With 14 of 26 cars set to lose 10 grid positions for unapproved engine changes, there was a strong possibility the fastest qualifier for Saturday night's MAVTV 500 at Auto Club Speedway would be starting 11th. Luckily, that scenario didn't play out.

Marco Andretti and Ryan Briscoe – two of the fastest drivers in Friday morning's practice session – made it a Chevrolet 1-2 on the grid. Andretti scored his first pole since 2008 at Milwaukee, with a two-lap average of 216.069mph at the 2.0-mile oval. Briscoe clocked in at 216.058.

“It means a lot – just what we have been going through this year,” he said. “Me in particular, it's just been a very trying year for me and my career. It's good for the confidence, but we've still got to get a racecar under us tonight – which I think we can do. But credit to the whole RC team, but the whole Andretti Autosport is just taking a huge step up this year. And let the best man win tomorrow.”

Briscoe gained his fifth front row appearance of the season, and was also seeking a sweep of poles at 500-mile races this season, having started on pole at Indianapolis – a race where Andretti led the most laps.

“You know, it's hot and slick; challenging, for sure,” said Briscoe. “I probably had a little bit of help from Will [Power]'s run further down the line from me. We adjusted the aero just a little bit based on his run. Still, it was hard. Yeah, I haven't talked to Marco yet. I don't know where he got that first lap from. We almost got him on consistency, but just missed out.”

Title contenders Will Power and Ryan Hunter-Reay qualified third and 17th, respectively, but are among the 14 who will drop down the grid based on penalties for engine changes. Power is set to fall to 13th ahead of Josef Newgarden and Scott Dixon, the fourth- and fifth-placed qualifiers.

Chief beneficiaries of the grid penalties are Tony Kanaan, JR Hildebrand and Ed Carpenter, a trio of Chevrolet drivers who clocked in seventh to ninth, but will now start third, fourth and fifth.

The 14 drivers for now who will take a 10-spot grid penalty are Power, Newgarden, Dixon, Alex Tagliani (qualified sixth), Helio Castroneves (10th), Graham Rahal (11th), James Hinchcliffe (12th), Simon Pagenaud (15th), Takuma Sato (16th), Hunter-Reay (17th), Charlie Kimball (20th), Wade Cunningham (23rd), Justin Wilson and Simona de Silvestro.

Wilson and de Silvestro did not make a qualifying attempt, Wilson having had an accident in the morning practice session.

The qualifying results were unofficial and did not take the engine change penalties into effect, and an official grid was released Saturday following Friday evening's final practice.  

QUALIFYING SPEEDS
Pos  Driver               Team/Car                   Speed
 1.  Marco Andretti       Andretti Dallara-Chevy     216.069
 2.  Ryan Briscoe         Penske Dallara-Chevy       216.058
 3.  Will Power           Penske Dallara-Chevy       215.940
 4.  Josef Newgarden      Fisher Dallara-Honda       215.919
 5.  Scott Dixon          Ganassi Dallara-Honda      215.391
 6.  Alex Tagliani        Herta Dallara-Honda        215.226
 7.  Tony Kanaan          KV Dallara-Chevy           214.877
 8.  JR Hildebrand        Panther Dallara-Chevy      214.749
 9.  Ed Carpenter         Carpenter Dallara-Chevy    214.684
10.  Helio Castroneves    Penske Dallara-Chevy       214.409
11.  Graham Rahal         Ganassi Dallara-Honda      214.015
12.  James Hinchcliffe    Andretti Dallara-Chevy     213.726
13.  Rubens Barrichello   KV Dallara-Chevy           213.527
14.  Katherine Legge      Dragon Dallara-Chevy       213.308
15.  Simon Pagenaud       Schmidt Dallara-Honda      213.282
16.  Takuma Sato          Rahal Dallara-Honda        213.222
17.  Ryan Hunter-Reay     Andretti Dallara-Chevy     212.773
18.  Oriol Servia         Panther/DRR Dallara-Chevy  212.533
19.  Dario Franchitti     Ganassi Dallara-Honda      211.999
20.  Charlie Kimball      Ganassi Dallara-Honda      211.531
21.  Sebastian Saavedra   AFS/Andretti Dallara-Chevy 210.619
22.  EJ Viso              KV Dallara-Chevy           210.134
23.  Wade Cunningham      Foyt Dallara-Honda         209.526
24.  James Jakes          Coyne Dallara-Honda        208.056
25.  Simona de Silvestro  HVM Dallara-Lotus
26.  Justin Wilson        Coyne Dallara-Honda



OFFICIAL STARTING GRID
Pos  Driver               Team/Car                   Speed
 1.  Marco Andretti       Andretti Dallara-Chevy     216.069
 2.  Ryan Briscoe         Penske Dallara-Chevy       216.058
 3.  Tony Kanaan          KV Dallara-Chevy           214.877
 4.  JR Hildebrand        Panther Dallara-Chevy      214.749
 5.  Ed Carpenter         Carpenter Dallara-Chevy    214.684
 6.  Rubens Barrichello   KV Dallara-Chevy           213.527
 7.  Katherine Legge      Dragon Dallara-Chevy       213.308
 8.  Oriol Servia         Panther/DRR Dallara-Chevy  212.533
 9.  Dario Franchitti     Ganassi Dallara-Honda      211.999
10.  Sebastian Saavedra   AFS/Andretti Dallara-Chevy 210.619
11.  EJ Viso              KV Dallara-Chevy           210.134
12.  James Jakes          Coyne Dallara-Honda        208.056
13.  Will Power           Penske Dallara-Chevy       215.940
14.  Josef Newgarden      Fisher Dallara-Honda       215.919
15.  Scott Dixon          Ganassi Dallara-Honda      215.391
16.  Alex Tagliani        Herta Dallara-Honda        215.226
17.  Helio Castroneves    Penske Dallara-Chevy       214.409
18.  Graham Rahal         Ganassi Dallara-Honda      214.015
19.  James Hinchcliffe    Andretti Dallara-Chevy     213.726
20.  Simon Pagenaud       Schmidt Dallara-Honda      213.282
21.  Takuma Sato          Rahal Dallara-Honda        213.222
22.  Ryan Hunter-Reay     Andretti Dallara-Chevy     212.773
23.  Charlie Kimball      Ganassi Dallara-Honda      211.531
24.  Wade Cunningham      Foyt Dallara-Honda         209.526
25.  Justin Wilson        Coyne Dallara-Honda
26.  Simona de Silvestro  HVM Dallara-Lotus