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LONG POND — One by one drivers tried to take down Russian-born IndyCar driver Mikhail Aleshin for the Pocono pole.

It was to no avail.

After turning the fastest time in practice Saturday morning, Aleshin backed up the quick mark in qualifying by grabbing the pole for the ABC Supply 500 with a two-lap average of 220.445 mph. He was the 12th driver to take time and one of three drivers to run a lap over 220 mph.

“It’s obviously very difficult to explain what I feel now,” Aleshin said. “It’s a lot of emotions definitely. It’s my first pole in IndyCar and I am so happy to bring the No. 7 SMP Racing car up there.

“The team did an amazing job. We had a couple of moments in Turn 1, but I decided to keep it flat and see what would happen. (Hitting) the wall didn’t happen, but pole position happened. Amazing.”

Iowa winner Josef Newgarden joins Aleshin on the front row as the Schimdt-Peterson Motorsports driver feverishly watched Newgarden’s qualifying run.

The 25-year-old Newgarden narrowly missed the top spot and was the fastest Chevrolet at 220.195 mph in his No. 21 Ed Carpenter Racing machine.

“We rolled out with one thing and I was pushing my guys to do something different,” Newgarden said. “It’s a team decision, whether it’s their decision or mine, but I feel like I was pushing a little hard for something that wasn’t the right thing. But we were close, we just needed that little bit. I think where we rolled out with would have been enough. It’s my fault that we changed it. I’m disappointed about that; you always want the pole.

“We have a great chemistry and group with our people, but sometimes I mess up. Congrats to Mikhail, great job by him. We didn’t have enough today but tomorrow is what counts.”

Takuma Sato improved from struggling in morning practice to slot in third (220.067 mph). Sato has yet to record a podium finish on an oval, yet capture anything other than his lone road-course victory in 2013.

“Very, very happy about our qualifying run,” Sato said. “We had a very good baseline car. We tested here a couple weeks ago, which helped massively, and we gained a good understanding for the strong super speedway package that Honda worked so hard on and it looks like we have a pretty strong car.”

Last year’s Pocono pole-sitter Helio Castroneves was fourth while Carlos Munoz qualified fifth to lead the Andretti Autosport bunch. The 2016 Indy 500 pole-sitter, James Hinchcliffe, rolls off from sixth as he and Aleshin are the only teammates inside the top-six.

One spot back is Indy 500 winner Alexander Rossi in seventh as the fastest rookie in qualifying. Max Chilton (17th) and Conor Daly (20th) make up the rest of this year’s rookie class.

The 2013 Pocono winner Scott Dixon struggled in qualifying posting the 19th fastest speed at 215.337 mph. Dixon qualified slowest among the Chip Ganassi Racing bunch.

“It wasn’t great out there in the Target car today for some reason,” Dixon said. “The car was extremely loose and we had quite a few issues this morning. We did a little bit of race running in the practice session but we lost a lot of track time with the crashes this morning that others had.”

Defending race winner Ryan-Hunter Reay didn’t make a lap in qualifying after crashing in first practice and starts 22nd.

Castroneves led Saturday evening’s final practice in preparation for Sunday’s 500-mile race. The Pocono event is one of two 500-mile races during the 2016 IndyCar season.

https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_ABC-SupplyLOGO.jpg.optimal.jpg

Mikhall Aleshin, of Russia, won his first pole in IndyCar on Saturday for Sunday’s ABC Supply 500 in Long Pond.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_IndyCar-Pocono.jpg.optimal.jpgMikhall Aleshin, of Russia, won his first pole in IndyCar on Saturday for Sunday’s ABC Supply 500 in Long Pond.
Russian-born IndyCar driver averaged 220.445 mph

By Kyle Magda

For Times Leader

ABC Supply 500

Pocono Raceway

Route 115, Long Pond

3 p.m. Sunday

TV: NBCSN

Radio: Sirius 212; XM 209

Weather: Thunderstorms in the morning with a 90 percent chance of precipitation and a high of 75 degrees, according to weather.com

Reach Times Leader sports at 570-829-7143 or on Twitter @tlsports.