LONG BEACH, Calif. -- Dario Franchitti has something to say to those who have advanced supposition that his results early in this 19-race season are a sign.

Pole.

Franchitti, who is competing in his 250th Indy car race, claimed the Verizon P1 Award for the 39th Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach (4 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network). The four-time IZOD IndyCar Series champion, who won the race in 2009, posted a quick lap of 1 minute, 07.2379 seconds in the waning seconds of the 10-minute Firestone Fast Six to earn his first pole start since Toronto last July.

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"That meant a lot," said Franchitti, who has started 10th and 17 (and finished 25th and 26th) through the first two races in the No. 10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing car. "We had a very fast race car in Barber, but man, we really made a mess of qualifying. Today it was nice to go out there and really have a great car and get everything out of it. So thank you to everyone on the Target team because it’s been a tough start to the season."

It was the 30th pole (tied with Sebastien Bourdais for seventh all time) of his Indy car career, which began in 1997. Franchitti is seeking to break a tie with Bourdais and Paul Tracy with his 32nd victory. His last win was the 2012 Indianapolis 500.

"That last lap just threw caution to the wind in a couple of place and I just got it," Franchitti added. "So it feels good, especially with a field as tight as it is. It was nice for Honda to get a pole here, too."

Five different teams were represented in the Firestone Fast Six and eight comprised Round 2 (12 cars), when Mike Conway set an IZOD IndyCar Series track record of 1:07.1937. Bourdais, competing in the 2006 Champ Car race, holds the record for the current configuration at 1:06.886.

Reigning IZOD IndyCar Series champion Ryan Hunter-Reay was .0555 of a second behind Franchitti in the No. 1 DHL car for Andretti Autosport and will start on the front row for the second consecutive race.

"The guys gave me a great car as always," said Hunter-Reay, who won the 2010 race after starting second. "But this is unfortunate. To loose it by half a tenth is worse than losing it by four-tenths. It was close, but today really doesn't count. We will go get them tomorrow. We are starting from the front row so I think things are looking up for us."

Will Power, last year's race winner, and Takuma Sato will share Row 2. It was the first time since 2008 that Power has not started on the front row at Long Beach. He went on to win that race.

"It was good to get to the Fast Six just because of how close everything is at the moment," said Power, who earned the pole three of the past four years. "We got caught out there on the end there. Still very happy with third, good starting position."

Conway, who is making his series season debut in the No. 17 blu eCigs car for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, qualified fifth and series championship points leader Helio Castroneves will start sixth.

Scott Dixon, second in the standings entering the race, will start 26th. In Group 2 of Session 2, the quickest laps of the No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing car were negated because it caused a red flag when it spun and impeded the progress of the No. 22 Panther DRR car driven by Oriol Servia.

"My car was still running. I'm sure there were yellows waving," Dixon said. "My car was partially blocking the track, but I was pulling away. It is kind of in the middle. It's a hard call. A tough one. I'm sure if Oriol had seen the yellows and slowed down maybe he would have gotten around. We were solidly in the top six, and it sucks to go out that way. We will have to fight back from way back tomorrow."

Also during the session, Marco Andretti was penalized for interference and did not advance. JR Hildebrand, who had posted the seventh-quickest lap in the No. 4 National Guard Panther Racing car, moved on to the second round.