Andretti Green couldn't match its Ganassi and Penske rivals in qualifying, but Danica Patrick led the team with a solid second-row showing. (Dana Garrett/IndyCar photo) » More Photos

Andretti’s run was followed by another attempt by Mutoh, who got the previously disqualified No. 27 AGR Dallara-Honda back in the field in the ninth position. Ryan Hunter-Reay then crashed at 5:22 p.m., just 38 minutes before the end of the session. The impact punched a hole in the SAFER barrier in Turn 2, and track workers had to weld a patch into place.

That further tightened the time frame for the drivers waiting in line to get on track. Graham Rahal, who had been on the 11th-place bubble for most of the day before Mutoh bumped him, was the first out on the track, needing to beat 223.779 mph to knock Tomas Scheckter out of the field. Rahal failed, waving off a run that averaged 223.221 mph.

That turned the drama back to Wheldon, who appeared to have enough for the pole until he faded to a four-lap average of 226.110 mph, just a hair behind Dixon’s average but moving him from third to second on the grid and making it a 1-2 start for Ganassi.

“We had a clear plan,” Ganassi team manager Mike Hull said. “We knew that one attempt was not going to get it done, unlike in the past. We rehearsed this 11-person deal. We came here to be aggressive with the format. We tried last year, but didn’t do a good enough job. We studied this thing.”

In the end, the potential challengers to the pole -- Briscoe, Castroneves, Patrick and Kanaan -- chose to stay in their pits and garages and accept their starting positions, ceding the 1-2 start to Ganassi‘s team.

“There are days when you realize it’s better to be smart and safe than brave and stupid,” said Castroneves, whose team packed it in with more than 15 minutes remaining in the session. “We got to the point where there just wasn’t much we could do.”

Indianapolis 500 Pole Day qualifiers:
Pos Driver Team Speed
1) Scott Dixon, Target Ganassi, 226.366
2) Dan Wheldon, Target Ganassi, 226.110
3) Ryan Briscoe, Penske, 226.080
4) Helio Castroneves, Penske, 225.733
5) Danica Patrick, Andretti Green, 225.197
6) Tony Kanaan, Andretti Green, 224.799
7) Marco Andretti, Andretti Green, 224.417
8) Vitor Meira, Panther, 224.346
9) Hideki Mutoh, Andretti Green, 223.887
10) Ed Carpenter, Vision, 223.835
11) Tomas Scheckter, Luczo Dragon, 223.496