INDIANOPOLIS – Iceman on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway does not rattle so much, not even record speeds.
Scott Dixon broke the Indianapolis record of 500 at the poles, making an exciting qualifying run of more than 234 miles per hour. His hands were shaking as he got out of the car after the first Sunday race, but the New Zealander was not bothered and returned for an exciting last run.
His four-lap average speed of 234.046 miles per hour at the Indianapolis racetrack gave Dixon his fifth pole at the Indy 500 in his career. Next Sunday he will lead the field to green in “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing”.
“That’s what this place, the ups and downs you have in just one day, is crazy about,” Dixon said. “I think it’s kind of like we’re all secretly thriving, right? Living on this land is a strange feeling, and if you do, that’s the thing. Such days are amazing. ”
Considered the best racer of his generation, the Dixon average broke the record of Scott Brighton, who won the pole at 233.718 miles per hour, set in 1996. Arie Luendyk holds a qualifying record for four laps of 236.986 miles per hour, also set in 1996, but not in the pole vault.
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Dixon’s qualifying race was the second fastest in 106 races of the most prestigious race in the world.
Dixon’s first lap accelerated to 234,437 miles per hour and caused a roar of fans. His second lap was 234,162, and Emma’s wife leaned over the box in amazement, covering her mouth with her hands. Dixon’s outing from there was minor: his fourth and final lap was 233,726, as his stability brought Chip Ganassi Racing the seventh pole in India 500.
“The first number really means a lot, and when I saw 234, it was“ Okay, that’s gonna be good, ”Dixon said. “But you’re busy, you’re eaten. The first years have passed, when we just reached the top and enjoyed the speed. “
Dixon also kicked off the pole in 2008 when he scored his only win in the Indy 500, as well as in 2015, 2017 and last year.
Ganassi advanced all five of his riders to a two-level qualifying shoot to determine the starting order for the first three rows of the race next week. Seven-time NASCAR champion Jimmy Johnson needed a massive save in the first turn of his first lap and didn’t make it to the 1/8 finals.
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But Dixon did it along with three of his other teammates working for Honda. This made Dixon, reigning IndyCar champion Alex Palu, Marcus Erickson and Tony Canaan in the “Fast Six” shootout against Chevrolet teammates Ed Carpenter and Rinus Vikey.
“That’s what real competitors want, that’s what real competitors want,” Ganassi said before the session. “This is a moment created for champions.”
The 21-year-old VeeKay on Saturday released the third fastest qualifying race in track history, but that wasn’t enough for Dixon’s big and big laps. Palau, who averaged 233,499, qualified second with his teammate, and VeeKay was third with 233,385.
Palu, who led 35 laps last year and finished second after Helio Castroneves, said he knew he would be defeated by his teammate.
“There weren’t that many nerves, I knew he would get it,” Palau said. “I was very comfortable and I did everything I had. I kind of want to, because Scott already had four poles here, he could give me one, but he doesn’t share that much. ”
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VeeKay, which qualified third last year, also never started below fourth.
“I’m very proud to be in the front row again and I didn’t qualify worse than fourth in my three qualifying attempts, so I’m very proud of that,” VeeKay said.
But the 21-year-old said his best run was on Saturday – “I did what Scott did yesterday” – and quickly realized he couldn’t beat Dixon for the pole.
“I think we could put rocket fuel in our engine and I still think we won’t beat Scott,” VeeKay said. “He wasn’t just a share faster, he was a lot faster than everyone else.”
Carpenter was fourth, followed by Eriksson and Canaan, who with a score of 232,372 was the slowest in the final six shots. But even the slowest cars have been flying around India, which has not seen such speeds since 1996.
The four laps of Canaan would be the eighth fastest qualifying race in the record books recorded before the riders rewrote history this weekend. The 32 cars that passed the qualifying round did so with an average of 231,034, making the field next Sunday the fastest in racing history.
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