INDIANAPOLIS -- Marco Andretti backed up his blazing speed in Indy 500 qualifying Sunday, knocking off Scott Dixon to win the pole position at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
It’s the first time an Andretti driver has been on the pole in 33 years at the Brickyard when Marco’s legendary grandfather, Mario, qualified first in 1987.
“It was awesome,” Marco said, crediting his grandfather with crucial advice (“the wind will scare you, but it won’t crash you”) for dealing with high crosswinds on the 2.5-mile oval Sunday.
QUALIFYING RESULTS: Speeds from Sunday’s Fast Nine, Saturday session
Andretti, whose previous best start at Indy was third in 2013, turned a four-lap average at 231.068 mph in his No. 98 Dallara-Honda for the sixth pole position of his career and his first since 2018.
.@MarcoAndretti WINS the pole position for next Sunday's #Indy500!
— INDYCAR on NBC (@IndyCaronNBC) August 16, 2020
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He is trying to join his grandfather (who won in 1969) as only the second Andretti to win the Greatest Spectacle in Racing.
His father, Michael, was winless in 16 career starts at the Indy 500.
The Andretti Autosport team owner said Marco’s pole attempt Sunday was “fantastic, it was unbelievable. The car was so loose, and he just didn’t take his foot off the throttle, and he drove the hell out of it. He did a hell of a job.”
Dixon was second (the fifth front row start of his Indy 500 career), followed by a career-best Indy starting spot for 2017 winner Takuma Sato as Dallara-Hondas swept the top three.
Rinus VeeKay, 19, was the top Chevrolet in fourth after the best qualifying effort by a teenager in Indy 500 history.
Marco Andretti outperformed three other Andretti Autosport teammates in the Fast Nine as Ryan Hunter-Reay (fifth), James Hinchcliffe (sixth) and Alexander Rossi (ninth) all slowed down after they swept the top four spots in provisional qualifying.
Andretti, though, lost none of his pace after turning the fastest laps the past two days at Indy, where drivers given an extra 50 horsepower with a turbo boost mandated for qualifying setups by the NTT IndyCar Series that sent lap speeds skyrocketing over 230 mph.
Alex Palou qualified seventh, and Graham Rahal was eighth as the remainder of the field was set after positions 10-30 were determined in Saturday’s qualifying session.
