Australia's Ryan Briscoe on Friday earned pole position for Saturday's IndyCar race at Chicagoland Speedway.
Briscoe, winner of this race last season, claimed his third straight Chicagoland pole with an average speed of 216.347mph.
Scotland's Dario Franchitti was second quickest, followed by Australian Will Power, Brazil's Helio Castroneves and American Marco Andretti. The 29-car field was separated by just one second.
Power leads Franchitti by 59 points in the IndyCar series standings with four races remaining.
Saturday night's race under the floodlights begins a season-ending stretch of four races on oval circuits.
While Power leads the standings, he is better known for his success on street-style circuits, while Franchitti is considered stronger on ovals.
New Zealand's Scott Dixon, who has finished second at this 1.5-mile oval the past four years, will start from a season-low 15th position.
Danica Patrick was 12th-fastest, the highest qualifier of the record-equalling five women in the field.
Copyright 2010 AFP American Edition
