Ryan Briscoe, who posted his first IndyCar Series victory June 1 at The Milwaukee Mile, qualified in the third position (213.937). He'll be joined on Row 2 by Andretti Green Racing rookie Hideki Mutoh (213.485), who netted the highest starting position in his rookie season.

Andretti Green Racing's Danica Patrick (213.238) and Luczo Dragon Racing's Tomas Scheckter (213.212), who won at Texas in 2005, will share Row 3.

Quotes

SCOTT DIXON (No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone, PEAK Motor Oil Pole Award Presented by O'Reilly Auto Parts winner): "I didn't think it was going to be enough. The track got fast, and I thought it would benefit guys like (Ryan) Briscoe qualifying later in day. It's shocking to be honest. I'm very happy we came away with the pole, especially with how hard the Target team works, but I'm still shocked. I think tomorrow is going to be straight-out speed, especially when it comes down to the final 40 or 50 laps. You need to be fast. Last year it seemed like (Sam) Hornish (Jr.) just pulled away from field. Hopefully, the car stays the same tonight and we don't change too much for tomorrow's race."

HELIO CASTRONEVES (No. 3 Team Penske Dallara/Honda/Firestone, qualified second): "We had one lap that was fast, but we needed four laps and unfortunately we weren't able to do that. I wish we could go back to the old way we used to qualify, but it is what it is. I'm happy Team Penske was able to have a good performance in qualifying. We definitely have a competitive car this weekend, and hopefully we'll be able challenge the Ganassi team for the win." (About the importance of starting in the front): "The wind is really having an effect here. The turbulent air behind two or three cars makes the car difficult to handle. That's why it's extremely important to start the race smartly. This is one of those places where it's a sprint race from the beginning to the end."

RYAN BRISCOE (No. 6 Team Penske Dallara/Honda/Firestone, qualified third): "We were a little disappointed that we weren’t able to turn in a better result in qualifying today, but we were off a bit on our gears. Fortunately, we have a fast car, so we should be able to hang with the lead pack in tomorrow’s race. In practice today, we worked on some long runs, and the Team Penske car was really solid, so I’m confident that we’ll be in good shape when the green flag drops."

HIDEKI MUTOH (No. 27 Formula Dream Dallara/Honda/Firestone, qualified fourth): "I am glad the No. 27 Formula Dream car was able to get the fourth starting position. I think it will be a tough race tomorrow, so my goal is to move up one by one and learn from each experience. I hope I will be able do well tomorrow."

DANICA PATRICK (No. 7 Motorola Dallara/Honda/Firestone, qualified fifth): “The Motorola car was fast on the first lap, but unfortunately the car got slower as the run went on. I am happy that we are starting up front, and hopefully we will be able to maintain the speed to stay there for the entire race."

TOMAS SCHECKTER (No. 12 Symantec Luczo Dragon Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone, qualified sixth): " Our practice session did not go exactly how we wanted it to go. We spent more time in the pits than we wanted to so we really didn't know how much speed we had in the car. The Symantec crew did a great job of making changes after practice to get the car ready for qualifying. For not knowing how much speed we had in the car at practice I'm very happy with qualifying."

JOHN ANDRETTI (No. 24 Roth Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone, qualified seventh): Roth Racing gave me a really solid car for this weekend. We've been fast since we've unloaded at Texas. I'm really proud of the team's hard work. We had a great first lap in qualifying and just went from there. We'll make some changes tonight, go into the race and learn a lot more on the track Saturday."

WILL POWER (No. 8 Aussie Vineyards – Team Australia Dallara/Honda/Firestone, qualified eighth): “KVRT Aussie Vineyards – Team Australia is just happy we got a good qualifying run in. We have to race well, but the team has been working hard on the race setup over the last couple of days. The main thing for me is to finish well in the race. I have qualified well and hopefully it will be a good race tomorrow"

VITOR MEIRA (No. 4 Delphi National Guard Dallara/Honda/Firestone, qualified ninth): "Our qualification run was OK. We need to find a little bit more speed for our qualification runs, but in Texas you have to have a good race car, and we know we do. I’d like to be a little bit faster, but tomorrow we’ll all see who’s quick really early in the race. It’s difficult dealing with the wind, but like I said yesterday, that’s something that everybody here has to battle with. I’m looking forward to tomorrow. I love night races and I’ve always enjoyed Texas, so this is going to be a good race."

RYAN HUNTER-REAY: (No. 17 Rahal Letterman Racing Team Ethanol Dallara/Honda/ Firestone, qualified 10th): “That’s about where I thought we’d run today. We’ll take it, I thought we might find another tenth of a second, but this is OK. You can race your way to the front here and it’s going to be a long night so I think we’re in pretty decent shape for tomorrow."

DAN WHELDON (No. 10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone,, qualified 11th): "The guys did a great job getting a new car set up." (About right foot): "It’s just the right side of it, it smashed against the tub. It’s fine; I just can’t put much weight on it. That was probably the biggest hit I’ve had; the first part of it hurt the most. I wasn’t expecting it. The Polaroid car was really strong. It’s disappointing."