Target Chip Ganassi Racing duo Dan Wheldon and Scott Dixon may lead the IndyCar standings heading to the Indianapolis 500, but that meant little when Pole Day qualifying came around. source: crash.net Both will take the start for the 91st running of the blue riband event from the second row - Dixon from fourth and Wheldon sixth - after track conditions changed to the benefit of Tony Kanaan and eventual polewinner Helio Castroneves. The Target team-mates both qualified early in the day, but were disappointed with their times as conditions had not only changed significantly from the past week's practice days - in which both had topped the speed charts - but also continued to fluctuate through the day. As a result of others going faster after their initial runs, the two Target cars were withdrawn in order to take a second attempt in the final hour of qualifying, but Dixon managed only the inside of row two and Wheldon the outside spot. "We knew it was going to be a long day after that first run," Dixon admitted, "The conditions today are so different than what we've been running with. "I wasn't really happy with the car - it was so nice this morning, then we came out and it was difficult running. The wind changed things a bit. We were hoping to put in a decent run to start with, but that wasn't the case. We missed quite a bit on balance. I think we were way under the window. We had lots of understeer. I was kind of thinking about waving it off to start with, but the team was adamant about putting in a time. It's frustrating." Wheldon was equally disappointed, having come to Indianapolis on a roll and enjoyed a strong week of practice. "There was definitely more speed in the car but, for some reason, we just didn't get it out," the Briton lamented, "I've done out laps of 225.6mph this month, so we know there's plenty of speed in the car, butthat's what Indianapolis is all about. It's a challenge, and that's the good thing about it. If it was easy, it wouldn't be Indianapolis. That's why I like it. That's part of it, and I wouldn't change it for the world.'' "Obviously, my car didn't perform as well as I'd like, but you've got to remember that the race is the big thing. That's what keeps me so enamoured with this event. It makes it a lot of fun."
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