Dixon grabs crucial Sonoma pole

Fifth after the single-lap qualifying session on Saturday at Infineon Raceway, Dixon returned to the track and won the pole position during the 10-minute Fast Six session that followed.

Dixon's lap of 1:17.0344 seconds - 107.484 mph - around the 12-turn, 2.26-mile road course in the No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Honda/Dallara was enough to win the pole position for Sunday's Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma, the crucial next-to-last race of the IRL IndyCar Series season.

Dixon's effort during the 10-minute Fast Six session - in which the fastest six drivers from the single-lap session try to improve their positions on the starting grid - moved him from fifth to first and knocked Marco Andretti off the top spot.

However, the 19-year-old rookie came back out on the track and recorded a lap that was good enough to secure the other front-row starting position.

Dixon's pole is considered critical in the six-driver run for the championship. Dixon enters the race fourth in the IRL standings, 33 points behind leader Sam Hornish Jr., who will start 10th when Sunday's race begins.

"At this place, it's important to start in the first couple of rows," Dixon said. "There are no straights or big braking areas where you can get a good run and pass people.

"You can quite happily sit out front, even if you're a bit slower, you can hold people off. With the loss of downforce when you're following someone closely, it's hard to get a run. It's super important to qualify up front at this track."

Andretti, who had the option to be the first car on the track for the Fast Six session based on his single-lap effort, elected to remain in the pits during the first 4 minutes of the second session.

He was quickly passed on the grid by Helio Castroneves, Tony Kanaan, Dario Franchitti and then Dixon before emerging from the pits to record a lap of 1:17.0830 in the No. 26 Andretti Green Racing Honda/Dallara - just short of Dixon but enough to get himself back on the front row.

"We got what we needed today, which was track position," said Andretti, who posted his first front-row start of his rookie season. "It's very difficult to pass here. We almost had it, but we're on the front row, which is where we want to be."

Following Dixon and Andretti on the grid is Castroneves, who was clocked at 1:17.2127 in the No. 3 Marlboro Team Penske Honda/Dallara. Kanaan will start fourth, followed by Franchitti and Dan Wheldon.

The race within the race - the one involving points - is the underlying theme of the weekend. Hornish leads the standings, seven points ahead of Castroneves, with Wheldon 24 behind.

Vitor Meira and Kanaan are also in the race - Meira 70 points behind Hornish, Kanaan 79 back. Hornish's starting position, and his relative inexperience on road courses, could result in a large jump for some of his closest pursuers.

"What we've had to do is put as much pressure on the Penske cars as we can," Dixon said. "We knew Helio would be strong, and we know Sam, when he gets it together, can be strong on road courses.

"So far we've done what we needed to do. I was pretty cautious going into the top six. I just went out and drove good enough to get into the top six."

Hornish, disappointed with his qualifying effort, said his strategy likely will be conservative at the start of Sunday's 80-lap race. "We're here to make it to the end of the race," Hornish said.

"There are a whole bunch of guys who were fast here last year but didn't finish. We're just going to be smart about it and try not to get into trouble."

While Dixon suspects Hornish and his crew might try to get out of sequence on pit stops to try to get the No. 3 car close to the front, he says the person he most needs to finish ahead of isn't Hornish, but Castroneves.

"At the moment, I feel like we're racing Helio," Dixon said. "Sam is going to be really tough at Chicago, but right now I feel like Helio is the guy to beat."

Pos  Driver             Team                   Time       Speed
 1.  Scott Dixon        Target Chip Ganassi    1:17.034   107.484
 2.  Marco Andretti     Andretti Green         1:17.083   107.417
 3.  Helio Castroneves  Marlboro Team Penske   1:17.213   107.236
 4.  Tony Kanaan        Andretti Green         1:17.232   107.209
 5.  Dario Franchitti   Andretti Green         1:17.289   107.130
 6.  Dan Wheldon        Target Chip Ganassi    1:17.595   106.708
 7.  Ryan Briscoe       Dreyer & Reinbold      1:18.261   105.800
 8.  Vitor Meira        Panther                1:18.301   105.746
 9.  Bryan Herta        Andretti Green         1:18.351   105.678
10.  Sam Hornish Jr.    Marlboro Team Penske   1:18.594   105.352
11.  Danica Patrick     Rahal Letterman        1:19.029   104.772
12.  Buddy Rice         Rahal Letterman        1:19.213   104.529
13.  Kosuke Matsuura    Super Aguri Fernandez  1:19.242   104.490
14.  Jeff Simmons       Rahal Letterman        1:19.563   104.068
15.  Jeff Bucknum       A.J. Foyt Enterprises  1:20.096   103.376
16.  Ed Carpenter       Vision                 1:20.338   103.065
17.  Scott Sharp        Delphi Fernandez       1:21.659   101.397
18.  Tomas Scheckter    Vision                 No time