Dario Franchitti wasn’t good in either practice on Friday, but he was the best during qualifying.
Franchitti set a two-lap average of 168.737 mph to take pole position away from last weekend’s winner, Justin Wilson. Had Wilson hung on, he wouldn’t have been up front for long. Wilson is just one of seven drivers that will suffer a ten-spot grid penalty before tomorrow’s race.
Wilson isn’t the biggest name that will be moving back before the race. Will Power and Scott Dixon are 1-2 in the points standings, but they will both have to fight their way to the front tomorrow.
The field will look different once the green flag drops tomorrow, with all of the penalties. Franchitti and Wilson qualified on the front row, with row two belonging to Ryan Hunter-Reay and Will Power. The third row was Rubens Barrichello and Helio Castroneves.
This is Dario’s 27th career pole, which comes in familiar territory for the three-time Indy 500 champion. He won the pole here last year too, then went on to win the race. The 225 lap race at the historic Milwaukee Mile will air tomorrow at 1:00 PM ET on ABC.