“We took a little bit of a gamble,” Dixon told the Indianapolis Star. “When I saw that first lap, I was in a little bit of shock myself. … This place is nerve-wracking.”
Ed Carpenter and Alexander Rossi will join Dixon on the front row.
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While Dixon won the Indy 500 from the pole in 2008 (he finished fourth after starting from the pole in 2015), starting position has not been a major factor in the race’s outcome in recent years. Per The Star, Dan Wheldon in 2011 is the most recent driver to start in the first three rows and win the race. Since then, the winners started 16th (Dario Franchitti), 12th (Tony Kanaan), 19th (Ryan Hunter-Reay), 15th (Juan Pablo Montoya) and 11th (Alexander Rossi).
Here is the starting grid for the 101st running of the Indy 500:
Indy 500 lineup, starting grid
Row 1: Scott Dixon, Ed Carpenter, Alexander Rossi Row 2: Takuma Sato, Fernando Alonso, JR Hildebrand. Row 3: Tony Kanaan, Marco Andretti, Will Power Row 4: Ryan Hunter-Reay, Ed Jones, Oriol Servia Row 5: Mikhail Aleshin, Graham Rahal, Max Chilton Row 6: Charlie Kimball, James Hinchcliffe, Juan Pablo Montoya Row 7: Helio Castroneves, Jay Howard, Sage Karam Row 8: Josef Newgarden, Simon Pagenaud, Carlos Munoz Row 9: Gabby Chaves, Conor Daly, Jack Harvey Row 10: Pippa Mann, Simon Pigot, Buddy Lazier Row 11: Sebastian Saavedra, Zach Veach, James Davison
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Indy 500 qualifying results
Here are the full Indy 500 qualifying results with car number, time and speed in parentheses:
