.jpg)
Circuit: Indianapolis Motor Speedway (2.5-mile oval), Indianapolis, IN
2015 Winner: Juan Pablo Montoya (Team Penske) 161.343 mph average
Weather: Sunny, breezy, warm, 81 degrees F
Indianapolis 500 Starting Field:
W – Previous Indy 500 Champion [6 former winners in the field]
R – Indy 500 Rookie [5 race rookies in the field]
Hinchcliffe, Honda Claim Indy 500 Pole
Hinchcliffe's run of nearly 231 mph on Saturday secured first-round qualifying honors, and meant he would be the last of five Honda drivers vying or the pole during today's "Fast Nine" shootout. The fourth driver to make a run, Newgarden posted a four-lap average of 230.700 mph that moved him to the top of the speed chart. After both Helio Castroneves and Will Power came up sort, the next-to-last qualifier, Hunter-Reay came close to toppling him, but ended his four-lap run fractionally slower, at 230.648 mph.
That left Hinchcliffe as the final driver to qualify, and just over a year after a practice-session crash resulted in life-threatening injuries, "Hinch" produced a four-lap average speed of 230.760 mph around the 2.5-mile Indianapolis oval to claim the pole for himself, his Schmidt Peterson Motorsports team, and Honda. It was Hinchcliffe's first Indianapolis 500 pole, after qualifying second in 2014.
Behind Hinchcliffe and Hunter-Reay, Andretti Autosport drivers Townsend Bell and Carlos Munoz claimed the fourth and fifth positions, respectively, and Hinchcliffe's teammate, Mikhail Aleshin, will start seventh. Honda drivers also dominated today's second-round qualifying – for starting positions 10-33 – with Oriol Servia, top rookie Alexander Rossi, and Takuma Sato qualifying 10th through 12th; and Marco Andretti, 14th.
The 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 will take place on Sunday, May 29, with live coverage on ABC starting at 11 a.m. EDT.
James Hinchcliffe (#5 Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda) pole qualifier for the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500, his first "500" pole: "I mean, I try not to think about [what it means to qualify on the pole] too much. We still have a long race to get through one week from today. One day, I'll appreciate it a lot more. It all starts right here, with Sam [Schmidt] and Ric [Peterson]. They built this incredible team. It starts from the top, but goes to all the crew guys who build and run these cars. This is a point of pride today for the team, for Honda and all the incredible work they've done. It [qualifying] was a great run, the car was stellar. I have to thank my teammates a huge amount, we communicated well all week long. The car definitely was on the ragged edge, it was getting free-er and free-er every lap and I was moving the weight jacker all the time. But that's what it takes to win the pole here. I kinda feel bad for Josef, but not THAT bad. I've been there before (narrowly missing the pole in 2014). There's still one big thing to check off the box before we start talking "movie rights", and that's next Sunday. I hope a week from now we have an even better story to tell."
Art St. Cyr (president, Honda Performance Development) on today's ninth Indianapolis 500 pole or Honda: "It's a great day for Honda. This is culmination of 12 months of incredibly hard work and focus on the Indy 500. Congratulations to everyone at HPD, who has worked so tirelessly to not just close the gap we experienced last year, but to back put us on top. Our partners at Schmidt-Peterson, Andretti Autosport, Rahal Letterman Lanigan, and all of our teams have worked equally hard to achieve this common goal. A special congratulations to "Hinch" and Ryan for putting it all on the line for the pole and front-row starting positions. But we all know, the true goal arrives next Sunday: to win the 100th Indianapolis 500."
2015 Winner: Juan Pablo Montoya (Team Penske) 161.343 mph average
Weather: Sunny, breezy, warm, 81 degrees F
Indianapolis 500 Starting Field:
| Ps. | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Speed MPH | Notes |
| 1. | James Hinchcliffe | Schmidt Peterson Motorsports | Honda | 230.760 | Fast Nine Pole Shootout |
| 2. | Josef Newgarden | Ed Carpenter Racing | Chevrolet | 230.700 | Fast Nine Pole Shootout |
| 3. | Ryan Hunter-Reay-W | Andretti Autosport | Honda | 230.648 | Fast Nine Pole Shootout |
| 4. | Townsend Bell | Andretti Autosport | Honda | 230.481 | Fast Nine Pole Shootout |
| 5. | Carlos Munoz | Andretti Autosport | Honda | 230.287 | Fast Nine Pole Shootout |
| 6. | Will Power | Team Penske | Chevrolet | 229.669 | Fast Nine Pole Shootout |
| 7. | Mikhail Aleshin | Schmidt Peterson Motorsports | Honda | 229.562 | Fast Nine Pole Shootout |
| 8. | Simon Pagenaud | Team Penske | Chevrolet | 229.139 | Fast Nine Pole Shootout |
| 9. | Helio Castroneves-W | Team Penske | Chevrolet | 229.115 | Fast Nine Pole Shootout |
| 10. | Oriol Servia | Schmidt Peterson Motorsports | Honda | 229.060 | |
| 11. | Alexander Rossi-R | Andretti Autosport | Honda | 228.473 | |
| 12. | Takuma Sato | A.J. Foyt Racing | Honda | 228.029 | |
| 13. | Scott Dixon-W | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 227.991 | |
| 14. | Marco Andretti | Andretti Autosport | Honda | 227.969 | |
| 15. | JR Hildebrand | Ed Carpenter Racing | Chevrolet | 227.876 | |
| 16. | Charlie Kimball | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 227.822 | |
| 17. | J-Pablo Montoya-W | Team Penske | Chevrolet | 227.684 | |
| 18. | Tony Kanaan-W | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 227.430 | |
| 19. | Sebastien Bourdais | KV Racing Technology | Chevrolet | 227.428 | |
| 20. | Ed Carpenter | Ed Carpenter Racing | Chevrolet | 227.226 | |
| 21. | Gabby Chaves | Dale Coyne Racing | Honda | 227.192 | |
| 22. | Max Chilton-R | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 226.686 | |
| 23. | Sage Karam | Dreyer & Reinbold Racing | Chevrolet | 226.436 | |
| 24. | Conor Daly | Dale Coyne Racing | Honda | 226.312 | |
| 25. | Pippa Mann | Dale Coyne Racing | Honda | 226.006 | |
| 26. | Graham Rahal | Rahal Letterman Lanigan | Honda | 225.847 | |
| 27. | Matt Brabham-R | KV Racing Technology | Chevrolet | 225.727 | |
| 28. | Bryan Clauson | Schmidt Peterson Motorsports | Honda | 225.266 | |
| 29. | Spencer Pigot-R | Rahal Letterman Lanigan | Honda | 224.847 | |
| 30. | Stefan Wilson-R | KV Racing Technology | Chevrolet | 224.602 | |
| 31. | Jack Hawksworth | A.J. Foyt Racing | Honda | 224.596 | |
| 32. | Buddy Lazier-W | Lazier-Burns Racing | Chevrolet | 222.154 | |
| 33. | Alex Tagliani | A.J. Foyt Racing | Honda | No speed | Crashed in qualifying |
R – Indy 500 Rookie [5 race rookies in the field]
Hinchcliffe, Honda Claim Indy 500 Pole
- James Hinchcliffe to lead the field to the start of the 100th Indianapolis 500
- Honda drivers claim four of the top five starting positions
- Ninth Honda pole in 16 "500s"
Hinchcliffe's run of nearly 231 mph on Saturday secured first-round qualifying honors, and meant he would be the last of five Honda drivers vying or the pole during today's "Fast Nine" shootout. The fourth driver to make a run, Newgarden posted a four-lap average of 230.700 mph that moved him to the top of the speed chart. After both Helio Castroneves and Will Power came up sort, the next-to-last qualifier, Hunter-Reay came close to toppling him, but ended his four-lap run fractionally slower, at 230.648 mph.
That left Hinchcliffe as the final driver to qualify, and just over a year after a practice-session crash resulted in life-threatening injuries, "Hinch" produced a four-lap average speed of 230.760 mph around the 2.5-mile Indianapolis oval to claim the pole for himself, his Schmidt Peterson Motorsports team, and Honda. It was Hinchcliffe's first Indianapolis 500 pole, after qualifying second in 2014.
Behind Hinchcliffe and Hunter-Reay, Andretti Autosport drivers Townsend Bell and Carlos Munoz claimed the fourth and fifth positions, respectively, and Hinchcliffe's teammate, Mikhail Aleshin, will start seventh. Honda drivers also dominated today's second-round qualifying – for starting positions 10-33 – with Oriol Servia, top rookie Alexander Rossi, and Takuma Sato qualifying 10th through 12th; and Marco Andretti, 14th.
The 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 will take place on Sunday, May 29, with live coverage on ABC starting at 11 a.m. EDT.
James Hinchcliffe (#5 Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda) pole qualifier for the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500, his first "500" pole: "I mean, I try not to think about [what it means to qualify on the pole] too much. We still have a long race to get through one week from today. One day, I'll appreciate it a lot more. It all starts right here, with Sam [Schmidt] and Ric [Peterson]. They built this incredible team. It starts from the top, but goes to all the crew guys who build and run these cars. This is a point of pride today for the team, for Honda and all the incredible work they've done. It [qualifying] was a great run, the car was stellar. I have to thank my teammates a huge amount, we communicated well all week long. The car definitely was on the ragged edge, it was getting free-er and free-er every lap and I was moving the weight jacker all the time. But that's what it takes to win the pole here. I kinda feel bad for Josef, but not THAT bad. I've been there before (narrowly missing the pole in 2014). There's still one big thing to check off the box before we start talking "movie rights", and that's next Sunday. I hope a week from now we have an even better story to tell."
Art St. Cyr (president, Honda Performance Development) on today's ninth Indianapolis 500 pole or Honda: "It's a great day for Honda. This is culmination of 12 months of incredibly hard work and focus on the Indy 500. Congratulations to everyone at HPD, who has worked so tirelessly to not just close the gap we experienced last year, but to back put us on top. Our partners at Schmidt-Peterson, Andretti Autosport, Rahal Letterman Lanigan, and all of our teams have worked equally hard to achieve this common goal. A special congratulations to "Hinch" and Ryan for putting it all on the line for the pole and front-row starting positions. But we all know, the true goal arrives next Sunday: to win the 100th Indianapolis 500."
