Dixon still confident about race

The Ganassi driver managed fourth on the grid after the malfunction with his car's paddleshift.

"The gearbox kept locking up, so we had to go to manual mode, which is a bit of a pain," Dixon said. "I think twice it stopped. Actually I tried going back to auto again. That was one of the things that we had out there."

He is confident that his car will be competitive in the race despite his problems today.

"Ultimately the car is pretty decent," said Dixon. "I think we had a little bit more in it. I don't know if we had enough for pole. Those guys were pretty quick out there. But I still believe we have a pretty good car for the race."

Dixon still has a good chance of stretching his points lead tomorrow, as his closest championship rival Helio Castroneves has been consigned to the back of the grid by a throttle problem which struck before he could set a flying lap.

Dan Wheldon qualified the second Ganassi car in ninth, having felt all weekend that he was finally managing to get the team's Dallara to his liking on a road course for the first time.

He felt he underperformed in qualifying, however.

"I think compared to Scott, my speeds through the middle of the corner were up, but it was costing me on the exit," said Wheldon.

"I was losing a little bit of time in the Bus Stop. The car has been really competitve and very consistent all weekend, but perhaps didn't get the most out of it during qualifying. It was just a little bit off. Everything is so close now that it probably cost me."