Castroneves handed St. Pete pole

But the session also provided several shocks, with fastest qualifier Tony Kanaan crashing, Darren Manning putting A.J. Foyt's car fifth on the grid, and championship leader Dan Wheldon struggling to 14th.

Castroneves turned a record lap of 1:01.6839 - 105.052 mph - in the No. 3 Team Penske entry, just 0.05 seconds better than Andretti-Green Racing's Marco Andretti.

Andretti's teammate Dario Franchitti will start third, alongside Target Chip Ganassi's Scott Dixon.

But the buzz after qualifying surrounded Manning's fifth place - the highest starting position for a Foyt car in six years.

"I owe a big thanks to A.J. for picking up the phone when I was back in a pub in England," said Manning, who returned to the IRL IndyCar Series this season after being fired by Chip Ganassi halfway through 2005.

"It looked like I was going to have to make a switch of category from single-seaters. I wasn't looking forward to riding around with a roof over my head for the rest of my career."

Kanaan crashed while leading the 'Fast Six' portion of the qualifying session and was relegated to sixth on the grid. Had his AGR crew not been able to repair the heavily damaged machine, Kanaan would have started 18th.

"I was understeering into that corner the lap before," Kanaan said.

"I went in, turned a little earlier, and this time the tyres were a little hotter and the car gripped. I clipped the inside wall and unfortunately hit the outside wall. It was my mistake and it's too bad for Team 7-Eleven because I don't think anyone was going to beat the time we posted."

That allowed Castroneves to claim a record-extending 17th IRL career pole. But even he showed some concern for Kanaan and Wheldon, who are expected to stalk the leaders.

"I remember last year I started way back, and I was able to make some passes," Castroneves said. "It certainly creates a blip on the radar for them.

"I think they'll try everything to try to make sure they can improve their positions. I'm just going to be conservative and consistent and be there at the end."

Andretti, whose rookie year in 2006 included a road-course victory at Infineon Raceway, said he was continuing to learn from his AGR teammates.

"The last thing I want to do is get a big head," Andretti said. "As soon as that happens, you fall on your face. I'm still trying to be half as good as those guys.

"I'll be learning until the end of my career, but last year and the beginning of this year, I'm still learning. I wouldn't say I'm the best AGR driver yet."

Following Castroneves, Andretti, Franchitti, Dixon, Manning and Kanaan will be Sam Hornish Jr. (Penske), Tomas Scheckter (Vision Racing), and Panther Racing teammates Vitor Meira and Kosuke Matsuura.

Wheldon, who dominated last week's IRL opener at Homestead-Miami Speedway, will start near the back after a disappointing run in a back-up car. His primary car lost its rear wing and crashed during practice.

"I made a big, big mistake coming off the backstretch," Wheldon said. "It cost me a lot of time. It's disappointing, especially after going off course earlier."

Kanaan's mistake proved less costly, and he believes that he can still be a major factor in the race from row three.

"I have five cars to pass tomorrow, so we'll see," Kanaan said. "Trust me, there are going to be a lot of people thinking about me tonight."

Qualifying positions:

Pos  Driver             Team               Time
 1.  Helio Castroneves  Penske             1:01.6839
 2.  Marco Andretti     Andretti-Green     1:01.7317
 3.  Dario Franchitti   Andretti-Green     1:01.8775 
 4.  Scott Dixon        Ganassi            1:01.9791 
 5.  Darren Manning     AJ Foyt            1:02.4491 
 6.  Tony Kanaan        Andretti-Green     1:01.5955
 7.  Sam Hornish Jr     Penske             1:02.6935 
 8.  Tomas Scheckter    Vision             1:03.3343 
 9.  Vitor Meira        Panther            1:03.4749 
10.  Kosuke Matsuura    Panther            1:03.5381 
11.  Danica Patrick     Andretti-Green     1:03.5912 
12.  Jeff Simmons       Rahal-Letterman    1:03.6280 
13.  Buddy Rice         Dreyer & Reinbold  1:03.7117 
14.  Dan Wheldon        Ganassi            1:03.8923 
15.  Scott Sharp        Rahal-Letterman    1:04.2959 
16.  Ed Carpenter       Vision             1:04.4539 
17.  AJ Foyt IV         Vision             1:04.5802 
18.  Sarah Fisher       Dreyer & Reinbold  1:06.6541