Defending series champion Ryan Hunter-Reay has taken a thrilling pole position for round two of the IndyCar Series at Barber Motorsports Park.
Hunter-Reay survived a late fling at the pole by Penske’s Will Power who missed by .2s after the Andretti Autosports driver had set a 1:070871s to move into the ‘fast six’.
The rookie Tristan Vautier continued his strong lead-up pace to qualify third.
The Indy Lights champion had progressed to the final phase of qualifying courtesy of a disqualification to Takuma Sato who had been penalised for blocking Justin Wilson.
The lanky English driver Wilson will start from eighth while Sato, driving the Foyt Honda, will start from 12th.
Kiwi Scott Dixon has qualified on the second row in fourth place beside Vautier with Charlie Kimball and Penske stalwart Helio Castroneves fifth and sixth.
James Hinchcliffe, the opening round winner at St Petersburg, will be forced to start from 20th position after claiming he had been blocked, although not deliberately, by Power.
Qualifying results
| Pos | Driver | Team/Car | Time | Gap |
| 1 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | Andretti Dallara-Chevy | 1m01.7339s | |
| 2 | Will Power | Penske Dallara-Chevy | 1m01.2070s | + 0.2433s |
| 3 | Tristan Vautier | Schmidt Dallara-Honda | 1m02.0645s | + 0.2745s |
| 4 | Scott Dixon | Ganassi Dallara-Honda | 1m02.1715s | + 0.2771s |
| 5 | Charlie Kimball | Ganassi Dallara-Honda | 1m02.1198s | + 0.4116s |
| 6 | Helio Castroneves | Penske Dallara-Chevy | 1m01.8991s | + 0.4235s |
| 7 | Marco Andretti | Andretti Dallara-Chevy | 1m01.6883s | Round 2 |
| 8 | Justin Wilson | Coyne Dallara-Honda | 1m02.2177s | Round 2 |
| 9 | Sebastian Saavedra | Dragon Dallara-Chevy | 1m01.7944s | Round 2 |
| 10 | AJ Allmendinger | Penske Dallara-Chevy | 1m01.7944s | Round 2 |
| 11 | James Jakes | Rahal Dallara-Honda | 1m02.1658s | Round 2 |
| 12 | Takuma Sato | Foyt Dallara-Honda | 1m01.5776s | Round 2 |
| 13 | Simon Pagenaud | Schmidt Dallara-Honda | 1m02.4736s | Group 1 |
| 14 | Simona de Silvestro | KV Dallara-Chevy | 1m01.7670s | Group 2 |
| 15 | Alex Tagliani | Herta Dallara-Honda | 1m02.3328s | Group 1 |
| 16 | EJ Viso | Andretti Dallara-Chevy | 1m02.1986s | Group 2 |
| 17 | Dario Franchitti | Ganassi Dallara-Honda | 1m01.8150s | Group 1 |
| 18 | Oriol Servia | Panther/DRR Dallara-Chevy | 1m02.1483s | Group 2 |
| 19 | Tony Kanaan | KV Dallara-Chevy | 1m01.9139s | Group 1 |
| 20 | James Hinchcliffe | Andretti Dallara-Chevy | 1m01.8229s | Group 2 |
| 21 | Graham Rahal | Rahal Dallara-Honda | 1m02.2709s | Group 1 |
| 22 | Josef Newgarden | Fisher Dallara-Honda | 1m02.1592s | Group 2 |
| 23 | Sebastien Bourdais | Dragon Dallara-Chevy | 1m02.6537s | Group 1 |
| 24 | JR Hildebrand | Panther Dallara-Chevy | 1m02.3179s | Group 2 |
| 25 | Ana Beatriz | Coyne Dallara-Honda | 1m03.2551s | Group 1 |
26 Ed Carpenter Carpenter Dallara-Chevy 1m02.6634s Group 2
