Scheckter steals pole

Tomas Scheckter astounded fans at the Miami Homestead Speedway by storming to pole position today, while Panther teammate Tomas Enge will slot in immediately behind him, with the pair to be split on the grid by Vitor Meira.

With Chevrolet having announced their withdrawal from the series at the end of the year little was expected by the teams powered by their underperforming powerplants, but Scheckter has given the American manufacturer a shot in the arm by claiming pole with a lap of 215.115 mph. This is Chevrolet's first pole since Chicagoland in 2003.

"This is the type of racing you dream about, when you've got a great car and a strong engine,"said a beaming Scheckter after qualifying. "It means so much to me how hard Chevrolet worked. A lot of people started putting them down, and this really helps."

The Rahal Letterman pairing of Meira and Buddy Rice will mirror the Panther drivers, lining up behind each other in second and fourth. Rookie Ryan Briscoe did not make an attempt in qualifying after making contact with the barrier in practice - he will start tomorrow from the rear in his spare car.

Qualifying Results - Toyota Indy 300, Miami Homestead Speedway, March 5, 2005

1. Tomas Scheckter, 215.115 mph
2. Vitor Meira, 214.317 mph
3. Tomas Enge, 214.152 mph
4. Buddy Rice, 214.006 mph
5. Dario Franchitti, 213.899 mph
6. Scott Sharp, 213.463 mph
7. Helio Castroneves, 213.313 mph
8. Sam Hornish Jr, 212.887 mph
9. Danica Patrick, 212.871 mph
10. Roger Yasukawa, 212.838 mph
11. Dan Wheldon, 212.768 mph
12. Darren Manning, 212.377 mph
13. Bryan Herta, 212.311 mph
14. Tony Kanaan, 212.255 mph
15. Kosuke Matsuura, 211.880 mph
16. Scott Dixon, 211.726 mph
17. Alex Barron, 210.218 mph
18. A.J. Foyt IV, 208.931 mph
19. Patrick Carpentier, 208.670 mph
20. Ed Carpenter, 206.657 mph
21. Paul Dana, 205.037 mph