Scott Dixon soars to Indy 500 pole with 232 mph flyer

By Aaron Bearden, Motorsports Editor

SPEEDWAY, Ind. – With speeds at their highest in two decades, Verizon IndyCar Series star Scott Dixon rose to the occasion to deliver Chip Ganassi Racing and Honda the pole for the 101st Running of the Indianapolis 500.

Dixon laid down the fastest speeds seen at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in both single lap and four-lap average qualifying since Arie Luyendyk’s 1996 track record run, ending his stint with a fast lap of 232.595 mph and a four-lap average speed of 232.164 mph.

The pole is Dixon’s third for ‘The Greatest Spectacle in Racing’, and his 28th in IndyCar competition.

After pacing Saturday’s opening day of qualifying, two-time Indy 500 pole sitter Ed Carpenter slotted in second with speed of 231.664 mph.  Defending race winner Alexander Rossi capped off a solid first week with a third-place run to complete the front row.

Takuma Sato, Fernando Alonso and JR Hildebrand completed row two, with Tony Kanaan, Marco Andretti and Will Power rounding out the Fast Nine.

Hunter-Reay Paces Group One

Ryan Hunter-Reay made a statement with an astounding 231.442 mph average speed during his four-lap run to lead the early afternoon’s group one qualifying and 10th on the grid.

The second lap of Hunter-Reay’s run – a 231.811 mph flyer – was at the time the fastest seen in Indy 500 qualifying in 21 years, though it was later supplanted by the top three in Fast Nine qualifying.

Ed Jones provided a much-needed positive run for Dale Coyne Racing just one day removed from his teammate Sebastien Bourdais’ season-ending shunt, slotting in 11th with a speed of 230.578 mph.

Oriol Servia claimed the final spot in row four with a 230.309 mph stint the sat atop the charts for the majority of the session. Mikhail Aleshin, Graham Rahal and Max Chilton completed row five, with Charlie Kimball, James Hinchcliffe and Juan Pablo Montoya following in row six.

It was a difficult session for Team Penske, with all four team drivers failing to crack the first five rows. Only Will Power will be within sight of the front row when the field takes the green flag next Sunday.

There were no crashes in the session, though multiple drivers – Max Chilton and Charlie Kimball among them – hit or just missed the outside wall while transitioning from Turn 2 to the backstretch.