News

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Team Penske's Ryan Briscoe will start from the front row and his teammate Helio Castroneves will be right behind him for the start of Saturday night's Bombardier Learjet 550k at Texas Motor Speedway.

Briscoe recorded a four-lap qualifying run of 1:37.7179 -- an average of 214.513 mph -- just 0.25 seconds behind pole-winner Dario Franchitti Friday and he will start on the outside front-row position in the No. 6 Team Penske Dallara/Honda.

"I like being called the outside pole-sitter," said Briscoe. "It's like you almost won the pole. Starting on the front row is important. If you've got a fast car here, you'll be in good shape."

Meanwhile, Castroneves posted the fourth-fastest average of the evening qualifying -- 214.228 mph -- in the No. 3 Team Penske Dallara/Honda.

"I put the pedal to the metal, but it was just one of those days where there wasn't much happening," said Castroneves. "It was too bad because we had a quick car, but we didn't qualify as well as I thought we would."

The starting position represented Briscoe's third consecutive front row start -- he won the pole last week at Milwaukee and started next to his pole-winning teammate before Castroneves won the Indianapolis 500 two weeks ago. It also is Briscoe's best starting spot at Texas.

"It was a pretty good run," said Briscoe. "We just weren't quick enough over four laps and were a few tenths off. We always treat qualifying as the first race of the weekend, so it's always good to go for the pole."

Saturday's race is scheduled to begin at 9:40 p.m. ET and will be televised live by Versus.

Friday qualifying results for the Bombardier Learjet 550K IndyCar Series event on the 1.5-mile Texas Motor Speedway, with starting position, car number in parentheses, driver, chassis-engine and speed:

1. (10) Dario Franchitti, Dallara-Honda, 214.513

2. (6) Ryan Briscoe, Dallara-Honda, 214.413

3. (9) Scott Dixon, Dallara-Honda, 214.296

4. (3) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Honda, 214.228

5. (7) Danica Patrick, Dallara-Honda, 213.929

6. (5) Mario Moraes, Dallara-Honda, 213.717

7. (4) Dan Wheldon, Dallara-Honda, 213.596

8. (26) Marco Andretti, Dallara-Honda, 213.540

9. (06) Robert Doornbos, Dallara-Honda, 213.479

10. (20) Ed Carpenter, Dallara-Honda, 213.435

11. (27) Hideki Mutoh, Dallara-Honda, 213.327

12. (02) Graham Rahal, Dallara-Honda, 213.178

13. (34) Alex Tagliani, Dallara-Honda, 213.173

14. (67) Sarah Fisher, Dallara-Honda, 212.554

15. (2) Raphael Matos, Dallara-Honda, 212.137

16. (11) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Honda, 212.108

17. (18) Justin Wilson, Dallara-Honda, 212.021

18. (43) Tomas Scheckter, Dallara-Honda, 211.741

19. (24) Mike Conway, Dallara-Honda, 211.686

20. (23) Milka Duno, Dallara-Honda, 211.601

21. (13) E.J. Viso, Dallara-Honda, 211.553

22. (14) A.J. Foyt IV, Dallara-Honda, 211.454

23. (21) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dallara-Honda, 210.532

24. (98) Jaques Lazier, Dallara-Honda, 209.329