I do not want to be in the Newman Haas pit tonight!

First things first, Target Chip Ganassi Racing were sensational today. Dixon and Wheldon judged the track conditions and the timing of their runs perfectly, it's almost as if Chip had acquired a copy of the Roger Penske playbook, that would never happen would it?

More of the first 11 later, the real drama came right at the end of qualifying, about 15 minutes ago, when Graham Rahal, who had been seated atop of 'The Bubble' for much of the day, was bumped out of the Day 1 qualifying group. He was confident that he had one more good run in him as he had been doing times very close to those of Tomas Scheckter who was now sitting in position 11. He went out with about 15 minutes to go and just missed making it into the field. He immediately told his team that they could make it and to get a fresh set of tyres on the car and get it through tech. Incredibly, whether by accident or design, the team failed to produce a new set of boots for the 06 car and Graham was left standing in pit lane ready to give it one more shot, only to be told that it wasn't going to happen. The composure he showed during the inevitable interview which followed was a lesson in professionalism. He was absolutely incandescant with rage, but did not show it.

Ryan Briscoe's run as the afternoon session began was stunning! The car never ran a low line and looked beautifully balanced through all four corners. His presence on the front row is not a shock but for him to be one place ahead of Helio Castroneves could be considered a minor one.

The 'slightly surprising' files also contain the fact that the highest AGR car on the grid is Danica Patrick in 5th. Tony Kanaan and Marco Andretti fill out the next two spots while never getting a full handle on their cars today. There are many teams who would love to have those sort of troubles.

If I had an enormously massive novelty/promotional hat, I would be taking it off in recognition of Vitor Meira's performance in sticking the Panther Racing entry firmly into the middle of Row 3. This under funded single car team have been superb all week and this is the very least that they deserve. I have no doubt that he will feature in the mix for a podium finish come the Sunday before Memorial Day. They don't have a podium so he'll have to make his own and provide the champagne and nobody will be watching, but at least he'll be happy.

Hideki Mutoh is a true rookie and has performed superbly all week and despite the lack of hoopla on TV today, he has done a fantastic job in qualifying 9th. Ed Carpenter's presence on Row 4 has not come as a surprise based on the speed that he and the Vision team have shown all season. Penske know how was certainly evident in the efforts of the Luczo Dragon team in getting Tomas Scheckter into the show on Day 1.

1- Scott Dixon, 226.366

2 - Dan Wheldon, 226.110

3 - Ryan Briscoe, 226.080

4 - Helio Castroneves, 225.733

5 - Danica Patrick, 225.197

6 - Tony Kanaan, 224.794

7 - Marco Andretti, 224.417

8 - Vitor Meira, 224.346

9 - Hideki Mutoh, 223.887

10 - Ed Carpenter, 223.835

11 - Tomas Scheckter, 223.496

More today as qualifying continues......................