Brazilian Tony Kanaan grabbed pole position for the Indianapolis 500 race after a rain-hit qualifying weekend was finally completed on Sunday.
Kanaan was last year's runner-up in the Indy 500
The reigning Indy Racing League champion was fastest over four laps of the oval track, averaging a time of two minutes, 38.1961 seconds.
Rookie Danica Patrick kept up her bid to become the first woman to win the race on 29 May, finishing fourth.
Scot Dario Franchitti was sixth while England's Dan Wheldon was 16th.
Wheldon's mark sees him start the race on row six while compatriot Darren Manning, who suffered a crash in practice, starts one row back.
"It felt great," Kanaan said. "I pushed it a little bit.
"It's a good start. But what I want is May the 29th."
The Brazilian will be joined on the front row by Americans Sam Hornish and Scott Sharp.