4 laps. 10 miles. 234.046 mph.
Scott Dixon added to his lore in IndyCar Sunday afternoon, earning his 5th career pole for the Indianapolis 500 with the fastest-ever 4-lap average speed for a pole sitter in the over one-hundred years of this historic race.
Coming into the Firestone Fast Six shootout, the Kiwi was the last man to go on an ever cooling track, setting down a dramatic 234.046 mph average over 4 laps, usurping the late Scott Brayton as the fastest pole-man at Indy. Set in 1996, Brayton held the pole record when he set an average speed of 233.718 mph during the Fast-Nine shootout on the Sunday before the race. That same year Arie Luyendyk set the fastest ever 4-lap average of 236.986 mph on the second day of qualification but wasn’t eligible for the pole.
With the pole, Ganassi Racing earned its first 1-2 start at Indianapolis since 2008 when Dixon sat on the pole and won his sole victory at the 500, with then teammate the late Dan Wheldon starting beside him. This year, defending champion and 2021 Indy 500 runner-up Alex Palou starts 2nd with an average speed of 233.499 mph, narrowing missing out on his opportunity to become one of the youngest pole sitters in Indy 500 history. In an equally historic feat, the Ganassi organization had all 5 entrants in the Top-12 session – the only team to do so – with 4 of 5 starting within the first two rows.
In the post session interview, Dixon gleefully expressed the feat to reporters:
‘To get five of our cars into the fast 12 and four into the (Firestone Fast) Six, I hope Chip has a smile on his face. That definitely deserves a smile.’
The fastest four-lap average pole speed in #Indy500 history.
Hear from "The Iceman" after his historic run.#INDYCAR // @scottdixon9 // @CGRTeams pic.twitter.com/r92a684ZVt
— NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) May 22, 2022
Dutchman Rinus VeeKay rounded out the first row for the race with a blistering 233.385 mph average, making this top three the fastest front row in history, breaking the previous record of 233.080 mph set in 1996.
The Grid is set…now we race
The Top-12 session on Sunday solidified the first four rows for the historic 106th running on May 29th. With 3 competitors per row, and a total of 33 cars on track, the start of the Indy 500 is like no other race on the planet. Catch all of the action on NBC within the United States. Coverage begins at 11:00am ET with the green flag set to drop at 12:30pm ET.
Related Link: Full Race-day Schedule
Here is how they will stack up:
| Row 1 | |||
| Inside | Middle | Outside | |
| Driver | Scott Dixon (W) | Alex Palou | Rinus VeeKay |
| Team | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chip Ganassi Racing | Ed Carpenter Racing |
| Number | 9 | 10 | 21 |
| Avg. Speed | 234.046 | 233.499 | 233.385 |
| Row 2 | |||
| Inside | Middle | Outside | |
| Driver | Ed Carpenter | Marcus Ericsson | Tony Kanaan (W) |
| Team | Ed Carpenter Racing | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| Number | 33 | 6 | 1 |
| Avg. Speed | 233.08 | 232.764 | 232.372 |
| Row 3 | |||
| Inside | Middle | Outside | |
| Driver | Pato O’Ward | Felix Rosenqvist | Romain Grosjean (R) |
| Team | Arrow McLaren SP | Arrow McLaren SP | Andretti Autosport |
| Number | 5 | 7 | 28 |
| Avg. Speed | 232.705 | 232.182 | 231.999 |
| Row 4 | |||
| Inside | Middle | Outside | |
| Driver | Takuma Sato (W) | Will Power (W) | Jimmie Johnson (R) |
| Team | Dale Coyne Racing with RWR | Team Penske | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| Number | 51 | 12 | 48 |
| Avg. Speed | 231.67 | 231.534 | 231.264 |
| Row 5 | |||
| Inside | Middle | Outside | |
| Driver | David Malukas (R) | Josef Newgarden | Santino Ferucci |
| Team | Dale Coyne Racing with HMD | Team Penske | Dreyer & Reinbold Racing |
| Number | 18 | 2 | 23 |
| Avg. Speed | 231.607 | 231.58 | 231.508 |
| Row 6 | |||
| Inside | Middle | Outside | |
| Driver | Simon Pagenaud (W) | JR Hildebrand | Conor Daly |
| Team | Meyer Shank Racing | AJ Foyt Enterprises | Ed Carpenter Racing |
| Number | 60 | 11 | 20 |
| Avg. Speed | 231.275 | 231.112 | 230.999 |
| Row 7 | |||
| Inside | Middle | Outside | |
| Driver | Callu, Illot (R) | Alexander Rossi (W) | Graham Rahal |
| Team | Juncos Hollinger Racing | Andretti Autosport | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing |
| Number | 77 | 27 | 15 |
| Avg. Speed | 230.961 | 230.812 | 230.766 |
| Row 8 | |||
| Inside | Middle | Outside | |
| Driver | Sage Karam | Marco Andretti | Delvin DeFrancesco (R) |
| Team | Dreyer & Reinbold Racing | Andretti Herta Autosport w/ Marco & Curb | Andrettti Steinbrenner Autosport |
| Number | 24 | 98 | 29 |
| Avg. Speed | 230.464 | 230.354 | 230.326 |
| Row 9 | |||
| Inside | Middle | Outside | |
| Driver | Colton Herta | Scott McLaughlin | Helio Castronevas (W) |
| Team | Andretti Autosport w/ Curb-Agajanian | Team Penske | Meyer Shank Racing |
| Number | 26 | 3 | 6 |
| Avg. Speed | 230.235 | 230.154 | 229.63 |
| Row 10 | |||
| Inside | Middle | Outside | |
| Driver | Kyle Krikwood (R) | Dalton Kellett | Juan Pablo Montoya (W) |
| Team | AJ Foyt Enterprises | AJ Foyt Enterprises | Arrow McLaren SP |
| Number | 14 | 4 | 6 |
| Avg. Speed | 229.406 | 228.916 | 228.622 |
| Row 11 | |||
| Inside | Middle | Outside | |
| Driver | Christian Lundgaard (R) | Jack Harvey | Stefan Wilson |
| Team | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | DragonSpeed / Cusick Motorsports |
| Number | 30 | 45 | 25 |
| Avg. Speed | 227.053 | 226.851 | 0 |
