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INDIANAPOLIS – Alex Tagliani was primed to mix things up in the IndyCar concern Saturday.

Did he ever.

On a period that digit of the program best-known aggroup owners — Roger Penske and archangel Andretti — struggled mightily, it was the lesser-known 37-year-old river who stole the show.

Tagliani grabbed the primeval tangency for this year's Indianapolis 500 with a four-lap limiting cipher of 226.954 mph. Target Chip Ganassi's digit drivers, Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti, both Indy winners, were the another digit cars to attain the face row.

It was every part of Tagliani's grand plan.

"I'm effort bushed of the Penske and Ganassi domination, here especially at the 500," he said after his limiting run. "I conceive a lot of grouping are craving for it, and if we crapper do it, it would be nice."

Andretti's cars went 0 for 9 disagreeable to attain the field, after every fivesome cars were bumped, including Evangelist and Marco Andretti and Danica Patrick.

If Tagliani holds onto the crowning spot, it would be the crowning action of his career. He has won exclusive digit vie and condemned four poles since 2000 — none of which circularize the standing of Indianapolis.

Dixon, the 2008 vie succeeder from New Zealand, had a 226.701. He's in the middle of the face row. Franchitti, a two-time succeeder and the defending masticate from Scotland, was incoming at 226.379, putting him on the right of Row 1.

Still, Tagliani's jump to the crowning seemed run on digit of the strangest Pole Days in recent Indy history.

And exclusive digit utility from Penske's three-car stable, inhabitant Will Power, prefabricated it onto the face three rows. He was seventh, the exclusive of Row 3, after feat 226.089. But that was ease behind three drivers making their flavour debuts — Dan Wheldon, reformist Bell and Ed Carpenter.

Three-time Indy succeeder Helio Castroneves also struggled in his endeavor to intend an unexampled ordinal straight pole. His four-lap cipher of 225.216 place him on the exclusive of Row 6, 16th. The Brazilian ease has digit attempts remaining before the shootout among the fastest nine drivers begins.

If Castroneves can't meliorate his position, it module be his lowest play blot in 11 occupation starts at Indy.

"I'm same a bounteous question mark," Castroneves said. "We've got to go backwards discover so I crapper intend it in the crowning nine and contend for the tangency position. We know we hit it."

And that wasn't nearly as bad a period as Penske associate Ryan Briscoe had.

Briscoe wrecked his direct automobile in training Sat morning. After the gathering scrambled to place an engine in his patronage car, Briscoe was digit of 13 drivers to intend bumped from the field. Even worse, he failed to requalify on his ordinal attempt.

Race organizers filled exclusive 24 of the 33 play symptom for the May 29 vie Saturday. The remaining nine symptom module be filled Sunday.

Swiss utility Simona De Silvestro, who uninterrupted burns on both of her safekeeping in a crash Thursday, qualified, was bumped, failed to remember on her ordinal endeavor and then eventually place the No. 78 automobile in the exhibit with an cipher of 224.392. She'll move from the middle of row 8.

Then there was the Andretti curse.

All fivesome of the team's drivers, including Patrick, eligible for the race, then got bumped. Three of those cars — Evangelist and Marco Andretti and Apostle — prefabricated a ordinal endeavor to attain the crowning 24. Marco Andretti modify proven a ordinal instance with most 40 minutes to go in qualifying.

None prefabricated it in.

"We're just likewise slow," Evangelist Andretti said. "We've been struggling a lowercase taste for pace and we thought we institute the pace the terminal some days. So now, you've got rattling no answers. You've got fivesome assorted cars, so you've got a lot of assorted choices and things you crapper do."

The prototypal of digit life of limiting for the May 29 vie was a effort for many drivers.

Cool temperatures and inclementness skies didn't support the speeds, and with 39 drivers primed to attain limiting attempts, training instance was scarce.

There was the danger of fall every afternoon, and the twine was modify more challenging.

"I got lax in invoke digit on my ordinal travel and I had a pretty bounteous moment there," said Carpenter, whose tilt haw hit cost him a blot on the face row. "These conditions were thickened today."

But the large mistakes were prefabricated by Briscoe, who blamed cold tires for the chance that mitt him wobbly, and rookie Ho-Pin Tung.

Tung, disagreeable to become the prototypal Asiatic utility to move in the 100th day of the prototypal Indy race, spun reaching finished the prototypal invoke of his test limiting lap. The automobile hardback hard into the right wall and skidded down the warmup lane before actuation to a stop with fluid spewing into the air. Tung apace got discover of the car, was awaken and signal but was ease condemned to Methodist Hospital as a precaution.

Dragon Racing, the aggroup owned by Penske's youngest son, Jay, does not list a patronage automobile for Tung.

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