Andretti Green Racing’s overnight improvisation wasn’t easy on the eyes when it came to color schemes, but it saved Saturday for Tony Kanaan, who drove teammate Hideki Mutoh’s backup car to secure the sixth starting position for the 93rd Indianapolis 500.

The chatty Brazilian referred to his No. 11T entry as the car with 3,000 colors and likened it to Mexico’s hues — a combination of his usual 7-Eleven green, red and orange trim on the nose and wing with Mutoh’s blue and white on the tub. But that’s what he had to work with after his crew decided to change everything the night before.

The team found more speed, but an early run was disallowed because the car was too light. So the resilient Kanaan kicked off happy hour with a four-lap average of 223.612 mph to extend his streak of starting at least sixth in each of his eight Indy starts.

“Qualifying the first day for us, at this point, it was almost a miracle,” said the 2005 pole sitter, whose best Indy 500 finish was second in 2004.

The rest of Andretti Green had a more trying pole day:

Mutoh was unable to keep his primary No. 27 car in the field; the second-year IndyCar Series driver was bumped twice from the field of 11 first-day qualifiers. He will try for a second-11 spot today.

Marco Andretti had turned some of the week’s fastest practice laps but qualified eighth.

Danica Patrick held on for 10th, which ties her worst starting position in five Indy starts.

Both Andretti and Patrick needed two runs to earn their spots.

“I came into this wanting a front row,” Patrick said after her initial run. "Now, I’m just like, ‘Shoot, just get me in today.’ "

Several drivers made last-hour runs to improve their positions, prompting Patrick’s No. 7 car to slide down the grid.

The same thing happened to Andretti’s No. 26, although he helped himself with a late run and average of 223.114 mph. Asked if this was the ideal day for a qualifying format that allows three attempts per car, the 22-year-old grandson of 1969 500 winner Mario Andretti said, “Absolutely.”

Kanaan seemed to know it would work out for him. Before his initial qualifying run was disallowed, he spoke philosophically about staying positive and keeping the faith for his crew and team.

“You can’t let this place get into (your head) because when it gets into you, that’s when it catches you,” he said.

He joked about Mutoh not wanting to part with the backup car. But because Kanaan enjoyed a bump in speed of about 21/2 mph, he said of his primary No. 11, “That car is dumped. I divorced her.”

Kanaan then tried on a Mutoh driving suit in the morning, just for laughs, and found it too snug.

So what worked with the second car that didn’t with the first?

“It was quicker. Why? We have no clue,” Kanaan said. “I’m going to make sure we paint it tonight so Hideki doesn’t take it back.”