Wheldon takes second pole of season

Gladeville, Tennessee:

Dan Wheldon completed a best lap of 23.0210 seconds on Friday and won the pole for the Firestone Indy 200, making him the first IndyCar Series driver with consecutive poles this season. Marlboro Team Penske rivals Sam Hornish Jr who passed Wheldon on the white flag lap and won at Kansas two weeks ago, just missed on his fourth pole this season. The series points leader instead will start beside Wheldon on the front row for Saturday night's race. "Everyone at Team Chip Ganassi Racing is very motivated to try and beat these orange and white cars," Wheldon said. Wheldon, the defending series champion, currently ranks fourth in the points race and is only 43 points behind Hornish. Wheldon led 45 laps at Kansas before being passed and finishing second. Scott Dixon will start third despite blowing the gearbox in practice, then having something stick during his warmup as the last driver in qualifying. His team made the repair, and he took full advantage of his one lap, going 23.1461 seconds on the 4.2-kilometer Nashville Superspeedway oval to push Marlboro Penske driver Helio Castroneves down a spot to fourth. Scotland native Dario Franchitti, the defending champion who lives in Tennessee and considers this his home track, will start fifth alongside Andretti Green Racing teammate Tony Kanaan. Danica Patrick was the second driver out in qualifying and will start 10th, matching her highest start this season. Wheldon won a series record six races with Andretti Green Racing in 2005. He has only one victory since joining Ganassi among five top-five finishes, including coming in second at Motegi in Japan and at Kansas. (AP)