Title rivals sweep Chicago front rows

Sam Hornish Jr. recorded a lap of 25.4134 seconds in the No. 6 Marlboro Team Penske Honda/Dallara - 0.08962 seconds faster than the closest competitor - to win the pole position for the PEAK Antifreeze Indy 300 at Chicagoland Speedway.

That gives him the early edge in a four-way race for the championship that also includes Penske teammate Helio Castroneves and Target Chip Ganassi teammates Dan Wheldon and Scott Dixon.

Hornish's lap equated to nearly 1 mph over Dixon, who was clocked at 25.4996 seconds in the No. 9 Ganassi Honda/Dallara. Wheldon will start third in the No. 10 Ganassi Honda/Dallara, followed by Castroneves in the No. 3 Penske Honda/Dallara.

If previous races this season on 1.5-mile ovals are any indication, it's likely that the Penske/Ganassi combination will be battling for the race win - and the championship - on the final lap.

The two teams have combined to win all five races so far this season on 1.5-mile ovals, and have won all six poles on the 1.5-mile tracks.

"We'll try to line up and decide it between the four of us instead of letting the other guys get in there," Hornish said.

"That's basically how a lot of the mile-and-a-half tracks have worked out this year, with the four of us racing together. Everybody will be trying to lead laps tomorrow because of the extra three points."

Indeed, the points race is that close. Castroneves leads Hornish by one point. Wheldon is 19 points behind, Dixon 21 points back.

"I'm sure its going to be hard to sleep tonight," Casttroneves said. "No question about it. It's been fun. I'm very happy to be in this situation. It's been a lot of years that I've been competing, been very close, knocking at the door. Unfortunately, something always happens."

Not far off Dixon's lap was Wheldon, who has won just one race this season but has led 595 laps - second only to Hornish's 647 - and has finished among the top five in eight of the 13 races so far this season.

"It seems the four of us have a distinct advantage over the rest of the field," said Wheldon, who won the 2005 IRL championship for Andretti Green Racing. "It's going to make it very difficult to win the championship.

"At the same time, we don't have any pressure. To be quite frank and honest, I really don't care if I finish fourth, third or second in the championship. It means nothing to me. I've got to try to win."

While the situation is slightly more desperate for the Ganassi drivers than for Penske, they can benefit dramatically from any problems encountered by the Penske cars.

"The main thing for both of us was to be near the front of the grid," Dixon said. "As long as you're on the top, you're going to be fine here. It seems pretty easy to pass, and the track has good grip. We need to go out there, try to lead the most laps, and win the race."

Following the Penske and Ganassi drivers on the grid will be Scott Sharp, who recorded a lap of 213.573 mph in the No. 8 Delphi Fernandez Racing Honda/Dallara. Vitor Meira, who is fifth in the standings, 58 points behind Castroneves, had the sixth-fastest lap in the No. 4 Panther Racing Honda/Dallara.

Tomas Scheckter, Kosuke Matsuura, Buddy Rice and Jeff Simmons rounded out the top 10. A.J. Foyt IV, who replaced Dario Franchitti after he was injured last week in a vintage sports car race, will start 11th on the 19-car grid after recording the fastest lap of four Andretti Green drivers.

Hornish's pole was Penske's 10th of the season for a team that has won eight of the 13 races thus far. This one, at a track notorious for its three-wide finishes, might not be as easy as some of the others.

"I've seen a three-wide finish here," Hornish said. "I don't know if four-wide can happen, but maybe it could. It's going to be tough racing tomorrow. The fans are going to get a great show."

Pos  Driver             Team                   Speed
 1.  Sam Hornish Jr.    Marlboro Team Penske   215.319
 2.  Scott Dixon        Target Chip Ganassi    214.592
 3.  Dan Wheldon        Target Chip Ganassi    214.387
 4.  Helio Castroneves  Marlboro Team Penske   213.922
 5.  Scott Sharp        Delphi Fernandez       213.573
 6.  Vitor Meira        Panther                213.474
 7.  Tomas Scheckter    Vision                 213.024
 8.  Kosuke Matsuura    Super Aguri Fernandez  212.715
 9.  Buddy Rice         Rahal Letterman        212.644
10.  Jeff Simmons       Rahal Letterman        212.182
11.  A.J. Foyt IV       Andretti Green         212.160
12.  Ed Carpenter        Vision                212.093
13.  Tony Kanaan        Andretti Green         211.740
14.  Marco Andretti     Andretti Green         211.349
15.  Danica Patrick     Rahal Letterman        211.153
16.  Sarah Fisher       Dreyer & Reinbold      210.940
17.  Jeff Bucknum       A.J. Foyt Enterprises  210.700
18.  Bryan Herta        Andretti Green         210.679
19.  Marty Roth         Roth                   209.713