Dario Franchitti and Ryan Briscoe will share the front row for the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma, Scott Dixon, will start 10th.
Franchitti, 19 points behind his Target Chip Ganassi Racing teammate entering the 75-lap race, earned the PEAK Performance Pole Award for the fourth time this season (second on a road/street course) with a quick lap of 1 minute, 16.7987 seconds on his final trip around the 2.303-mile, 12-turn Infineon Raceway course during the 10-minute Firestone Fast six shootout.
"It's so hard in the IndyCar Series with the competition level; there are so many good road racers," said Franchitti, who started from the pole in 2007 and has finished second and third in his past two races at the Sonoma Valley facility. "To make it into the Fast Six each time is an achievement every time. So to be in them all, I've got to thank my guys for giving me good cars.
"Sometimes you have to hang on to it as well and sometimes you have to wheel around. Today I had a pretty good car. In a couple corners I had to commit to them and hang on, but in general the car was really good. I'm very happy to get the Target car on the pole for the race."
Franchitti brings three victories and nine top-five finishes into the fray at Infineon, where he earned the pole in 2007 and has finished second and third in his past two races. Dixon won that '07 race and started from the pole in '06, while Briscoe followed Helio Castroneves across the finish line last year in second and won the pole in the inaugural event in 2005.
Briscoe, driving the No. 6 Team Penske car, had set the bar early in the third and final qualifying session with a la of 1:16.8485.
"I had a pretty bad practice this morning; I spent more time in the dirt than on the tarmac," said Briscoe, who's three points behind Dixon in the closest 1-2 gap since the 2001 IndyCar Series season. "(But) I had a feeling we were in decent shape going into qualifying. The car felt good from the get-go and got better and I was right back into the groove. I could have gone quicker, but I just didn't get a clean lap together and I had a locking issue with the brakes. I was frustrated I couldn't get the pole, but Dario was really quick and he certainly did a good job on used (Firestone alternate tires)."
Dixon, who has nine top-five finishes in the 11 races since a slow start to the season, missed out on qualifying for the Firestone Fast six for the third time.
"It was pretty dismal, actually," he said. "The saving grace was Dario winning the pole, which is fantastic. It helps us keep some points off those Penskes. We'll have to go off-strategy tomorrow and try something a bit different."
It will be the final road/street course event of the season - with the championship decided on three 1.5-mile ovals in September and October.
"All three of them are quite a bit different from each other," Dixon said of Chicagoland Speedway, Twin Ring Motegi and Homestead-Miami Speedway. "We faired pretty well last season at all of those races, obviously; winning one of them and finishing second in the other two. Hopefully we can drag something out of tomorrow's race and then have a good run on the last ovals."
Andretti Green Racing could have a say on the championship outcome as it placed all five cars in the top 12, led by Marco Andretti starting fourth - next to Team Penske's Helio Castroneves, the 2008 pole and race winner -- and Hideki Mutoh on Row 3. Graham Rahal will start sixth in the No. 02 McDonald's car for Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing.
"We made the Firestone Fast Six again which means we made it every race this year but one and that is a good feeling," Rahal said. "Now we just need to have a straightforward race tomorrow, save some fuel, get by some of these guys and be in it for the win."
It was the first time this season Andretti and Mutoh participated in the Firestone Fast Six and they can partially thank Sebastian Saavedra and Franck Montagny, who tested at the track last week.
Tony Kanaan, who was bumped from the Firestone Fast Six by Mutoh's final lap in second-round qualifying, will join Montagny on Row 4. Montagny, driving the No. 25 Automatic Fire Sprinklers car, is making his IndyCar Series debut.
"We've been working really hard and this shows we've made progress," said Andretti, who scored his lone IndyCar Series victory at Infineon in '06. "We are definitely heading in the right direction. I think we've learned how to use the reds (alternate Firestone tires) in our favor and that also helps a lot. I'm looking forward to the race tomorrow and I'm confident we have a car capable of a strong finish."
Dreyer & Reinbold Racing rookie Mike Conway will share Row 5 with Dixon, while Danica Patrick and Panther Racing's Dan Wheldon will be on Row 6.
E.J. Viso, whose No. 13 PDVSA HVM Racing car was involved in a crash in the morning practice session, will start 13th. Mario Moraes, returning to the series after missing the Mid-Ohio race two weeks ago because of the death of his father, just missed out on qualifying for the second round and will start 14th in the No. 5 Azul Tequila/Votorantim/KV Racing Technology car.
