Not all Penske as Hornish grabs pole.

Sam Hornish Jr may be the defending Indy Racing League Champion but he had yet to earn himself an MBNA Pole Award through the traditional qualifying method until Friday as the driver of the distinctive yellow Panther Racing Dallara-Chevrolet outpaced the rest of the 26 strong IRL field ahead of the 2002 season opener at Homestead.

2001 Indy Racing League champion Sam Hornish Jr. will start the defence of his title from top spot on Saturday in the 20th Anniversary Grand Prix of Miami after claiming his first career MBNA Pole on Friday at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Hornish took the pole with a top lap of 26.6162 seconds; 202.884 mph in the No. 4 Pennzoil sponsored Panther Dallara-Chevrolet/Firestone on the 1.5-mile oval and then watched as several other very strong cars just failed to beat his time.

Hornish started first in two events last year after qualifying was rained out and points set the field, but this is his first MBNA Pole earned through qualifying.

"We actually thought we could be a little bit quicker than that," Hornish said. "We didn't know how much the wind was going to change. The wind picked up a little bit from this morning. It's pretty much from the same direction, so we knew what to do there. We've been very happy with our car."

Defending Homestead winner Hornish earned his breakthrough pole despite recently suffering from a bout of the flu and set his best lap on the first of his two qualifying laps.

"I'm getting better every day," Hornish said. "It's just not much fun when you're coughing and sneezing all the time."

2001 Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves came closest to matching Hornish's record time and will start second in his debut as a full-time Indy Racing League driver. His best lap was 26.6780 seconds (202.414mph) in the No. 3 Marlboro Team Penske Dallara-Chevrolet.

"I was flat out," Castroneves said. "The weather was tough on everyone today, so considering the wind, I'm happy with how Marlboro Team Penske did today. Tomorrow is the day that counts, so we'll have to be patient and run a good race. I think we're in good shape so far." Castroneves' last race on the Ralph Sanchez owned facility was in March 2000 where he finished stone last on his debut for Roger Penske's team.

Red Bull Cheever Racing monopolized the second row despite some last minute practice dramas that saw Friday practice leader Tomas Scheckter shunt his primary Dallara-Infiniti. Despite having to qualify his back-up machine, Scheckter will start third in his IRL debut after a top lap of 26.7502 seconds (201.868mph). Team owner/driver Eddie Cheever Jr. will start fourth after a best lap of 26.8080 (201.432mph) in the No. 51 Red Bull Cheever Racing Dallara-Infiniti. Cheever was the first driver outside of Jeff Ward's 2001 Homestead pole time as no less than seven drivers bettered the 200 average speed mark in the cool, if a little blustery, conditions.

Jaques Lazier will start fifth after a lap of 26.8135 seconds in the No. 2 Johns Manville sponsored Team Menard Dallara-Chevrolet while reigning CART FedEx Series Champion Gil de Ferran rounds out the third row, starting in sixth after a best lap of 26.8159 seconds in the second Penske Dallara-Chevrolet.

Defending pole-sitter Ward was a late qualifier and that may have hurt his chances although the Chip Ganassi Racing driver did succeed in breaking into the top ten with tenth fastest time behind Dreyer & Reinbold's Robbie Buhl, Billy Boat and the impressive Laurent Redon.

Scott Sharp was another driver with a late qualifying draw and he will start eleventh in the fastest of the two Kelley Racing Dallara's, two places ahead of new teammate Al Unser Jr. Hemelgarn Racing's Buddy Lazier went out very early in the session but still couldn't find a decent qualifying set-up as he struggled to 16th with Mo Nunn Racing's Felipe Giaffone one place further back.

2000 Indy Racing League Rookie of the Year Airton Dare will make an unexpected start in the race from the 21st position despite watching previous his previous employers Team Xtreme collapse during the off-season and several potential rides dry-up. Dare, a Miami resident, is substituting for AJ Foyt Enterprises Donnie Beechler, who was admitted to Jackson Memorial Hospital for observation with concussion after crashing the No. 14 Harrah's sponsored Dallara-Chevrolet during morning practice. He is in stable condition, conscious and alert, said Dr. Henry Bock, Indy Racing League director of medical services.

The start of qualifying was delayed nearly 2 1/2 hours due to an accident that claimed the life of Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series driver Jeff Clinton. That series also is competing at the track during this event.