Tagliani Tops Texas

Indy 500 pole sitter Alex Tagliani continued his domination of oval qualifications on Friday, winning the pole for the first of the Texas Twin 275s.  The Canadian lapped the 1.5 mile speedway with a 2-lap average of 215.186 mph. Coming just days after his chief mechanic left SSM for Andretti Autosport, this pole was not nearly as predictable as his still shocking Indianapolis pole.  Tagliani will be joined in the top 5 by Dario Franchitti, Will Power, Takuma Sato, and Ed Carpenter. 

The most surprising result of the top 10 is rookie Wade Cunningham.  Driving the car that Dan Wheldon used to win the 100th anniversay Indy 500, the 3-time Freedom 100 winner looked at ease despite it being his first ever IndyCar race.  He does have a great group surrounding him, with Tagliani as his teammate. 

Rookie James Jakes was not allowed to make a qualification attempt after failing to pass pre-qualifying inspection.  The Dale Coyne Racing driver will be forced to start dead last in the first of the night's duel races.

Check back tomorrow for a preview of the first ever Texas Twin 275s.