Graham Rahal won his second career pole position and his first on an oval, edging teammate Robert Doornbos by three-tenths of a second as Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing swept the front row for the Road Runner Turbo Indy 300 at Kansas Speedway.
Earlier this month, Rahal became the youngest pole winner in major open-wheel racing history at the season-opening race at St. Petersburg, Fla. Two races later, the 20-year-old is on the pole for the first time on an oval. He qualified second at Milwaukee last year.
Doornbos, a rookie who will be making his first start on an oval, qualified second, marking the 40th time in IndyCar Series history that teammates will start 1-2. Rahal recorded a four-lap qualifying average of 211.311 mph, while Doornbos was at 210.665 mph.
Danica Patrick qualified third on the 1.5-mile oval, and will start on the second row next to reigning series champion Scott Dixon.
Dan Wheldon, the winner of the last two races at Kansas Speedway, will start ninth in his attempt to become the third driver to win three consecutive races at a track.
Series points leader Dario Franchitti will start 20th, and Helio Castroneves will start 21st. Both drivers were penalized for driving under the white line during their qualifying attempts. Castroneves was penalized for the same reason in the 2008 season finale at Chicagoland and went on to win the race after starting 28th.
Qualifying Saturday for the Road Runner Turbo Indy 300 IndyCar Series event on the 1.5-mile Kansas Speedway, with starting position, car number in parentheses, driver, chassis-engine and speed:
1. (02) Graham Rahal, Dallara-Honda, 211.311
2. (06) Robert Doornbos, Dallara-Honda, 210.665
3. (7) Danica Patrick, Dallara-Honda, 210.470
4. (9) Scott Dixon, Dallara-Honda, 210.368
5. (26) Marco Andretti, Dallara-Honda, 210.220
6. (5) Mario Moraes, Dallara-Honda, 210.197
7. (6) Ryan Briscoe, Dallara-Honda, 210.098
8. (11) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Honda, 210.082
9. (4) Dan Wheldon, Dallara-Honda, 209.144
10. (20) Ed Carpenter, Dallara-Honda, 208.956
11. (67) Sarah Fisher, Dallara-Honda, 208.543
12. (23) Milka Duno, Dallara-Honda, 208.537
13. (27) Hideki Mutoh, Dallara-Honda, 208.506
14. (14) Vitor Meira, Dallara-Honda, 208.461
15. (2) Raphael Matos, Dallara-Honda, 208.382
16. (24) Mike Conway, Dallara-Honda, 208.145
17. (18) Justin Wilson, Dallara-Honda, 207.971
18. (13) E.J. Viso, Dallara-Honda, 206.779
19. (98) Stanton Barrett, Dallara-Honda, 205.820
20. (21) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dallara-Honda, 205.673
21. (10) Dario Franchitti, Dallara-Honda, no speed
22. (3) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Honda, no speed
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