IndyCar: Starting lineup for the 104th running of the Indy 500
By Asher Fair
The Fast Nine Shootout solidified the remainder of the starting lineup for the 104th running of the Indy 500, with Marco Andretti on the pole.
Crown Royal Armed Forces Qualifying is in the books, and the 33-car field has been set for the 104th running of the Indy 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the signature event on the 2020 IndyCar schedule. For the first time in 33 years, an Andretti has taken the pole position.
Andretti Herta Autosport’s Marco Andretti became the second Andretti to take the pole position for the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing”. 1969 race winner Mario Andretti did so three times, most recently in 1987.
The 33-year-old Andretti topped the speed chart in the Fast Nine Shootout with a four-lap average speed of 231.068 miles per hour around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) Brickyard oval in Speedway, Indiana behind the wheel of his #98 Honda.
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He hadn’t taken an IndyCar pole position since June of 2018 at the Raceway on Belle Isle, and he hadn’t taken a pole position for an oval race since July of 2013 at Pocono Raceway.
Andretti advanced to the Fast Nine Shootout with his qualifying run in yesterday’s session, which was also the best in the field at 231.351 miles per hour. This came just one day after he posted the fastest lap at the track since 1996 on Fast Friday at 233.491 miles per hour.
The Nazareth, Pennsylvania native, whose top Indy 500 finish in 14 starts is second place in his rookie year back in 2006, is the first driver to take the pole position for the Indy 500 after running quickest in both days of qualifying since James Hinchcliffe did so back in 2016.
The difference separating Andretti from second place Scott Dixon of Chip Ganassi Racing was only 0.017 miles per hour. Dixon’s four-lap average qualifying speed was 231.051 miles per hour behind the wheel of his #9 Honda.
That comes out to just 46.6 inches over their 10-mile runs.
Many of the official qualifying speeds posted by the nine Fast Nine Shootout drivers were slower than some of those posted by drivers who qualified in 10th place and lower. This is due to the fact that they were the top nine drivers in yesterday’s qualifying session and qualified within the top nine on separate speeds today.
None of the Team Penske drivers advanced to the Fast Nine Shootout, and none of them qualified in any of the first four rows. Josef Newgarden was the top driver for Roger Penske’s team in 13th place in his #1 Chevrolet. The Captain’s team hadn’t entirely missed out on the Fast Nine Shootout since 2002.
Here is the full starting lineup for the 104th running of the Indy 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Rank – Driver – Car, Team, Engine – Official qualifying speed (miles per hour)
Row 1
1st – Marco Andretti – #98, Andretti Herta Autosport, Honda – 231.068
2nd – Scott Dixon – #9, Chip Ganassi Racing, Honda – 231.051
3rd – Takuma Sato – #30, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, Honda – 230.725
Row 2
4th – Rinus VeeKay – #21, Ed Carpenter Racing, Chevrolet – 230.704
5th – Ryan Hunter-Reay – #28, Andretti Autosport, Honda – 230.648
6th – James Hinchcliffe – #29, Andretti Autosport, Honda – 229.87
Row 3
7th – Alex Palou – #55, Dale Coyne Racing with Team Goh, Honda – 229.676
8th – Graham Rahal – #15, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, Honda – 229.38
9th – Alexander Rossi – #27, Andretti Autosport, Honda – 229.234
Row 4
10th – Colton Herta – #88, Andretti Harding Steinbrener Autosport, Honda – 230.775
11th – Marcus Ericsson – #8, Chip Ganassi Racing, Honda – 230.566
12th – Spencer Pigot – #45, RLL Racing with Citrone/Buhl Autosport, Honda – 230.539
Row 5
13th – Josef Newgarden – #1, Team Penske, Chevrolet – 230.296
14th – Felix Rosenqvist – #10, Chip Ganassi Racing, Honda – 230.254
15th – Pato O’Ward – #5, Arrow McLaren SP, Chevrolet – 230.213
Row 6
16th – Ed Carpenter – #20, Ed Carpenter Racing, Chevrolet – 230.211
17th – Zach Veach – #26, Andretti Autosport, Honda – 229.961
18th – Conor Daly – #47, Ed Carpenter Racing, Chevrolet – 229.955
Row 7
19th – Santino Ferrucci – #18, DCR with Vasser-Sullivan, Honda – 229.924
20th – Jack Harvey – #60, Meyer Shank Racing, Honda – 229.861
21st – Oliver Askew – #7, Arrow McLaren SP, Chevrolet – 229.76
Row 8
22nd – Will Power – #12, Team Penske, Chevrolet – 229.701
23rd – Tony Kanaan – #14, A.J. Foyt Enterprises, Chevrolet – 229.154
24th – Dalton Kellett – #41, A.J. Foyt Enterprises, Chevrolet – 228.88
Row 9
25th – Simon Pagenaud – #22, Team Penske, Chevrolet – 228.836
26th – Fernando Alonso – #66, Arrow McLaren SP, Chevrolet – 228.768
27th – James Davison – #51, DCR with Rick Ware & Byrd Belardi, Honda – 228.747
Row 10
28th – Helio Castroneves – #3, Team Penske, Chevrolet – 228.373
29th – Charlie Kimball – #4, A.J. Foyt Enterprises, Chevrolet – 227.758
30th – Max Chilton – #59, Carlin, Chevrolet – 227.303
Row 11
31st – Sage Karam – #24, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, Chevrolet – 227.099
32nd – J.R. Hildebrand – #67, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, Chevrolet – 226.341
33rd – Ben Hanley – #81, DragonSpeed, Chevrolet – 222.917
Top 10 Indianapolis 500 drivers of all-time. dark. Next
Tune in to NBC at 1:00 p.m. ET next Sunday, August 23 for the live broadcast of the 104th running of the Indianapolis 500 from Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The race is scheduled to get underway at roughly 2:30 p.m. ET