INDIANAPOLIS -- A slick surface was all it took for Sebastian Saavedra to win his first IndyCar Series pole. [url=http://www.br

INDIANAPOLIS -- A slick surface was all it took for Sebastian Saavedra to win his first IndyCar Series pole. Nike Air Max 720 Wholesale . It was also just enough to slip Ryan Hunter-Reay out of the top starting spot for Saturdays Grand Prix of Indianapolis. Saavedra won the pole Friday when Hunter-Reay appeared to drive through a patch of standing water that caused him to spin and crash at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The accident exiting Turn 14 came on the lap after Hunter-Reay had moved to the provisional pole, and IndyCar penalized him by taking away his two fastest laps for causing a session-ending caution. "We definitely gave that one away," Hunter-Reay said. "Every time through there I almost lost it. I had a few big moments there, but in qualifying youve got to go for it. In the wet, youre always going for it. "Theres a very fine line between stepping over getting that good lap in the wet and throwing it off." Rain showers changed the track conditions for each of the four qualifying sessions, and it picked up moments before the start of the final Fast Six session. IndyCar brought the cars back to pit road because of standing water on the track for a red-flag period that lasted about 20 minutes. Saavedra had just bumped rookie Jack Hawksworth from the pole when Hunter-Reay turned his fast lap. But the IndyCar rule is to strip a driver of his two fastest laps for bringing out a red flag during qualifying, so Hunter-Reay was dropped to third. Hunter-Reay, the only driver to advance to the Fast Six through the first four races of the season, has not started lower than third this year. But his Andretti Autosport team had work to do to repair his bright yellow No. 28, which sustained heavy damage to the right rear of the car. Saavedra, who turned a lap at 1 minute, 23.8822 seconds, will lead the field to the green flag for the first IndyCar road course race at Indianapolis. "I love the rain," Saavedra said. "It was crazy at first because we didnt know what to expect from the track -- if it was going to be wet, if it was going to be dry. The whole session was just weird. It started to rain and went from wet, to dry, to super dry, to super wet. I loved it." The previous road course was reconfigured into a 14-turn, 2.439-mile course to accommodate IndyCar, which is using the race to open the speedway and create buzz in advance of the Indianapolis 500. Drivers for the first time are running clockwise at the famed speedway, which will run the Grand Prix on Saturday and then revert to the traditional oval Sunday for the opening practice for the May 25 main event. Because the event and the track configuration are new, the field may be even headed into Saturdays race. It appeared even when Saavedra advanced into his first Fast Six of the season, then hung on to win the pole and give IndyCar a relatively inexperienced front row. Saavedra has 41 career starts dating to 2010, but his longtime backer this year brought him to KV Racing, the team that won the Indianapolis 500 last year with Tony Kanaan. Hawksworth, starting on the outside of Saavedra, has three previous starts. The British driver is in his first season with Bryan Herta Autosport. Hawksworth spent last season racing Indy Lights, where he won three times. Meanwhile, a tough qualifying assignment made it a nearly impossible session for Andretti Autosport, which had all five of its cars in the first group. With only six drivers advancing from that group, the odds were stacked against the organization. Indeed, only Hunter-Reay and James Hinchcliffe moved on while Marco Andretti, Carlos Munoz and Franck Montagny were eliminated. "Obviously, Im not very happy," Andretti said. "It was a team decision to go out, we were worried about the wet, but we plateaued too early and the track got better at the end. Weve been on the outside looking in of this hundredth of a second. Im losing sleep over this couple hundredths of a second." Wished good luck for Saturdays race, Andretti, who will start 13th, said: "Thanks, Im going to need it." Mikhail Aleshin, the first Russian in IndyCar history, had been strong through three practices and advanced into the second round of qualifying. But his fastest laps were wiped out when he was hit with an interference penalty. He and Sebastien Bourdais had raced each other hard for many laps two weeks ago at Barber, and Bourdais was eventually penalized for contact. The two drivers disagree wildly on who was to blame. Simon Pagenaud, teammates with the rookie but friendly with Bourdais since their days racing in France, wasnt sure what happened in qualifying. "What I know is him and Sebastien Bourdais are becoming best friends," Pagenaud joked. Cheap Adidas Shoes China . Millsap will miss Wednesday nights game against the Chicago Bulls. The Hawks say Millsap also will be held out on Thursday at Boston. Air Max 270 React Discount . - Canadian tennis star Eugenie Bouchard has signed with WME-IMG, saying the sports management powerhouse will help maximize the value of my brand. http://www.brandshoescheaponline.com/wholesale-nike-air-vapormax-china.html . -- Ryan Millers debut for the St.SURPRISE, Ariz. -- The Texas Rangers say ace Yu Darvish has no structural damage in his stiff neck but will likely begin the season on the disabled list. Darvish was examined Wednesday by Dr. Keith Meister in Dallas. The right-hander will start a throwing program this weekend and wont need any injections. Rangers general manager Jon Daniels says he expects Darvish will be put on the 15-day DL. The Rangers open Monday at home against Philadelphia. "I would think so, yes," Daniels said. "Thats kind of where its headed. Were looking at 10 days already. He will play catch Saturday and if he continues to improve, then well put a plan together from there." "Thats going to be two weeks. Hes not going to ready to break. Its a relief thats its positive news from the exam," he said. Darvish led the majors in strikeouts last year. With him out, Tanner Scheppers will start the season opener. Scheppers will be making his first big league start after 115 relief appearances. "Scheppers is making his first big league start on opening day," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "Hes profiled as a No. 1 kind of guy. The innings he pitched last year were under a lot of pressure and I think he can handle the pressure that goes along with opening day." The Rangers said Nick Martinez will be their No. 5 starter to begin the season. He has pitched in just five games above Class A. Martin Perez will start the second game and Robbie Ross the third and Joe Saunders the fourth, giving the Rangers four left-handers to start the season. None of the five was in the Texas rotation to start last year. Martinez, a right-hander, was not even in the big league camp. He finished last season 2-0 with a 1.13 ERA with Double-A Frisco. He was 12-7 with a 2.50 ERA last year between Myrtle Beach and Frisco. "Martinez gives us an opportunity," Washington said. "He has the stuff to pitch at the major league level. I think its on us to make certain to keep him in the mental state that he needs to be in. I think he can go out there and hold that spot down until we get Colby (Lewis) and Harry ((Matt Harrison) back. Vapormax Plus China. " Harrison, an 18-game winner in 2012, is rehabbing from a neck injury. Derek Holland will start the season on the DL because of knee surgery and Lewis is recovering from forearm and hip issues. "We, maybe not you, but we feel confident that we are going to be competitive and are going to win some ballgames," he said. The 23-year-old Martinez, 23, was an 18th-round pick in 2011 out of Fordham. "Weve had a number of injuries to our pitching staff," Daniels said. "Its obviously a little quicker than we anticipated with Nick. Given the injuries and looking at our options, we had the most confidence in Nick. There was an opportunity for someone to seize it." "As an organization, we feel Nicks the right guy for that opportunity," he said. "Nicks got three solid pitches, four really, plus command and has tremendous makeup. Hes an athlete, a shortstop-second baseman in college. Hes been durable. Hes smart. Hes poised. He attacks the strike zone." The Rangers made a series of roster moves. They signed right-hander Scott Baker, who was released by Seattle, to a Triple-A Round Rock contract. The 32-year-old Baker has a 63-48 record with a 4.14 ERA in 160 big league games. Texas claimed two players off waivers, getting infielder Donnie Murphy from the Cubs and right-hander Seth Rosin from the Dodgers. Rosin is a Rule 5 draft pick and must remain on the 25-man major league roster all season or be offered back to Philadelphia. Murphy can play second base, shortstop and third. The Rangers were in the market for a second baseman with Jurickson Profar out 10 to 12 weeks with a torn muscle in his right shoulder. The 31-year-old has played in 290 major league games in eight seasons with Kansas City, Oakland, Miami and the Chicago Cubs. He spent most of last season with Triple-A Iowa, hitting .265. The Rangers also released right-hander Tommy Hanson rather than guaranteeing his $500,000 salary, which would have increased to $2 million when the season started. Hanson was 0-2 with a 6.43 ERA in four exhibition games. ' ' '