Hornish will start at pole for Indy 500

INDIANAPOLIS -- Pole-sitter Sam Hornish Jr. had a bit of a scare Sunday on a relatively uneventful Bump Day at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

On the day the 33-car field was set for May 28 Indianapolis 500, Hornish was practicing in his backup car when he lost control and slid into one of the safety barriers lining the 2.5-mile oval.

Hornish was not injured and the car he qualified Saturday with a four-lap average of 228.985 mph was sitting safely in the Marlboro Team Penske garage, but the crash was a nasty reminder of how tough the historic Brickyard has been on the two-time IRL IndyCar Series champion. In six starts, Hornish has crashed three times, failed to finish better than 14th and never completed more than 196 of the 200 laps.

He was untouchable in time trials, posting the four fastest qualifying laps of the day, including two over 229.

Joing Hornish on the front row will be Helio Castroneves (228.008) and Dan Wheldon (227.338).

Danika Patrick will start her second Indianapolis 500 from the 10th spot after qualifying at 224.674.