Fort Worth, Texas ? Long-shot championship contender Gil de Ferran added some extra drama to the five-man IRL title battle Friday night, winning the pole position at Texas Motor Speedway.

De Ferran, who will retire following Sunday’s Chevy 500, bounced back from two straight disappointing races by earning the fifth pole of his IRL career and his first front row start of the year.

The Brazilian racer, who earlier won the Indianapolis 500, turned a fast lap of 222.865 mph on the 11/2-mile Texas oval.

That was barely enough to bump Scott Dixon, deadlocked with Helio Castroneves for the series points lead, to the outside of the front row in the 22-car field.

Dixon had taken the early lead with a lap of 222.856.

Castroneves will start fifth after qualifying at 221.881, while Tony Kanaan, seven points behind the leaders in third, qualified ninth at 220.839. Two-time defending series champion Sam Hornish Jr., 19 points behind Dixon and Castroneves, qualified 12th at 220.443.

De Ferran goes into the 500-kilometer season finale fifth in the standings, trailing Dixon and Marlboro Team Penske teammate Castroneves by 30 points.

“Certainly, it’s a great place to start, but we can’t get too carried away,” de Ferran said. “I don’t want to get too emotional here. I’ve still got a couple of days of work to do.”