Dixon seizes 5th Indy 500 pole with second-fastest qualifying time ever

WASHINGTON: New Zealand’s Scott Dixon earned his fifth Indianapolis 500 pole position in sensational style on Sunday, clocking the second-fastest four-lap qualifying run ever at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Dixon topped the final Fast Six section of qualifying with a four-lap run that averaged 234.046 (376.66 Km/h) — featuring two laps of the 2.5-mile oval at more than 234 mph.

Dixon put his Honda-powered Chip Ganassi team car on pole for the second straight year, but with just one victory, in 2008, to show for his prior four pole positions the Kiwi veteran was already looking ahead to next Sunday’s 106th running of the fabled race.

“Obviously, it doesn’t mean a thing next Sunday,” he said. “So we’re starting in the right spot. We havent’ had a good record keeping it in the right spot but we’ll definitely be trying come next Sunday.”

Despite that pragmatic stance, Dixon was clearly exhilarated by the day’s activities, which featured the fastest 12 finishers in Saturday’s opening qualifying competing in Top 12 qualifying and the top six from that coming back to set pole position and the first two rows of the grid.

With the final Fast Six run, Dixon pushed Ganassi teammate Alex Palou of Spain (233.499 mph) into second on the grid.

Ed Carpenter Racing’s Dutch driver Rinus Veekay claimed the third spot on the first row with a run at 233.385 mph.

Team chief and sometime driver Ed Carpenter (233.080 mph) claimed the fourth spot ahead of Swedish Ganassi driver Marcus Ericsson (232.764), and Ganassi’s Brazilian veteran Tony Kanaan (232.372).

“That’s what this place is about,” Dixon said. “So amazing — the ups and downs that you have just in one day — it’s crazy. Just so happy for everybody to get five of our cars into