Australian Ryan Briscoe was the fastest qualifier for the 38th edition of the event by turning a lap in a course record 1:08.6089 over the 1.968-mile, 11-turn street circuit layout.

Countryman and Roger Penske Racing teammate Will Power was second, .0984 of a second back, with American Ryan Hunter-Reay third and defending champion Franchitti fourth.

But race officials imposed a penalty of 10 spots on the grid for 11 cars using Chevrolet engines that followed the manufacturer's advice and switched engines on Friday before the power plants had reached minimum usage levels.

"It bites," Briscoe said. "The important thing is we know we have a fast car and we're making the best of the situation."

Officials also imposed the engine switch penalty on the Lotus-powered cars of England's Katherine Legge, Spain's Oriol Servia and France's Sebastien Bourdais, a three-time Long Beach winner.

As a result, Honda-powered Franchitti will be joined in the front row by American rookie Josef Newgarden, with England's Justin Wilson and France's Simon Pagenaud on row two and New Zealand's Scott Dixon and Japan's Takuma Sato on row three.