Briscoe will lead the field in the 500

Roger Penske ran out the clock on Michael Andretti's team, giving the Indianapolis 500 pole to Ryan Briscoe. The Australian won it with a daring late-afternoon run and a four-lap average of 226.484 mph. Then Briscoe had to wait, watch and wonder if anyone else could beat it. Canadian James Hinchcliffe nearly did. But after going 227.009 on a warm-up lap, the man who had the No. 1 seed in the pole shootout slowed on each succeeding lap. He led Briscoe through three laps but fell to second, the middle of Row 1, after completing his run with a final lap of 226.137. That gave Hinchcliffe a 226.481 average. The 0.003 difference is the narrowest in 500 history. Hinchcliffe's teammates, Americans Ryan Hunter-Reay and Marco Andretti, qualified third and fourth.