LEXINGTON, Ohio -- One by one, IZOD IndyCar Series drivers in Round 2 of qualifications for the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio lowered the series' track-record lap time.

Scott Dixon, who's won three of the past five races on the 2.258-mile, 13-turn road course, posted the quickest lap -- 1 minute, 05.8055 seconds -- heading into the Firestone Fast Six shootout for the pole position.

That's where Will Power drove to the forefront. The driver of the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske car recorded the quickest lap time of 1:05.6662, which was only three-tenths of a second off the Indy car circuit record set by Dario Franchitti in 1999 and matched by Gil de Ferran in 2000, on his final circuit in the 10-minute session.

Click it: Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio qualifying results

"I am so tired after this session I am shaking, this place is so physical," said Power, who earned his third pole start of the season and first since Brazil in late April. "I really think my Verizon car is better on used tires – there is so much grip and the Verizon 12 Chevy has so much downforce around this place that it is so fun to drive.

"This session today is the hardest I have tried all year. I just kept pushing and pushing. I had to. It is the most that I have put into a lap.  I was determined to get a pole because I know track position is really important around here, and I know the weather can play a part in having a mixed up race (forecast is for 70 percent chance of rain).

"We needed that pole and it is so important to start up front to keep pushing, if we have a chance for the championship."

Power enters the 85-lap race in third place in the championship standings -- 25 points behind the front-running Ryan Hunter-Reay, who qualified eighth.

"We just need to be good in every situation and keep chipping away at the points lead," Power added.

Franchitti will join Power on the front row, while Simon Pagenaud qualified a season-high third and Alex Tagliani was fourth. It was Tagliani's fourth consecutive Firestone Fast Six, though the No. 98 Team Barracuda-BHA car will serve a 10-grid spot penalty for an unapproved engine change.

Dixon qualified fifth and Ryan Briscoe was sixth.

"I burnt the front tires off too much in Q2, and once I went out there the tires just started to get worse and worse and worse so it was really hard to get time out of the car," Dixon said. "I think the balance is pretty good and I think it will be good for the race. I think we can still win."

Briscoe's Team Penske teammate Helio Castroneves, who qualified 13th, also will serve a 10-grid spot penalty for changing the Chevrolet engine before its mileage limit. Castroneves, who suffered a brusied hand in an incident in the morning practice session, is second in the standings.