NSSN Correspondent

INDIANAPOLIS – Scott Dixon predicted on Friday that if he qualified in the front two rows during Saturday’s Pole Day for the 92nd Indianapolis 500, he probably wouldn’t make another attempt later in the day to try for the pole.
Dixon was wrong.
With team owner Chip Ganassi calling the strategy, Dixon took to the race course with 2-1/2 hours left in Saturday’s qualifications to knock Team Penske driver Ryan Briscoe off the pole. Dixon, a native of Auckland, New Zealand who now lives in Indianapolis, won his first Indy 500 pole with a four-lap average of 226.366 miles per hour.
“It hasn’t really sunk in yet,” Dixon said of winning the pole. “Indy for our team, our development started well into the winter. I think Chip and Mike and all the guys on the team are adamant on putting up a strong fight for this year’s 500. I think between the small group of drivers and obviously people like Chip that have raced cars before, it means a lot to them just because you’re definitely right on the limit and giving it your all.
“It’s definitely right at the top of accomplishments I’ve done.”
Teammate Dan Wheldon of Emberton, England would make another attempt with 19 minutes left in the session but fell just short of the pole at 226.110 mph. 
“Dan had a clear run at trying to make a run at it,” Dixon said. “We hadn’t really made much more progress so to knock your teammate off at that point for what we could have lost wouldn’t have been worth it.”
That gives Target/Chip Ganassi Racing the top two starting positions in the May 25 Indy 500. Briscoe of Team Penske starts on the outside of the front row with a four-lap run at 226.080 mph.
It is the third Indy 500 pole for Target/Chip Ganassi Racing. Arie Luyendyk won the pole in 1993 and Bruno Junqueira took the top spot in 2002.
“On days like today it’s a real tribute to the team,” Ganassi said. “It’s the hard work that nobody realizes is happening in October, November and December. There is a lot of thinking going on with every team in the off-season trying to get better. 
“I can’t tell you how hard the guys work in the off-season and this is what it pays off at. The hours and hours of testing and making a plan and having the courage to stay with a plan. Boy, I’m glad today is over with. We’ve been playing poker here for a lot of years and sometimes you are bluffing but today we held a good hand. We had all the aces.”
The marathon 6-hour qualification session played out under warm temperatures and sunny skies which, combined with the recent unification of the IndyCar Series brought out the biggest crowd for Pole Day since the split began in 1996.
Indianapolis Motor Speedway officials do not release attendance figures but it was up substantially from recent years.

"If you peak too early it is emotionally draining,” said Mike Hull, managing director of Target/Chip Ganassi Racing. “What happened today is really important to us. The weather changed on us and that is why Helio Castroneves and Tony Kanaan and even Scott had a tough time to get back to the speed that Scott had just put up.

We worked on trying to be consistent on our speed. We felt if we could do that, we could tune up our car for the conditions. It worked this time and we’re proud of what we did.”

Row Two consists of two-time Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves of Brazil (225.733 mph), Danica Patrick of Roscoe, Illinois (225.197 mph) and Tony Kanaan of Brazil (224.794 mph).

Third-generation driver Marco Andretti of Nazareth, Pennsylvania starts on the inside of the third row with a four-lap run at 224.417 mph with Vitor Meira of Brazil in the middle at 224.346 mph and Hideki Mutoh of Japan on the outside at 223.887 mph.

The final two positions filled in Saturday’s first day of qualifications were Ed Carpenter of Indianapolis, 10th at 223.835 mph and Tomas Scheckter of South Africa, 11th at 223.496 mph.

Scheckter actually withdrew his earlier qualified time in an attempt to improve his speed but was unable to advance past his original starting position.

Only the top 11 cars were locked into the lineup during Saturday’s first day of qualifications. Another 11 spots are to be filled during Sunday’s second round of qualifications but with heavy rain in the forecast, that could be in doubt.

If Sunday is rained out, then the remaining 22 positions would be filled next Saturday with Sunday, May 18 reserved as Bump Day.

The final hour was more a battle for the 11th and final position rather than for the pole. It was costly to Rahal Letterman driver Ryan Hunter-Reay, who went back on track to get back into the top 11 but crashed hard into third-turn wall.

With the rules permitting three qualifying attempts per qualification day, Hunter-Reay returned to the track with 45 minutes left in the session and needed to find less than 1 mph to get back into the top 11.

“We had the speed yesterday so we had a taste of it, but we just couldn’t recreate it today,” Hunter-Reay said. “I was trying to tune the car like we did (Friday) from inside the cockpit but we just didn’t have it.”

“We wanted to make the car a little better on the exit because that is where we were having trouble, but we were on the edge and we just went over. I knew we were going to be very close to being in trouble, but I’m a race car driver and I just wanted to get everything out of it I could.”

It was Hunter-Reay’s first crash since joining Rahal-Letterman Racing midway through last season.

With so many cars entered in this year’s Indy 500 field, Saturday’s session was expected to be a battle for both the pole and the 11th starting position. But that quickly fizzled when the weather changed, throwing a curve at many of the teams plans.

Rather than take an unnecessary risk, many of the top contenders such as Kanaan and Patrick decided to stick to the speeds they posted in the first two hours of qualifications.

There were six drivers bumped in Saturday’s session including in order of speed Graham Rahal (223.355 mph), Davey Hamilton (223.287 mph), Hunter-Reay (223.102 mph), Oriol Servia of Spain (222.604 mph), Will Power of Australia (222.500 mph) and Mario Moraes of Brazil (219.957 mph).
There were four failed attempts, five attempts that were withdrawn; five attempts that were waved off and A.J. Foyt IV did not make an attempt after he spun leaving the pits.
While those drivers dealt with disappointment, last year’s second-place finisher in the Indy 500 was able to celebrate the biggest pole of his racing career.
“Today was a lot different because I think even on an average lap for us, we still had the field covered and I think that just shows how strong the team was today,” Dixon said. “We could make runs today where we didn’t think it was quite right but we could still be quicker than anybody else that tried to go out there.
“For a driver to know that you’ve got the equipment behind you and go out there and do it and you’ve got a clear shot between yourself and your teammate, that’s a pretty nice feeling.”