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It was a Team Penske kind of day Friday at Chicagoland Speedway as its drivers qualified first and second for Saturday’s Peak Antifreeze ad Motor Oil IndyCar 300.

Ryan Briscoe, the current series points-leader, won the pole with a four-lap average speed of 215.364 mph.

Helio Castroneves was second fastest at 215.202 mph.

Qualifying third was Dario Franchitti of Target Chip Ganassi Racing while Tony Kanaan of Andretti Green Racing was fourth.

“We got the 7-Eleven car back to where it needs to be,” Kanaan said. “It’s going to be a great race tomorrow.”

By winning the pole, Briscoe added to his points lead as he will start Saturday night’s race five ahead of Franchitti and 21 ahead of Scott Dixon. Dixon was sixth fastest in qualifying.

After Saturday night’s race, there will be just two left on the schedule.

Hence Briscoe’s joy at winning the pole at Chicagoland and the point which comes with it.

“As far as what’s going to happen in the race, it doesn’t matter where you start,” Briscoe said. “Helio won the race from the last (28th) position last year. It’s exciting. A Team Penske front row means the team is working well. We have strong cars and hopefully we can carry that into the race.

“I’ve had a few firsts this year, so hopefully I can have my first win from the pole.”

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Qualifying Friday for the PEAK Antifreeze and Motor Oil Indy 300 IndyCar Series event on the 1.5-mile Chicagoland Speedway, with starting position, car number in parentheses, driver, chassis-engine and speed:

1. (6) Ryan Briscoe, Dallara-Honda, 215.364

2. (3) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Honda, 215.202

3. (10) Dario Franchitti, Dallara-Honda, 214.973

4. (11) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Honda, 214.661

5. (02) Graham Rahal, Dallara-Honda, 214.556

6. (9) Scott Dixon, Dallara-Honda, 214.494

7. (26) Marco Andretti, Dallara-Honda, 214.470

8. (5) Mario Moraes, Dallara-Honda, 214.331

9. (06) Oriol Servia, Dallara-Honda, 214.126

10. (7) Danica Patrick, Dallara-Honda, 214.104

11. (4) Dan Wheldon, Dallara-Honda, 213.808

12. (20) Ed Carpenter, Dallara-Honda, 213.331

13. (27) Hideki Mutoh, Dallara-Honda, 213.256

14. (43) Tomas Scheckter, Dallara-Honda, 213.218

15. (18) Justin Wilson, Dallara-Honda, 213.011

16. (24) Mike Conway, Dallara-Honda, 212.671

17. (2) Raphael Matos, Dallara-Honda, 212.387

18. (14) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dallara-Honda, 212.337

19. (67) Sarah Fisher, Dallara-Honda, 212.125

20. (13) E.J. Viso, Dallara-Honda, 211.586

21. (23) Milka Duno, Dallara-Honda, 211.465

22. (33) Robert Doornbos, Dallara-Honda, 211.169

23. (98) Jaques Lazier, Dallara-Honda, 208.333

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