LONG POND - It was as easy as 1-2-3.
Andretti Autosport swept the front row in IZOD IndyCar Series qualifying Saturday for today's Pocono IndyCar 400 Fueled by Sunoco at Pocono Raceway.
Marco Andretti, the third-generation driver from nearby Nazareth, circled the 2.5-mile triangular track in a two-lap average of 221.273 mph to capture the pole position. His speed easily surpassed the track qualifying record of 211.715 mph set by Emerson Fittipaldi in 1989 - the last time the open-wheel cars raced at Pocono.
It is Marco's second pole of the season and fourth of his career. He also become the third Andretti to win an IndyCar pole at Pocono.
His grandfather Mario did it in 1987 and his father Michael accomplished the feat in 1986.
"It means a lot to me," Marco said. "This is the first place where, besides Milwaukee, I was able to get a pole where they did.
"But (today) is the one we want. That would be icing on the cake."
Reigning series champion Ryan Hunter-Reay qualified second at an average of 220.892 mph and James Hinchcliffe, a three-time winner this season, averaged 220.431 mph to qualify third.
E.J. Viso, the fourth Andretti Autosport driver, almost gave the team the top four spots in qualifying. However, on his second lap, Viso spun in Turn 1 and struck the outer SAFER barrier. He will start 22nd in today's race.
Qualifying on oval tracks in the IndyCar Series consists of two warmup laps, followed by two consecutively timed green-flag laps. The aggregate time is recorded as the official qualifying time.
As the third car out to make an attempt, Marco posted his fast lap early, then waited to see if anyone could surpass him.
"I got everything out of it," Marco said. "I knew I was going to be pleased with the result. In IndyCar racing these days, there are five guys who get it right. But I lucked out today. It all came together. It was going to be all about balance. We were really focusing on all details in practice."
Hinchcliffe went out four cars after Marco and survived his car getting loose in Turn 1 on his first qualifying lap.
"We've been battling understeer exiting Turn 1 all weekend, all through the tests," Hinchcliffe said. "The last thing I was expecting was the car to be loose. But we went aggressive with the qualifying setup to get rid of that under-steering. As soon as I turned in, (the car) snapped out. That straightaway, that's the last thing you want. I managed to gather it back up and had to really work the tools in the car at either end of the track and was able to do the second lap fast, but obviously lost a little bit to Marco and Ryan there."
Four drivers later, Hunter-Reay hit the track and posted his lap that was faster than Hinchcliffe, but slower than Marco.
"We meet as a team," Hunter-Reay said. "We go over everything from every session and what we're going to do the next session. We constantly talk as a group and what we can do better. Each driver likes something different in a race car, and that's where we go our own way."
Team Penske driver Will Power almost spoiled the all-Andretti Autosport front row. The 17th car to make a qualifying attempt, Power posted a first lap of 221.069 mph that made it look as if he might challenge Marco for the pole.
However, on his second lap, he was penalized for overboost entering Turn 1 and only ran 219.510 mph for an average of 220.286 mph that will have him start fourth today.
"It cost us our chance," Power said of the penalty. "Still, qualifying in row 2 is a good place to be. I just want to have a good solid day. I would love to finish in the top five."
Tony Kanaan was another driver who appeared on his warmup lap like he might have a shot at Marco. However, he spun his tires on his first lap and qualified fifth at an average of 219.625 mph.
"I overcooked them. I opened my lap too quick, I got really excited," said Kanaan, this year's Indianapolis 500 champion. "When you're running this much downforce, you have to save your tires on the opening lap. I didn't. I went for it. My bad. But we won Indy from the fourth row. We can win here from the second. I definitely have a good car."
Helio Castroneves, Power's teammate, rounds out the second row after qualifying sixth at an average of 219.581 mph.
Despite Andretti Autosport's dominance in qualifying, all of the drivers said that the race could be a different story.
"Certainly, they are very strong. We cannot deny that," Castroneves said. "Qualifying is one thing, the race is another. When you are talking about 400 miles, anything can happen."