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Dixon Soars To IndyCar Pole At Homestead

Homestead, FL ? Scott Dixon opened the 2008 IndyCar Series season by grabbing the Peak Motor Oil Qualifying pole position on Friday evening at Homestead-Miami Speedway. For the New Zealand driver, it marked his ninth career pole and the first with the new four-lap qualifying format.

Dixon?s speed for the four laps around the lightning-fast 1.5-mile track was 213.341 miles per hour. His fastest lap came on the fourth-time around. ?We didn?t go for the ultimate speed, as consistency was more important,? Dixon said. ?We weren?t sure how it was going to go because the wind and the heat were such a big factor in the early going. The car had a ton of grip and we could keep the car on the bottom.?

Regarding the four-lap qualifying format, he added, ?It has made a bit of a difference between the good cars already and people weren?t doing those all-qualifying laps. It makes it a bit interesting and fun for the drivers.?

The fast qualifier drove the Target Chip Ganassi Honda.

Dixon?s teammate Dan Wheldon expected to contend for the pole but he crashed on his first qualifying lap. ?The car got loose and I hit the wall hard,? he said. ?It is very unfortunate, and it is disappointing as the car was so fast.?

Ed Carpenter surprised the field by qualifying second fastest, doing so as the last car to make a qualifying attempt. His speed was 213.311 mph. ?I knew we had a great opportunity to be on the front row,? said the happy driver. ?When I saw my first lap time, I said, ?Wow.? I had high expectations and would have been disappointed not to have been in the top-5. We rolled the dice with the car set-up and that made the difference.?

The Indiana driver was behind the wheel of the Menard?s/Vision Racing Honda.

Carpenter?s late-qualifying burst of speed knocked teammate A. J. Foyt IV off the front row.

The youthful Foyt ended up third fastest at 212.211 mph. ?I knew we could do it, as we had some speed left over from practice, and I am glad we could show it,? he said. ?I am excited about the whole year ahead.?

Danica Patrick blazed to the fourth fastest qualifying speed with a run of 212.129 mph. ?I thought we had a good run,? she said. ?The difference between this afternoon?s runs to now is very significant and I have pleased. I have to be realistic as I think if you start first, fifth or 15th you have a shot at winning this weekend. There are so many unpredictable factors and it is sort of like a mini-Indy 500, as there are so many new guys out there.?

Penske Racing newcomer Ryan Briscoe qualified fifth fastest followed by Andretti Green Racing?s Marco Andretti.

Qualifying for the fourth row were Helio Castroneves and a disappointed Tony Kanaan.

Rookie Hideki Mutoh and Canadian Marty Roth will make up row five with row six being occupied by Ryan Hunter-Reay and Marty Roth.

In total, 25 cars attempted a qualifying run with Jay Howard and Wheldon spinning out while on the track.

Franck Perera, France, was the fastest of the eight Champ Car drivers attempting a qualifying run.

ESPN2 will telecast the GAINSCO Auto Insurance Indy 300 Saturday at 8 p.m. EDT.

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