Published: May 12, 2008 04:10 pm            

Dixon takes first Indy 500 pole

INDIANAPOLIS — Happy Hour. In the bar business, it’s an alcoholic’s Christmas. At the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, it’s when the best action usually takes place.

Saturday it saw Pole Day’s only car-to-wall crash, as Ryan Hunter-Ray tried to crack the top 11 and ended up going rear-end first into the SAFER barrier on his second lap.

Two runs later, Dan Wheldon scrapped his No. 3 position for a run at first, and ended up improving one spot to finish just behind pole-winner and Target Chip Ganassi teammate Scott Dixon (226.366 mph), who took home the $100,000 prize and will start from the most coveted spot when the 92nd Indianapolis 500 takes off May 25.

“It hasn't really sunk in yet,” said Dixon, who has two poles and one victory in 2008. “It means a lot. It’s not just for me, though. I think a lot of it, and I think (team owner) Chip (Ganassi) and probably (team managing director) Mike (Hull) and (chief mechanic) Ricky (Davis) have touched on it already, but it’s the hard work that goes into it. Indy — for our team — I think our development and working toward this race started well early in the winter. I think Chip and Mike and all the guys in the team are adamant on putting up a strong fight for this year’s 500.”

The pole is Dixon’s first at IMS. He has started fourth three times, including last year when he had his best career finish at the track, finishing second behind winner Dario Franchitti.

Ryan Briscoe finished out the front row while Helio Castroneves, Danica Patrick, and Tony Kanaan filled the second row.

With qualifying starting at noon, the pole changed hands four times before an extended practice break began at 1:30 p.m.

After Briscoe (224.833) claimed it on the opening run, Dixon (225.178) snagged it three cars later with the most-consistent four-lap qualifying run in Indy 500 history. His laps were separated by just .0049 of a second, breaking Bobby Rahal’s record of .006 set in 1992.

Patrick (225.197) got the crowd going when she swiped the top spot just over a half-hour after Dixon’s run.

“We obviously have a pretty quick car,” Patrick said. “It was nice to start off qualifying like this. My run wasn’t perfect and the last two laps fell off for some reason.”

Patrick’s rein didn’t last long as 2005 race champion Wheldon (225.840) took it from the ‘05 rookie of the year prior to a lengthy qualifying pause. Wheldon’s comments after the run foreshadowed his late reappearance to try to steal the pole away from Dixon.

“The Indianapolis 500 is the biggest race in the world, and I would certainly take a race win over the pole, but at the end of the day, it is something to be proud of,” he said.

Castroneves (225.733) took the track to end the 90-minute practice period and moved into the No. 4 position before Briscoe (226.080) and Dixon took the pole in back-to-back runs, and Dixon was not again overtaken.

Hideki Mutoh kicked off Happy Hour by jumping into the field in ninth position, and was the only driver to crack the top 11 from the outside in the final hour as Graham Rahal was bumped out.

While he put in the fastest speed of the month in Saturday morning’s practice session (228.318), Marco Andretti couldn’t duplicate it during qualifying and finished seventh.

2008 Indy 500 Front 11

1. Scott Dixon

2. Dan Wheldon

3. Ryan Briscoe

4. Helio Castroneves

5. Danica Patrick

6. Tony Kanaan

7. Marco Andretti

8. Vitor Meira

9. Hideki Mutoh

10. Ed Carpenter

11. Tomas Scheckter

        

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