Tagliani claims Indianapolis 500 pole

Alex Tagliani wanted to end the Penske and Ganassi domination in INDYCAR and at the Indianapolis 500.

Tagliani, who drives for Sam Schmidt Motorsports, took a significant step toward that Saturday, beating Scott Dixon of Target Chip Ganassi Racing to claim the pole position for the 95th Indianapolis 500 next Sunday.

Tagliani posted a four-lap average speed of 227.472 miles per hour during the "Fast Nine" shootout at the end of the day at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, besting 2008 "500" winner Dixon's average of 227.340 miles per hour.

Tagliani's pole-winning run in the final attempt of the day made him the first Canadian driver to start the Indianapolis 500 from the coveted position inside the front row.

Spanish driver Oriol Servia will join Tagliani and Dixon on the outside of row one.

Former winners Dan Wheldon, Buddy Rice and Dario Franchitti also qualified for the Fast Nine shootout. Franchitti's final run figured to again put him on the front row, from where he won last year's running, but his No. 10 Target machine ran out of fuel on his final lap.

The first 24 starting spots for next Sunday's 100th-anniversary race are provisionally set, and the rest of the field will be filled Sunday beginning at noon.