Scott Dixon emerged from a tumultuous Indianapolis 500 qualifying process as the polesitter for next weekend’s IndyCar race.
A combination of rain on Saturday and the introduction of late regulation changes on Sunday morning to address the rash of airborne accidents during practice left qualifying reduced to a single four-lap run for each driver.
Dixon was fourth cab off the rank and reeled off a four-lap average of 226.760mph, and his speed proved to be enough to see off the threat presented by the Penskes and Ganassi team-mate Tony Kanaan.
“It means a lot,” said the New Zealander. “With all of the preparation that goes into qualifying, I’m so proud of everybody who has worked to get the speed out of the car.
“It was definitely a tough day. I’m stoked. We went so early that we weren’t sure [the time] was going to stick.
“Starting from pole is always better than starting from anywhere else. But it’s a long race.
“We’d love to replicate what we did in 2008 [winning the race]. We’ve qualified on pole, now we just need to stay there for the last lap.”
Will Power came closest to unseating him, but he ultimately fell just short with a 226.350mph average.
Fellow Penske driver Simon Pagenaud will complete the first row, ahead of Kanaan and Helio Castroneves.
“The car was pretty good, we had no issues at all,” Castroneves said. “It’s one of those things.
“I thought we had a good one, but we feel very, very strong for the race and that’s what matters.”
The only Penske driver not among the frontrunners was Juan Pablo Montoya, who continued to struggle to find the sweet spot in his car.
The Colombian will start from 15th, but he said that he is optimistic about his chances next weekend.
“The car in race trim is fantastic,” he said. “It’s probably the best oval car I’ve had.
“I’m really excited for the race. This is just making our lives a little more difficult than we needed. ”
Justin Wilson was the fastest of the Honda-powered cars and will start from the outside of row two, with Andretti Autosport team-mates Marco Andretti and Carlos Munoz offering the only other Honda representation on the first four rows.
Last year’s 500 winner and fellow Andretti driver Ryan Hunter-Reay was the second car out, but he knew even before the session ended that his time was not going to stand.
“Mediocre at best,” he said. “I don’t think it’s going to be anything special.”
One of Honda’s other great hopes was Graham Rahal, however he will start alongside Hunter-Reay in 17th after suffering a mechanical problem during his run.
“The car stopped shifting,” he said. “The strategy with the wind like that was to shift to sixth on the back straight, and the first two laps we were matching Dixon.
“Then on the third lap the car got stick in fifth and then next time around it went to sixth and wouldn’t shift back down. I’m pretty upset.”
Sudden and unpredictable wind gusts were increasingly a factor as the session went on, and several drivers ended the day convinced that they could have been faster had they not struck a sudden headwind on the straight.
Meanwhile, Buddy Lazier did not clear tech in time to take his qualifying run, but he is expected to join low qualifiers Jack Hawksworth, Stefano Coletti and Bryan Clauson the final four-car run-off for the final three places on the grid.
