Dixon wins IndyCar qualifying in Nashville

Lebanon, TN (Sports Network) - Scott Dixon captured the pole for Saturday night's Firestone Indy 200 at the Nashville Superspeedway. The No.9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing driver circled the 1.333-mile oval in 22.8947 seconds (204.414 m.p.h.).
The pole victory was Dixon's second of the season and eighth of his IndyCar career. Dixon, the defending Firestone Indy 200 champion, won last week's road course race at Watkins Glen, his third in a row at the upstate New York site.
"The car has been fast all weekend," said Dixon. "It's good for what we need. You know we need to put the pressure on the AGR guys any time we can, leading sessions and leading qualifying. Hopefully we'll have a good car in the race tomorrow."
Dario Franchitti will start alongside Dixon on the front row after a best lap of 22.9555 seconds.
Franchitti has been great all season and it shows in the standings. He has three wins, including the Indianapolis 500, and has yet to finish below seventh. Franchitti has been even better over the last three weeks winning two times and finishing third in the other.
Franchitti has taken a close championship race that had at least six drivers thinking titles and turned it into a two-man, maybe a three-man, race.
The Edinburgh, Scotland native owns a 47-point lead over Dixon. Franchitti's Andretti Green Racing teammate Tony Kanaan is in third place, 75 points back.
Kanaan (22.9668) and Sam Hornish Jr. (22.9815) will make up row two.
The race is set to drop the green flag on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. (et).