Dismore takes Vegas Indy pole

Dismore ran 24th in the session, of 25 starters. His lap of 208.502mph was just half a mile an hour slower than last season's pole time, which was set with a 4.0 litre engine as opposed to the 3.5 litre spec powerplants used this season.

"The car started to loosen on the second lap," said Dismore, "the first lap was the best. I feel very happy to win pole."

Ray was nearly three quarters of a second slower than Dismore, but was still fast enough for second.

"After practice this morning, I knew it was going to be tight," said Ray. When Mark went out there and pushed the 25.8, I knew that it was going to be hard to hit. I just didn't get the car hooked up and I caught a gust on turn four."

Series leader Buddy Lazier was down in 22nd, while former CART champion Al Unser Jr. was 23rd after a troubled session in which he was forced to change cars.

Qualifying positions from Las Vegas:

1 M Dismore Dallara-Oldsmobile 25.899s
2 G Ray Dallara-Oldsmobile 25.970s
3 S Sharp Dallara-Oldsmobile 26.032s
4 E Salazar Dallara-Oldsmobile 26.036s
5 B Boat Dallara-Oldsmobile 26.185s
6 J Ward G Force-Oldsmobile 26.252s
7 E Cheever Dallara-Infiniti 26.256s
8 J Schroeder Dallara-Oldsmobile 26.289s
9 T Carlson Dallara-Oldsmobile 26.298s
10 J Leffler G Force-Oldsmobile 26.311s
11 S Goodyear Dallara-Oldsmobile 26.362s
12 A Dare G Force-Oldsmobile 26.363s
13 S Fisher R&S-Oldsmobile 26.451s
14 D Beechler Dallara-Oldsmobile 26.482s
15 S Harrington Dallara-Oldsmobile 26.504s
16 S Gregoire G Force-Oldsmobile 26.523s
17 R McGehee G Force-Oldsmobile 26.545s
18 D Hamilton G Force-Oldsmobile 26.610s
19 J Kite G Force-Oldsmobile 26.671s
20 S Hornish Jr G Force-Oldsmobile 26.687s
21 B Calkins Dallara-Oldsmobile 26.744s
22 B Lazier R&S-Oldsmobile 26.831s
23 A Unser Jr G Force-Oldsmobile 26.832s
24 J Lazier G Force-Oldsmobile 26.862s
25 R Buhl G Force-Oldsmobile 26.878s
26 R Johncox G Force-Oldsmobile 27.277s
27 J Miller Dallara-Oldsmobile 27.389s
28 D Didero Dallara-Oldsmobile 28.003s