Ryan Briscoe beat teammate Will Power in the final minutes of qualifying to win the Pole for Sunday’s race at Long Beach. Dario Franchitti and Josef Newgarden will start on the front row. If that doesn’t make any sense, you haven’t been paying attention to the IndyCar Series this past week.

First there was the engine problem that James Hinchcliffe had at Sonoma. Both he and Sebastien Bourdais were already set to make engine changes and serve a 10-spot penalty at Long Beach. Then there was the announcement that Chevrolet was going to be changing ALL of their engines, and that every car would be given the same 10 position penalty.

Friday was a monsoon, and for some odd reason, Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon were out on the track. There was nothing to gain, and nearly everything to lose. Dixon hit a puddle, hydroplaned, and slammed into the wall. If that wasn’t enough, his gearbox caught fire twice during qualifying today and he landed in 12th position.

In practice, both Tony Kanaan and Helio Castroneves found the wall. James Jakes did the same moments later, and Simona de Silvestro had problems of her own. She may also need to change an engine, along with Dixon. That would put the number of engine changes for this race at 16.

The Firestone Fast included Briscoe, Power, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Franchitti, EJ Viso, and Hinchcliffe.

Below is the actual starting lineup for the race once all of the penalties were handed out:

1. Dario Franchitti
2. Josef Newgarden
3. Justin Wilson
4. Simon Pagenaud
5. Scott Dixon
6. Takuma Sato
7. Mike Conway
8. Graham Rahal
9. Charlie Kimball
10. Alex Tagliani
11. Ryan Briscoe
12. Will Power
13. Ryan Hunter-Reay
14. James Jakes
15. E.J. Viso
16. James Hinchcliffe
17. Simona De Silvestro
18. Helio Castroneves
19. Tony Kanaan
20. JR Hildebrand
21. Marco Andretti
22. Rubens Barrichello
23. Oriol Servia
24. Ed Carpenter
25. Sebastien Bourdais
26. Katherine Legge

Below are Saturday’s qualifying results (before penalties):

1. Ryan Briscoe
2. Will Power
3. Ryan Hunter-Reay
4. Dario Franchitti
5. EJ Viso
6. James Hinchcliffe
7. Josef Newgarden
8. Helio Castroneves
9. Justin Wilson
10. Tony Kanaan
11. Simon Pagenaud
12. Scott Dixon
13. Takuma Sato
14. Mike Conway
15. Graham Rahal
16. JR Hildebrand
17. Charlie Kimball
18. Marco Andretti
19. Rubens Barrichello
20. Oriol Servia
21. Alex Tagliani
22. James Jakes
23. Ed Carpenter
24. Sebastien Bourdais
25. Katherine Legge
26. Simona de Silvestro