INDIANAPOLIS – Scott Dixon was the epitome of coolness under fire Sunday, as the 2008 Indianapolis 500 winner and six-time NTT IndyCar Series champion won his fourth Indianapolis 500 pole during the Firestone Fast Nine Shootout.
Dixon knocked young Colton Herta off the pole with a four-lap average of 231.685 miles per hour in the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda as the last of the drivers in the Fast Nine session.
His late heroics earned him a place in Indy 500 history, tying him with Rex Mays, AJ Foyt and Helio Castroneves for second place in Indy 500 poles.
105th Indianapolis 500 Starting Lineup
After Sunday, Dixon stands just two away from Rick Mears’ record of six Indy 500 poles.
Dixon paced the fastest field in Indianapolis 500 history with an average speed of 230.294 from for the Field of 33. The previous record was set in 2014, when the field’s average speed was 229.382 mph.
It is the 27th pole of Dixon’s Indy car career and the difference between his four-lap average to Herta’s was six-feet over a 10-mile run.
“It was pretty hairy,” Dixon said. “Glad it’s over. It was definitely pretty tense. When I saw the first few cars run, it was pretty calm. I saw the ECR (Ed Carpenter Racing) cars run. I was like, that’s pretty strong, wasn’t expecting that. I was able to watch Colton’s four laps, too, wish I hadn’t before I went out. I knew his consistency was probably going to be a tick better than the other two, and it sure was.
“I could see the mechanics working on the car as we rolled through, adjusting the wings. I asked them not to tell me. I knew it was only going one way, and that was trimming out more. I knew they were going to be pretty aggressive because we had already started pretty aggressive.
“At turn one for the first lap was very loose, and I was already maxed out on all the controls. I knew it was just going to be holding on for lap three and four. Lap four was definitely pretty rough, especially through turn three. I think we did it (by) 3/1000ths or some crazy number.”
Herta held the provisional pole after knocking Rinus VeeKay off the top spot when Herta’s No. 26 Gainbridge Honda ran a four-lap average of 231.644 mph.
“Obviously a little frustrated we didn’t get there in the end, but happy to have the opportunity to qualify in the Fast Nine,” Herta said. “I ended up just coming short. P2 is definitely not a bad place to start for a 500-mile race.
“If I was a fan, I’d be really excited with that Fast Nine qualifying. Really, guys that just kept going faster every single run. It was actually really close for everyone.” Herta added. “It was cool to see how guys got there in the end different ways. Some guys have more consistency, some guys put up huge laps in the beginning and slowed down more. For us it was a more consistent run.
“To beat Dixon, I think we really had to have that first lap and second lap just a tiny bit faster. We were so close. But like I said before, I’m happy that we just had the opportunity to make it to the Fast Nine. We had a fast race car this year, which you don’t always have, so I’m excited about that.”
VeeKay’s No. 21 BitCoin Chevrolet for Ed Carpenter Racing dropped off the top spot with a four-lap average of 231.611 mph. He becomes the youngest front row starter in Indy 500 history at 20 years, 254 days old after becoming the fastest teenager in Indy 500 history last year.
“I was the fastest teenager in 500 history last year. Now I’m the youngest front row (starter),” VeeKay said. “That’s pretty cool.
“It’s really special,” continued VeeKay, who won last week’s GMR Grand Prix at Indianapolis. “Really, really happy. The four laps I did was on the limit. I couldn’t have gone any faster really. I had a big moment in the last lap, first corner. Yeah, kept it on track, kept it flat. Very happy, very grateful for the team for all the sleepless nights, all the hard work. Definitely also big kudos to Chevy for giving me the great power to bring me to the front row.”
VeeKay had knocked Alex Palou off the No. 1 position. Palou’s No. 10 NTT DATA Honda had a four-lap average of 230.616 mph. Prior to that Marcus Ericsson opened the Fast Nine with a four-lap average of 230.318 mph before the next driver to make a qualification attempt, Ryan Hunter-Reay, took the top position after running four laps at 230.499 mph.
Herta is starting second, the first front-row start of his Indianapolis 500 career, while VeeKay is starting third, the best of his Indianapolis 500 career.
Dixon, Herta and VeeKay form row one. The second row consists of Ed Carpenter’s No. 20 Chevrolet at 231.504 mph, Tony Kanaan’s No. 48 American Legion Honda at Chip Ganassi Racing at 231.032 mph and Palou’s Honda at 231.032 mph.
Hunter-Reay (230.499 mph), Helio Castroneves’ No. 06 Honda at Meyer Shank Racing at 230.355 mph and Ericsson’s No. 8 Huski Chocolate Honda at Chip Ganassi Racing round out row three.
Positions 10-30 were locked into the field from Saturday’s qualifications. Alexander Rossi, the winner of the 100th Indianapolis 500, starts 10th in the No. 27 NAPA Honda for Andretti Autosport on the inside of row four.
Sage Karam’s No. 24 Chevrolet for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing starts inside the last row after running a four-lap average of 229.156 mph.
Will Power, the 2018 Indianapolis 500 winner, starts in the middle of Row 11 at 228.876 mph over four laps and Simona De Silvestro of Paretta Autosport was the last driver to make the field at 228.353 mph in the No. 16 Chevrolet.
Charlie Kimball’s No. 11 AJ Foyt Chevrolet and RC Enerson’s No. 75 Chevrolet did not make the starting lineup in the Last Row Shootout.
Kimball’s first attempt yielded a four-lap average of 227.811 mph. Enerson’s first attempt was 227.298 mph. Enerson made a second attempt that was even slower at 226.813 mph and Kimball’s second effort was four laps at 227.584 mph.