SPEEDWAY — It was a waiting game on the opening day for qualifications for the Indianapolis 500, but it was Scott Dixon who made the current call.

Dixon withdrew an earlier Saturday qualifying run at 225.178 miles per hour and took to the track shortly after 3 p.m. With overcast skies, he recorded the fastest lap of the day at 226.598 miles per hour and a four-lap average of 226.366 mph, to snag his first pole position at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Just prior to Dixon’s second run, Ryan Briscoe posted a four-lap qualifying speed average of 226.080 mph to grab the top spot temporarily from Dan Wheldon, who posted the quick speed of the day shortly after qualifying started.

“I turned around, and Dixon was taking (the pole) away from me,” Briscoe said. “Aside from that, I thought I had a really good run. The car was balanced really well for the down force level we trimmed out to, and it was a solid gain.”

Both Dixon and Briscoe took advantage of new qualifying rules for the Indy 500 which allow a team to make three qualifying attempts. The fastest 11 cars were locked into the starting field.

Dixon had to watch in the final minutes of the day as Wheldon withdraw his third quickest time to make a last attempt at capturing the pole position. His first circuit was good enough, but he had to settle for second.

The anticipated excitement of “Happy Hour,” the final hour of qualifications when conditions are expected to be the best, failed to materialize. Only Wheldon made a late run at the pole.

Dixon, Wheldon and Briscoe will lead the field to start the 92nd running of the Indy 500 on May 25.

Tomas Scheckter, who was on the bubble with the 11th fastest time of the day, withdrew his time, but wound up in the same position.

The cream rose to the top with Ganassi Racing claiming the top two spots, followed by Briscoe and Helio Castroneves followed by three Andretti-Green Racing drivers Danica Patrick, Tony Kanaan and Marco Andretti.

There was a cheer from the sizable crowd when Patrick went out to make her first qualifying attempt. Patrick didn’t disappoint the fans, turning in a four-lap average speed of 225.197 mph to grab the early pole position from Dixon.

“I was a little bit worried going in,” Patrick said of her qualifying run. “Just wondering what was going to come of it because I hadn’t done a full qualifying simulation. My run wasn’t perfect, and the last two laps fell off for a reason, and we need to fix that. There’s more speed in this car.”

None of the drivers making the transition from Champ Car to the IRL — following the unification earlier this year — was among the 11 cars locked into the field. Graham Rahal, who won the street course race at St. Petersburg earlier this year, ended up 12th.

Two-time champion Castroneves struggled with his Team Penske car, pulling out of the qualifying line and eventually turning four laps at 225.733 mph.

Andretti withdrew his first qualifying time and was disappointed with his second run of the day.