New Zealand's Scott Dixon will have something to prove Sunday when he starts from pole position in search of the Indianapolis 500 triumph that eluded him last year.

Dixon, who finished runner-up to Scotland's Dario Franchitti in last year's rain-shortened race, heads an international front row for the 92nd edition of the fabled race, with former Indy 500 winner Dan Wheldon of England and Australian Ryan Briscoe lining up beside him.

The second row of the grid includes Danica Patrick, who will try to build on her groundbreaking IndyCar series victory in Japan last month, a first for a woman driver, and Brazilian Helio Castroneves, a two-time Indianapolis 500 winner.

While Patrick couldn't get her car on the front row of the grid, she did bounce back from a frightening pit-lane practice incident in which she hit a crewman from another team with her car.

In addition to that drama, Patrick was, like all the other runners, stymied by rain that disrupted practice and qualifying, making the flat-out qualification run with litte preparation "a little bit intimidating".

"We obviously have a pretty quick car," she said.

Sunday's race will be the first Indianapolis 500 since the unification of warring open-wheel series IndyCar and Champ Car earlier this year, a merger that added a string of talented drivers to the Indy mix.

At least Dixon won't have Franchitti to worry about. The Scot, who also pipped Dixon in the final race of the 2007 IndyCar season to snatch the title, has made the move to the hugely popular Nascar stock car circuit and won't defend his title.

The race is the goal

While winning pole for the Indianapolis 500 is itself a difficult feat, Dixon is clear that the race is the goal.

"If we can make it a little easier for us if at the start of the race, that's always nice," Dixon said of starting from pole. "We'll just see what happens, but we see the big picture for us is still trying to win the '500' on the 25th."

Dixon's team-mate Wheldon, the 2005 Indianapolis 500 winner, is in the middle of the front row.

The Englishman established himself as the driver to beat entering the month of May at Indy last year but after a poor qualifying performance, he dropped off the radar and qualified a disappointing sixth.

He was involved in a crash on lap 163 that sent Marco Andretti airborne on the backstretch and was eventually credited with a 22nd-place finish.

Thirsting for more

Wheldon admitted that his first triumph at Indy had left him thirsting for more.

"The Indianapolis 500 is the biggest race in the world," said Wheldon, who in 2005 became the first driver to win both the Indy 500 and the IndyCar series crown in the Indy Racing League era.

After that season, he left Andretti Green Racing to join Dixon at then struggling Target/Chip Ganassi.

"I think for us, Dan was a big part of my transition to definitely picking it up," Dixon said. "He is a fierce competitor, and there's no better time or person to have than someone like him when you're racing in the IndyCar Series and going for championships.

Australia's Briscoe, who starts from the outside of the front row, is getting a second chance IndyCar chance with Team Penske.

Briscoe was virtually drummed out of the series in 2005 when he was a rookie at Ganassi.

But he has worked his way back, finishing fifth with a one-time Indy 500 ride for Luczo Dragon Racing last year then moving into the Team Penske ride vacated when Sam Hornish departed for Nascar.

Habit of crashing

But Briscoe still seems to have a worrying habit of crashing. He crashed his backup car in practice last week, slamming into a first turn barrier.

He was able to return to the track on Sunday in his main car to get it prepared for Sunday.

"I came over here and for sure had too many accidents, and I had to look back at myself, as well, and see what I needed to do to become a better driver,' Briscoe said. "That doesn't stop. I think even guys like Scott and Dan are always still looking at themselves from race to race and looking and saying, 'What can I do to make myself a better racer and better driver?'"