BY KEN de la BASTIDE
For the Pharos-Tribune
INDIANAPOLIS — INDIANAPOLIS — After a dominant performance in the 2009 Brickyard 400 that came up short, Juan Pablo Montoya showed he is a contender again by capturing the pole for today’s race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
With a track temperature of 110 degrees and rising by the minute, Montoya put the Target Chevrolet of car owner Chip Ganassi on the pole with a speed of 182.278 miles per hour as the seventh car out.
Two cars later, Jimmie Johnson the race winner in 2008 and 2009, made a strong run at Montoya with a lap of 182.142 mph to claim the second position.
“I knew the biggest threat was the 48 car,” Montoya said after Johnson’s run. “We put a good lap out there, we should be up front.”
Led by Montoya and Johnson, Chevrolet grabbed nine of the top 10 positions.
Last year Montoya led the most laps in the Brickyard 400 but was penalized by NASCAR officials for speeding on pit lane, knocking him out of contention for the win.
The winner of the Indianapolis 500 in 2000, Montoya is looking to win two of the biggest races in American motorsports.
A win in the Brickyard 400 would give car owner Chip Ganassi the triple crown in 2010. Jamie McMurray won the Daytona 500 and Dario Franchitti captured the Indianapolis 500.
“That’s for the media to speculate on,” Ganassi said after Montoya captured the pole position. “We’ll see what happens in the race.”
Johnson is looking for his fourth Brickyard win, which would put him in the elite club of four-time winners at IMS that right now includes teammate Jeff Gordon and Indy 500 winners Rick Mears, A.J. Foyt and Al Unser.
“Qualifying means a lot,” said Johnson, “in terms of pit selection and the ability to run good. This is the most demanding track we run on. We got all four corners right [Saturday], the smallest mistake compounds on the straights.”
Last year’s pole sitter, Mark Martin, the 27th car to qualify, grabbed the third spotting position in the heat of the morning with a speed of 181.803 mph.
“It wasn’t perfect, but it was good,” he said. “I made no mistakes, I tried to get a little too much in turn four.”
McMurray will start fourth and Gordon, looking to tie Formula One driver Michael Schmacher with five wins at Indy, posted the fifth-quickest time.
Greg Biffle in the 3M-sponsored Ford broke up the bowtie brigade at the top of the speed charts. Biffle will start seventh with a lap of 181.335 mph.
“That was a perfect lap for us,” Biffle said after being the 34 th car on the track. “I ran a conservative lap, the car has more speed.”
Brad Keselowski was the fastest Dodge and will start 11th while Martin Truex Jr. was the quickest Toyota and will roll-off 12th.
Tony Stewart, the first driver to qualify, will start 15th, while his teammate Ryan Newman will start on the inside of the third row.
Former Formula One champion and Indy 500 winner Jacques Villeneuve will start last in the 43-car field, making the field when J.J. Yeley made contact with the turn one outside retaining wall during the last qualifying run.
“It was very exciting, very stressful,” Villeneuve said. “We didn’t get a lot of laps in the car during practice. I haven’t been in a Cup cars for two years.”
