INDIANAPOLIS, May 22 (UPI) -- Helio Castroneves captured the pole position for the Indianapolis 500 Saturday, averaging 227.97 mph in qualifying at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Castroneves, of Team Penske, achieved the times during the "Fast Nine" shootout session, in which the fastest nine drivers in the first 5 hours of qualifying moved on to a 90-minute "shootout" to crown the pole winner.
Castroneves chose to go first in the shootout after emerging as the fastest prior to the session. With the pole position secured, the Brazilian will now aim for his record-tying fourth Indy 500 on May 30. He also earned 15 points in the championship standings and collected bonuses totaling $175,000.
Team Penske teammates Will Power and Ryan Briscoe captured the second and fourth positions respectively.
Dario Franchitti, meanwhile, will start on the outside of Castroneves and Power along the front row while Alex Tagliani and Scott Dixon will be on the second row with Briscoe.
Graham Rahal, Ed Carpenter and Hideki Mutoh will comprise the third row.
