Indy 500: Dixon claims pole record with 234mph average

Dixon had booked his place into the Fast Six by going fastest in the preceding Top 12 session, edging Rinus VeeKay for pace with a 233.510mph run.

Last to take to the track in the final part of qualifying, the six-time IndyCar champion and 2008 Indy 500 winner delivered two laps over 234mph and even his fourth and slowest lap was faster than most drivers’ fastest efforts, and broke a four-way tie for second most Indy poles in history. He now lies only one behind record holder Rick Mears.

The Chip Ganassi Racing driver's effort also leaves him with the second fastest qualifying run of all time at Indy, behind only Arie Luyendyk’s run in 1996 - although that was not set on Pole Day and only earned Luyendyk only 21st on the grid.

Dixon outqualified his teammate and reigning IndyCar champion Alex Palou by 0.5mph, with Rinus VeeKay joining them on the outside of the front row with the fastest Chevrolet-powered car - the #21 Ed Carpenter Racing machine.

Tony Kanaan, one of four Ganassi cars that made it into the Fast Six, was the first to roll and his first lap was 232.996mph but by lap 3 he had to marginally lift in Turn 1, and produced a 232.372mph average.

Ed Carpenter took to the circuit next, and he hit 242mph heading into Turn 1 and he had a 233.860mph first lap, and his second and third laps were also in the 233s, and although he dropped to 232.053 on his fourth lap, his average was 233.080 and he looked a contender for the front row.

He survived Marcus Ericsson’s attempt which was an average of 232.764mph after a lift in Turn 1, but Alex Palou offered sterner opposition with a 234.048 followed by a 233.698, 233.304, and a 232.950. That average of 233.499 guaranteed Palou a front-row start for his third Indy 500.

Rinus