Qualifying: Scheckter takes pole
Rookie Tomas Scheckter put his Indianapolis 500 disappointment behind him to take pole position for this weekend's Indy Racing League round at the Texas Motor Speedway
The South African, who crashed out of the lead in the closing stages at Indy two weeks ago, headed boss and team-mate Eddie Cheever as the Red Bull squad dominated at the high-banked oval.
Cheever had led Scheckter during practice earlier in the day and during qualifying they were the only pair to break the 24 second mark around the 1.5-mile track. Scheckter's pole makes him the first rookie to start from the front of the grid since Billy Boat managed the feat in 1997.
Veteran Al Unser Jr posted his best ever IRL qualifying performance by going third. Another rookie Laurent Redon was fourth, making it three Infiniti-powered cars on the front two rows.
Indy winner and points leader Helio Castroneves was fifth, ahead of Shigeaki Hattori, who was a surprise sixth.
The race takes place on Saturday night.
Tomas Scheckter Dallara-Infiniti 23.7933s 220.146mph
Eddie Cheever Dallara-Infiniti 23.9107s 219.065mph
Al Unser Jr Dallara-Chevrolet 24.0040s 218.214mph
Laurent Redon Dallara-Infiniti 24.0303s 217.975mph
Helio Castroneves Dallara-Chevrolet 24.1098s 217.256mph
Shigeaki Hattori Dallara-Infiniti 24.1149s, 217.210mph
Jeff Ward G-Force-Chevrolet 24.1183s 217.179mph
Sam Hornish Jr Dallara-Chevrolet 24.1332s 217.045mph
Airton Dare Dallara-Chevrolet 24.1508s 216.887mph
Buddy Lazier Dallara-Chevrolet 24.1731s 216.687mph
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