Written by: Indycar

Date: October 9, 2009

The IndyCar Series championship contenders will begin their shootout within close proximity in the Firestone Indy 300. Can’t get closer than 1-2-3.

Dario Franchitti earned his fifth PEAK Performance Pole Award of the season – the third on an oval – with a four-lap average speed of 212.696 mph (1 minute, 40.5378 seconds cumulative) on the 1.5-mile Homestead-Miami Speedway. With a bonus point for the pole, he’ll start the 200-lap race four points behind front-running Target Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Scott Dixon.

Dixon, who posted an average speed of 212.160 mph, will start from the front row for the fourth time this season (his 12th top five in 17 races). And Ryan Briscoe, only eight points out of the top spot, will start third (212.137 mph) in the No. 6 Team Penske car.

Fifty points are awarded to the winner, with a 10-point gap to second and 15 to third. Two bonus points are available to the driver who leads the most laps.

Dixon and Franchitti have swept the front row three times this season – also at Richmond (with Franchitti on the pole) and Kentucky (with Dixon on the pole). At Kentucky, it was Briscoe who started third and won the race.

Initially, Briscoe won’t receive much assistance from teammate Helio Castroneves, who will start 11th (210.658). Castroneves, who was fifth overall on the speed chart after two practice sessions, was involved in a single-car incident late in the afternoon session.

Vision Racing’s Ed Carpenter, the last of 23 qualifiers, posted an average speed of 211.769 mph and will join Briscoe on Row 2. It was by far the team’s best starting position of the season (previous best 10th at Kansas and Texas).

“I’m really happy with that qualifying effort,” said Carpenter, driving the No. 20 Menard’s entry, who finished second to Briscoe at Kentucky. “I felt like we were definitely going to be in the top 10 but we were flirting with a top five in practice. It’s going to be an interesting race because everyone seems to be struggling in traffic on a challenging track. We thought it would be a little easier with all the aero changes than what it has been, but at the same time it is kind of fun to come to a track where you really have to nail the set-up to have a good car.

“I think a lot of people are hoping to see the three championship contenders duking it out three-wide in the end, but I don’t think that will be the case. The best car is going to win and truthfully I think we have a good shot at it.”

Alex Lloyd, who is making his debut with Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing, will start fifth (211.702) in the No. 40202 HER Energy car. Teammate Graham Rahal also will be on Row 3 as he recorded an average of 211.653 mph in the No. 02 McDonald’s car.

“Everybody at HER Energy and Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing is very excited about our starting position,” said Lloyd, who tested at Homestead-Miami Speedway last week. “I was fortunate enough to win here (in Firestone Indy Lights). Racing here in an IndyCar is different than in an Indy Lights car but at the same time it’s nice to have some experience at the track and have that feeling. It’s great to be back competing in the IndyCar Series. We want to go out there and be able to mix it up. There are some things I need to learn but at the same time I think we can run at the front. Having only done the race at Indianapolis, it feels like a very quick weekend.”

Andretti Green Racing teammates Danica Patrick (211.258) and Marco Andretti (210.884) will be on Row 4, while Raphael Matos (210.834) will share Row 5 with Mario Moraes (210.819). Tomas Scheckter (210.453) will be on Row 6 with Castroneves.

Qualifying Friday for the Firestone Indy 300 IndyCar Series event on the 1.5-mile Homestead-Miami Speedway, with starting position, car number in parentheses, driver, chassis-engine and speed:

1. (10) Dario Franchitti, Dallara-Honda, 212.696
2. (9) Scott Dixon, Dallara-Honda, 212.160
3. (6) Ryan Briscoe, Dallara-Honda, 212.137
4. (20) Ed Carpenter, Dallara-Honda, 211.769
5. (40202) Alex Lloyd, Dallara-Honda, 211.702
6. (02) Graham Rahal, Dallara-Honda, 211.653
7. (7) Danica Patrick, Dallara-Honda, 211.258
8. (26) Marco Andretti, Dallara-Honda, 210.884
9. (2) Raphael Matos, Dallara-Honda, 210.834
10. (5) Mario Moraes, Dallara-Honda, 210.819
11. (3) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Honda, 210.658
12. (43) Tomas Scheckter, Dallara-Honda, 210.453
13. (18) Justin Wilson, Dallara-Honda, 210.420
14. (4) Dan Wheldon, Dallara-Honda, 210.407
15. (11) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Honda, 210.315
16. (67) Sarah Fisher, Dallara-Honda, 210.174
17. (23) Milka Duno, Dallara-Honda, 210.020
18. (13) E.J. Viso, Dallara-Honda, 209.773
19. (27) Hideki Mutoh, Dallara-Honda, 209.623
20. (24) Mike Conway, Dallara-Honda, 208.971
21. (14) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dallara-Honda, 208.536
22. (33) Robert Doornbos, Dallara-Honda, 207.352
23. (98) Jaques Lazier, Dallara-Honda, 205.606