Dixon beats Herta to 2021 Indy 500 pole

Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon scored a brilliant fourth Indianapolis 500 pole position – four years since his last IndyCar pole – with the last run of ‘Fast Nine’ qualifying.

Honda-powered driver Dixon has looked fantastic all week long at the Brickyard. On the first day of qualifying on Saturday he was fastest with the first run of the day and he didn’t return to the track for the rest of the session. He didn’t need to.

It doesn’t come much more pressured than going last in the ‘Fast Nine’ session with one chance for pole, and his first three laps looked really strong.

There was a big drop off in his final lap, but over a four-lap average he beat Andretti Autosport’s Colton Herta.

The 40-year-old Dixon took the pole by 0.0197s over the four laps, or 0.004925s per lap!

Though he had started on pole for the second race of the Texas weekend earlier this season, that grid was set on championship points – so this is reigning champion Dixon’s first pole from a qualifying session since the 2017 Indy 500. Despite his incredible IndyCar record, the six-time series champion has only won the 500 once, back in 2008.

Dixon’s fourth Indy 500 pole ties him with Rex Mays, AJ Foyt and Helio Castroneves, all two behind record-holder Rick Mears’ tally of six poles at the event.

Herta had run second to last in the session and deposed the two Ed Carpenter Racing cars, of Rinus VeeKay and Ed Carpenter, to go second and make it a Honda 1-2 at the top of the timesheets.

VeeKay – who became IndyCar’s latest first-time winner earlier this month in the Indianapolis road course event – delivered a storming lap that looked wayward at times, and has the honour of being the top Chevrolet runner on the grid in third.

Carpenter himself was fourth, and his team was the only one with Chevrolet power to qualify for the fast nine.

Tony Kanaan – driving the ovals in place of Jimmie Johnson this year at Ganassi – couldn’t depose the two Ed Carpenter Racing cars but he and Alex Palou made sure it was four Ganassi cars in the top six.

Palou had crashed heavily trying to improve his time in qualifying yesterday but made the ‘Fast Nine’ anyway. His car was repaired by 9.30pm on Saturday and he rewarded his team by bringing them doughnuts this morning. He’ll start sixth.

Ryan Hunter-Reay had a tricky week of practice but has been on form in qualifying trim to take seventh for Andretti, ahead of three time event winner Castroneves in his first 500 for new team Meyer Shank Racing – which receives engineering support from Andretti.

Marcus Ericsson was the first car to run and clearly did not have ideal conditions as he was ninth quickest for Ganassi.

In the earlier ‘last chance’ session, Sage Karam, Will Power and Simona de Silvestro secured the back row spots at the expense of Dalton Kellett and Charlie Kimball. Positions 10-30 on the grid had been set on Saturday.

The field average qualifying speed is 230.294mph, the fastest in Indianapolis 500 history. The previous record was set in 2014, when the field average was 229.382mph.

Qualifying Results

Grid Results