August 29, 2009 
By Dave Lewandowski - indycar.com
JOLIET, Ill. -- Brandon Wagner earned the pole position for the Chicagoland 100 -- his first top-five start in six Firestone Indy Lights races -- with a two-lap average of 189.954 mph on the 1.5-mile Chicagoland Speedway oval.
Unfortunately, team owner Davey Hamilton wasn't at the racetrack to witness the rookie's feat. He was at the airport.
Wagner, driving the No. 32 Davey Hamilton/Kingdom Racing car, will share the front row with Sebastian Saavedra (189.942 mph) in the No. 27 Automatic Fire Sprinklers Inc. car for AFS Racing/Andretti Green Racing.
"That was awesome," said Wagner, who was 15th on the speed chart in the morning practice. "Honestly, I think I could have gone faster on the first lap, too. I hit the limiter pretty hard in fifth gear. I think we were the only one who went faster on the second lap. The second lap was awesome. The car was setup good. I'm just so pumped to get that first pole. It was a weight off my shoulders."
Firestone Indy Lights championship points leader J.R. Hildebrand will start 12th (fuel pressure issue) in the 67-lpa race. His two-lap average in the No. 26 ARPRO car for AFS Racing/Andretti Green Racing was 183.790 mph. He enters the race with a 90-point advantage over Saavedra and could wrap up the title.
Wagner's previous best start was 10th at Iowa Speedway, while Saavedra will start from the front row for the seventh time.
"I was expecting to have close competition with my teammate, but I don't know where the 32 car came from," Saavedra said. "We're still trying to get Rookie of the Year and second place in the championship. We just need to get as many points as possible."
Wade Cunningham, driving the No. 11 Lucas Oil/Sam Schmidt Motorsports car, will be on Row 2 with Mike Potekhen in the No. 24 Efusjon Energy Club/Alliance Motorsports car.
Pippa Mann in the No. 16 Panther Racing car (188.300) will start a season-high fifth, and James Davison in the No. 21 People*s Liberation/Vision Racing car (188.246) will start sixth. James Hinchcliffe (188.158) and Martin Plowman (188.037) will be on Row 4.