Australian driver Ryan Briscoe will start from pole in Saturday night’s Indy car race at Texas Motor Speedway.

Driving for Team Penske, Briscoe recorded a four-lap average speed of 215.273 mph (1 minute, 37.3275 seconds) to earn the PEAK Performance Pole Award for the Firestone 550K race which will be held under lights at the high banked 1.5 mile oval.

Dario Franchitti, seeking to be the third consecutive Indianapolis 500 champion to win at Texas in the same year, was 0.0057 of a second off Briscoe’s pace. He’ll start on the outside of the front row for the 228-lap race under the lights after an average of 215.261 mph.

Briscoe’s teammate and fellow aussie, Will Power, will be on the second row along with New Zealand’s Scott Dixon.

Helio Castroneves, the pole sitter at Indianapolis, and Dale Coyne Racing’s Alex Lloyd will be on Row 3.

The top five qualifiers were separated by 0.3912 of a second and the top 10 by 0.6777 of a second.

Briscoe earned the 10th pole start of his career (second of the season), and has converted one into victory (2009 Chicagoland Speedway).

“It’s a great feeling to get the pole here.” said Briscoe.

“I have to thank Dario (Franchitti) for falling off a bit on his last lap. It’s going to be a long race, and hopefully we can keep the No. 6 Team Penske car up front.”

Briscoe also took the time to deny rumours that he was about to quit Team Penske to join the AFL.

The race will be seen on pay TV only in Australia, as they say in the classics: Check your local guides for details.