Carlos Munoz has earned his first IndyCar Series pole with a two-lap average of 217.137 mph Friday at the high-banked Texas Motor Speedway.
Scott Dixon, the defending race winner at Texas, qualified second at 216.901 mph. Four-time Texas winner Helio Castroneves starts third on the 1 1/2-mile oval.
Munoz, driving for Andretti Motorsports, will be making his 46th career start Saturday night in the Firestone 600. It is his best qualifying effort since his IndyCar debut in 2013, when he started second at the Indianapolis 500 and then finished as the runner-up. Munoz also finished second at Indy this season, his only top-five finish.
Season points leader Simon Pagenaud, who has a series-leading four poles this season, qualified sixth at 216.663 mph.
Unofficial starting grid:
1. Carlos Munoz
2. Scott Dixon
3. Helio Castroneves
4. Takuma Sato
5. Josef Newgarden
6. Simon Pagenaud
7. Will Power
8. Tony Kanaan
9. Alexander Rossi
10. James Hinchcliffe
11. Ryan Hunter-Reay
12. Marco Andretti
13. Graham Rahal
14. Ed Carpenter
15. Charlie Kimball
16. Mikhail Aleshin
17. Juan Pablo Montoya
18. Sebastien Bourdais
19. Max Chilton
20. Jack Hawksworth
21. Conor Daly
22. Gabby Chaves
