Looks as if he was right.

Ryan Briscoe gave Team Penske its fourth straight pole on the 3.4-mile, 11-turn circuit in upstate New York, supplanting veteran teammate Helio Castroneves. The Brazilian's string of three in a row was ended by a broken throttle cable that sent him to the rear of the 26-car field for today's race.

Justin Wilson will start from second, followed by Ryan Hunter-Reay.

Wilson appeared to have his first IndyCar pole wrapped up when he pitted after turning a lap of 1 minute, 29.38 seconds. But, as the Englishman sat in his car on pit road for the final moments of qualifying, Briscoe lapped the track at 1:29.34 to grab his second series pole and the 36th for Team Penske.

If Dixon is going to set an IndyCar record of four straight wins on the same track this weekend, the Chip Ganassi Racing driver is going to have to do it from fourth place.

"There's a lot of pressure when you come to tracks where you have done well in the past," Dixon said. "But I think we just take it as another race. We're in a different year, fighting for a different championship, and it's all about points, man. We've got to get as many points as possible.

The New Zealander, who has two victories this season, including the Indianapolis 500, heads into the Camping World Grand Prix of Watkins Glen leading Castroneves by 43 points and Ganassi teammate Dan Wheldon, who will start ninth, by 52.

FORMULA ONE: Heikki Kovalainen captured his first Formula One pole on Saturday and will now try for his first victory in the series in British Grand Prix.

The McLaren driver crossed the line more than half a second faster than Red Bull's Mark Webber, who also will be seeking his first win in today's race, after the bigger contenders struggled to handle the breezy and wet conditions.

World champion Kimi Raikkonen, last year's British GP winner, was third fastest in his Ferrari ahead of home favorite Lewis Hamilton of McLaren, whose bid to take the pole was hampered when he skidded off the circuit at a left-hand bend.

Felipe Massa, who leads the series standings by two points for Ferrari, labored to ninth place in the grid despite posting the fastest practice time Friday.

With wind and rain forecast for today's race, this British GP looks as wide open as the drivers standings, where the top spot has changed hands four times in four races.