By Bruce Martin
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, made 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.”

ENGINE NO. 9: Target Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon captured the pole for the 92nd Indianapolis 500 with a four-lap average of 226.366 miles per hour. Dixon’s teammate Dan Wheldon posted the second fastest time of 226.110 mph. (David E. Heithaus Photo)

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 where it pays off. 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 six-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, Danica Patrick and Tony Kanaan.
Third-generation driver Marco Andretti starts on the inside of the third row and shares the row with Vitor Meira and Hideki Mutoh.
The final two positions filled in on Saturday’s first day of qualifications were Ed Carpenter and Tomas Scheckter.
Scheckter actually withdrew his earlier qualified time in an attempt to improve his speed, but was unable to advance past his original starting position.
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 the third turn wall.
“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.”