Dario Franchitti took his first pole position since returning to the IndyCar Series from NASCAR at Texas Motor Speedway on Friday night.
The 2007 IndyCar champion deposed Ryan Briscoe early in qualifying, as Ganassi and Penske dominated yet another oval session.
Franchitti's Ganassi teammate Scott Dixon also sat on provisional pole for a while before being pushed back to third, while Briscoe's Penske teammate Helio Castroneves was the last of the main contenders to run but had to settle for fourth.
Danica Patrick continued her strong recent form by taking the 'best of the rest' spot in fifth, ahead of the impressive Mario Moraes, who again demonstrated KV Racing's improving raw pace on ovals.
Thursday practice pacesetter Dan Wheldon took seventh on the grid for Panther Racing, followed by Andretti Green's Marco Andretti, top rookie Robert Doornbos (Newman/Haas/Lanigan) and Vision Racing's Ed Carpenter.
Notable performances further back included encouraging row seven runs by Conquest's Alex Tagliani and owner/driver Sarah Fisher, but there was disappointment for Tony Kanaan, who was a long way off his AGR teammates' pace and frustrated with a lack of speed as he took 16th.
The race takes place under floodlights on Saturday night.
STARTING LINEUP:Pos Driver Team Speed
1. Dario Franchitti Ganassi 214.513mph
2. Ryan Briscoe Penske 214.413mph
3. Scott Dixon Ganassi 214.296mph
4. Helio Castroneves Penske 214.228mph
5. Danica Patrick Andretti Green 213.929mph
6. Mario Moraes KV 213.717mph
7. Dan Wheldon Panther 213.596mph
8. Marco Andretti Andretti Green 213.540mph
9. Robert Doornbos Newman/Haas/Lanigan 213.479mph
10. Ed Carpenter Vision 213.435mph
11. Hideki Mutoh Andretti Green 213.327mph
12. Graham Rahal Newman/Haas/Lanigan 213.178mph
13. Alex Tagliani Conquest 213.173mph
14. Sarah Fisher Fisher 212.554mph
15. Raphael Matos Luczo Dragon 212.137mph
16. Tony Kanaan Andretti Green 212.108mph
17. Justin Wilson Coyne 212.021mph
18. Tomas Scheckter Dreyer & Reinbold 211.741mph
19. Mike Conway Dreyer & Reinbold 211.686mph
20. Milka Duno Dreyer & Reinbold 211.601mph
21. EJ Viso HVM 211.553mph
22. AJ Foyt IV Foyt 211.454mph
23. Ryan Hunter-Reay Vision 210.532mph
24. Jaques Lazier 3G 209.329mph