Canadian takes pole for Indy 500

INDIANAPOLIS -- Alex Tagliani broke up the monopoly in the top-heavy IndyCar series and became the first Canadian to earn the pole for the Indianapolis 500.

On a day each of the series' three top teams -- Andretti Autopsort, Target Chip Ganassi and Team Penske -- made big mistakes, it was a 37-year-old Canadian who got it right twice with a four-lap average of 227.472 mph Saturday on the day's final run at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

One of Ganassi's drivers, Scott Dixon, will start next to Tagliani on the front row. Defending champ Dario Franchitti could have joined them had he not run out of fuel on the final qualifying lap. Spain's Oriol Servia will start third.

The big boys struggled to keep up with Tagliani. Seven drivers from the vaunted Andretti, Ganassi and Penske teams failed to make the field. Among them are three top Americans -- Marco Andretti, Danica Patrick and Graham Rahal. Ryan Briscoe, one of two Aussies expected to contend for the pole, also failed to lock up a spot for the May 29 race. The biggest bungle was Ganassi's fuel miscalculation.

After running three straight laps over 227 mph, Franchitti suddenly slowed down and wound up coasting back to pit lane. Ganassi threw his arms up in disgust just as Dixon, the 2008 winner, was about to take the track. Dixon also ran out of fuel in the final turn. "[Dario] ran out in one and I ran out just getting to turn four. I think that cost us the pole," Dixon said.

Patrick, Marco and John Andretti all failed to requalify on their second attempt, and it wasn't until John Andretti's third and final attempt that the team finally put someone in the race. Andretti's other four drivers will try to fill the remaining nine spots on the 33-car grid