Briscoe Wins Pole At Chicagoland; Dixon To Start Second

JOLIET, Ill., Saturday, Sept. 6, 2008 – Ryan Briscoe returned to Chicagoland Speedway in style, winning the pole for the PEAK Antifreeze & Motor Oil Indy 300 in his first visit to the 1.5-mile oval since a spectacular crash at the circuit in 2005.

Briscoe recorded a four-lap qualifying effort of 1 minute, 41.4190 mph, 215.818 mph as the last driver to go out, stealing the pole out of the hands of IndyCar Series points leader Scott Dixon, who had set the mark at 1:41.5435, 215.553 mph 15 drivers earlier.

Dixon will start on the outside of Row 1 and will have a large advantage in his bid for a second career championship after his rival Helio Castroneves was penalized for driving under the white line. Castroneves will start at the back of the 28-car field.

Dixon holds a 30-point lead and can clinch the title by finishing eighth or better.

Qualifying Order

1. (6) Ryan Briscoe, Dallara-Honda, 215.818

2. (9) Scott Dixon, Dallara-Honda, 215.553

3. (7) Danica Patrick, Dallara-Honda, 215.548

4. (11) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Honda, 215.368

5. (26) Marco Andretti, Dallara-Honda, 215.064

6. (10) Dan Wheldon, Dallara-Honda, 214.967

7. (12) Tomas Scheckter, Dallara-Honda, 214.855

8. (4) Vitor Meira, Dallara-Honda, 214.796

9. (25) Marty Roth, Dallara-Honda, 214.794

10. (8) Will Power, Dallara-Honda, 214.583

11. (27) Hideki Mutoh, Dallara-Honda, 214.444

12. (5) Oriol Servia, Dallara-Honda, 214.441

13. (20) Ed Carpenter, Dallara-Honda, 213.790

14. (06) Graham Rahal, Dallara-Honda, 213.523

15. (2) A.J. Foyt IV, Dallara-Honda, 213.485

16. (17) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dallara-Honda, 213.430

17. (34) Jaime Camara, Dallara-Honda, 213.417

18. (67) Sarah Fisher, Dallara-Honda, 213.389

19. (36) Alex Tagliani, Dallara-Honda, 212.943

20. (23) Milka Duno, Dallara-Honda, 212.857

21. (02) Justin Wilson, Dallara-Honda, 212.753

22. (15) Buddy Rice, Dallara-Honda, 212.682

23. (14) Darren Manning, Dallara-Honda, 212.406

24. (41) Franck Perera, Dallara-Honda, 212.126

25. (18) Bruno Junqueira, Dallara-Honda, 212.040

26. (33) E.J. Viso, Dallara-Honda, 211.996

27. (19) Mario Moraes, Dallara-Honda, 211.451

28. (3) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Honda, No speed

- IRL