NEWTON, Iowa – Scotland's Dario Franchitti, who won his third Indianapolis 500 last month, captured pole position for Saturday's Indy 250 by setting the qualifying pace in Friday's time trials. Franchitti won the final qualifying race that determined Saturday's top eight starters on the 0.894-mile Iowa Speedway oval, with Brazil's Helio Castroneves finishing second to join the Scotsman in row one for the race. American Marco Andretti and Canada's James Hinchcliffe will start in row two with Australians Ryan Briscoe and Will Power in row three and American Ryan Hunter-Reay joined by New Zealand's Scott Dixon in row four. Ambrose again Marcos Ambrose won the top starting spot for Sunday's Sprint Cup Series race at Sonoma, California, with a fastest lap around the 1.99-mile (3.2-kilometer) road course. He knocked off Jimmie Johnson, then waited to see if Jeff Gordon could beat him. Gordon was the last driver to attempt to qualify. He ran an aggressive lap around the 10-turn course, and just missed the pole with an average speed of 95.067 mph (152.996 kph). Gordon will start second. Johnson ended up third, putting the Hendrick Motorsports teammates second and third on the starting grid. Greg Biffle qualified fourth in a Ford, and was followed by Michael Waltrip Racing teammates Martin Truex Jr. and Clint Bowyer, who will start sixth and seventh in Toyotas. Brothers Kyle and Kurt Busch qualified seventh and eighth, Sprint Cup Series points leader Matt Kenseth was ninth, and Ryan Newman rounded out the top 10. — Agencies
