The Iceman at Indianapolis Motor Speedway is not very loud.
The Indianapolis 500 pole-winning record was shattered by Scott Dixon with a qualification run of more than 234 mph. The New Zealander was unbothered and went back out for the final run after his hands were shaking.
His four-lap average of 234.046 mph gave him the fifth Indy 500 pole of his career. He will lead the field to green next Sunday in The GreatestSpectacle in Racing.
The ups and downs that you have just in one day is crazy, and that is what this place is about. To live on that edge is an amazing feeling, and when you do it, that is what it is all about. These days are amazing.
Scott Brayton's pole-winning record of 233.718 mph was set in 1996 and was considered the best driver of his generation. In 1996, Arie Luyendyk set a four-lap record of 236.986 mph, but did not go for the pole.
In 106 runnings of the most prestigious race in the world, the second-fastest run was by Scott Dixon.
The first lap was over 200 mph and drew a roar from the fans. His wife Emma bent over the pit wall in amazement after his second lap. The consistency of his fourth and final lap gave him the Indy 500 pole.
The first number does mean a lot, and when I saw 234, I thought it was going to be a good run. The early years of just hitting the apexes are over.
In 2008, when he won his only Indy 500 win, he started from the pole.
The starting order for the first three rows of the race will be determined by the two-round shootout. Seven-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson needed a huge save in the first turn of his first lap and didn't advance out of the round of 12.
Along with his Honda teammates, he did. The Fast Six was a head-to-head battle between Chevrolet-powered teammates Ed Carpenter and Rinus Vee Kay, as well as reigning INDYCAR champion Alex Palou and Tony Kanaan.
This is what real competitors want, true competitors want this.
The 21-year-old was the third-fastest in track history on Saturday, but didn't have enough for the big laps of the leader. Palou and his teammate qualified second and third, respectively.
Palou led 35 laps and finished second to Castroneves.
Palou said there was not a lot of nerves and he did everything he could. I wish Scott would have given me one of the four poles he already had here.
Last year, she qualified third and has never started lower than fourth.
I am very proud to be on the front row again, and I haven't qualified worse than fourth in my three attempts, so I am very happy about that.
The 21-year-old said his best run was on Saturday, and he knew he couldn't beatDixon for the pole.
I think we could have put rocket fuel in our engine, but I don't think we could have beat Scott.
Kanaan was the slowest of the final six shootouts, at 232.372. The fastest cars were flying around Indy, which has not seen speeds like this since 1996.
Kanaan's four laps would have been the eighth-fastest in the history of the series. The field for the race next Sunday will be the fastest in race history, with 32 cars that turned qualifications doing so at an average of 231.34.
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