Kanaan takes Kentucky pole

Kanaan answered questions from reporters in the media bullpen while teammate Dario Franchitti attempted to knock Kanaan from the pole position for the Meijer Indy 300. In mid-answer, Kanaan stopped and pumped a fist in celebration as he heard that Franchitti's lap was 0.1438 seconds slower.

As a result, Kanaan will start first in Saturday night's race, Franchitti second.

Kanaan was clocked at 24.4307 seconds - 218.086 mph - around the 1.48-mile oval in the No. 11 Andretti Green Racing Honda/Dallara. Franchitti, the second-to-last driver in the qualifying draw, recorded a lap of 216.810 mph in the No. 27 AGR Honda/Dallara.

"We're extremely happy with our qualifying effort," said Kanaan, the eighth pole winner in eight IndyCar Series races at Kentucky. "The Team 7-Eleven guys did a great job. Tomorrow's a long day, and it's a bumpy racetrack. It's not going to be easy. I'm happy to have a good starting position for the race and having Dario starting right beside me is going to help even more."

Using a setup almost identical to Kanaan's, Franchitti had a shot at his teammate but couldn't reach the 24.4 second range that both AGR drivers had hit in Friday's second practice session. Instead, he settled for 24.5745 seconds and the outside front-row starting spot.

"We can run pretty close setups on ovals," said Franchitti, who also plays a key role in the set-up of the cars driver by his other AGR teammates, Marco Andretti and Danica Patrick. "On road courses, he still can't deal with some of the things I like. For Marco and Danica, sometimes it works for them, and sometimes it doesn't. They're learning how to tailor it slightly to their style."

Scott Sharp, who has playfully teased reporters and TV commentators about the lack of coverage for his efforts this year, held P1 for most of the session until Kanaan bumped him. Sharp held on for the inside second-row starting position, his second-best start of the season.

"I think it's foolish that when teams that aren't always at the front do have a good day, it isn't mentioned," Sharp said. "It needs to be exemplified. Whether it's Dreyer & Reinbold or Rahal-Letterman or Vision or whoever it is, they should take that opportunity to mention it."

Following Kanaan, Franchitti and Sharp was Scott Dixon, who comes into Saturday's race 24 points behind Franchitti in the IndyCar Series standings. It's the first race since Franchitti's car got airborne and landed on Dixon's in Sunday's race at Michigan International Speedway.

"I just wanted to make sure everybody else was OK after it was over," Franchitti said. "Especially after I saw the replay and saw how close I'd gotten to Dixon and Anthony (Foyt). Luckily, we all were."

Dan Wheldon, who also was involved in the crash, had the fifth-fastest lap in Friday's qualifying session. Tomas Scheckter will start sixth, followed by Sam Hornish Jr., Ryan Hunter-Reay, Ed Carpenter and A.J. Foyt IV.

Saturday's race is scheduled to begin shortly after 6:30 p.m. ET.

Pos  Driver                Speed
 1.  Tony Kanaan           218.086
 2.  Dario Franchitti      216.810
 3.  Scott Sharp           216.658
 4.  Scott Dixon           216.481
 5.  Dan Wheldon           216.353
 6.  Tomas Scheckter       216.315
 7.  Sam Hornish Jr        216.022
 8.  Ryan Hunter-Reay      215.776
 9.  Ed Carpenter          215.754
10.  A.J. Foyt IV          215.521
11.  Danica Patrick        215.275
12.  Vitor Meira           215.202
13.  Helio Castroneves     214.880
14.  Sarah Fisher          214.677
15.  Marco Andretti        214.276
16.  Buddy Rice            213.685
17.  Kosuke Matsuura       213.518
18.  Darren Manning        213.079