Hinchcliffe wins pole for 100th Indy 500

James Hinchcliffe
James Hinchcliffe

"The worst four laps of the month" is one of the more charitable things said about qualifying at Indy. A few years ago, Dario quipped that he "talked to Jesus", to which Helio replied that he thought he saw Jesus during his run.

By all accounts, it's the toughest thing you can do in auto sports. And this year, everyone had to do this at least twice.

When the dust settled, the crowd was treated to a thrilling shootout for the top 9 places, with James Hinchcliffe narrowly beating Josef Newgarden for the Pole. Joining them on the top row will be Ryan Hunter-Reay.

The second row will consist of Andretti team mates Townsend Bell and Carlos Munoz, along with Will Power.

The third row will be Mikhail Aleshin, Simon Pagenaud and Helio Castroneves.

If anyone had predicted that Honda would be this strong, and that Sam Schmidt's guys would grab the Pole, they probably would've been committed for psych treatment. But here we are.

During the first day of qualifications, Hinchcliffe topped the charts in his No. 5 Arrow Electronics car with a four-lap qualifying average of 230.946, giving him the final run in the "Fast Nine Shootout." On Sunday, the Canadian fan favorite's four-lap qualifying average of 230.760 was just 0.6 seconds faster than the second-place spot.

"This is just so huge for the Schmidt Peterson Motorsports team," said Hinchcliffe. "To have all three cars in the top ten, no other team can say that. SPM did it. They did their homework.

"The Arrow Electronics car was just killer. It was fast, but it was consistent. Josef [Newgarden] had the quicker lap time but we had the consistency over the four laps. The Honda power was incredible too. It's just crazy to think about where we were a year ago, and now my first-ever pole comes at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a year out from what happened last year, in the 100th running of the biggest race in history.

"To get the Verizon Pole Award here, it's just so special. I've come close twice, I've been second twice, been robbed. That's what I was just joking about with Josef. I know how he felt and I kind of felt bad, but not that bad. I was okay with it. I'm just really happy for the Arrow boys and all the SPM teams."

******

[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"]Deteriorating track conditions marked the first group of qualifiers, helping Oriol Servia hang onto the 10th spot, followed by Alexander Rossi in 11th and Takuma Sato in 12th.

Other notables:

– Alex Tagliani had the day’s only mishap when he looped his car in the exit of turn 4, and struck the end of pit road. “It really caught me off guard because (the spin) really happened late into the corner – like almost at the exit of Turn 4. …The wiggle was too much and we lost the rear and it was too late." He will start shotgun on the field next Sunday.

– Scott Dixon’s engine expired in morning practice, and the team had a new engine — usually a 3-hour job — installed in a tick over 1 hour. In deteriorating conditions he set a respectable speed, and will start 13th next week. Chevy officials are not ready to say that the motor was blown, and will try to repair the motor back in Detroit.

– Juan Pablo Montoya's late run encountered a black trash bag during his run. JPM commented that initially the bag was in the infield (uh, he saw all of this at 229 mph?) but was in the track next time he came around, and when he hit it something was bent in the wing. He kept the car off of the wall, and was allowed another run, but will only start 17th. Then again, last year he came back from last after an early incident to win the race.

– I'm not sure if I should report that Pippa Mann will start 25th, or that Graham Rahal will start next to her in 26th. Pippa had one of the early runs which certainly made things easier, and Graham got a later run. If someone had predicted that Sam Schmidt would have 2 cars in the Fast 9, and RLR would have 2 cars in the last 2 rows, they might've been committed to rehab. But here we are…

– The back row party this year will be Jack Hawksworth, Buddy Lazier and Alex Tagliani.

QUOTES

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA (No. 2 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, 2015 Indianapolis 500 winner): "What can you do? We had a good run going and then I ran over the trash bag. They gave us another shot, but that's not ideal. We came from the back of the pack last year. It's a long race and all kinds of things happen. My Verizon Chevy team will be ready on race day."

HELIO CASTRONEVES (No. 3 Pennzoil Team Penske Chevrolet): "In the end our Pennzoil Chevrolet had great balance but we didn't have the speed to get us on the front row. You don't need to be up front to win, thankfully. I'm looking forward to getting the Chevrolet where we need to be and focus on the race ahead."

BUDDY LAZIER (No. 4 Lazier/Burns Racing Chevrolet): "It feels awesome to be here. As a driver, you want to get the most out of your stuff. We're a small team and we've been getting better all the time. We just missed it a little there. We'll get it right; we're here to race next Sunday, that's the main thing."

JAMES HINCHCLIFFE (No. 5 Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda, 2016 Indianapolis 500 pole sitter): "I came into this month really hoping that we would have a new story to talk about after what happened last year (crash in practice) and I think we did it. I can't believe it. Honestly, I'm kind of at a loss for words which, as you know, is rare for me. But the Arrow Electronics car was just an absolute smoke show out there. It was right on the edge. (Lead engineer) Allen McDonald, all my engineers, did such a great job. Everybody at Schmidt Peterson Motorsports. Sam Schmidt, Ric Peterson. These guys worked so hard. Three Schmidt Peterson Motorsports cars in the top 10, it's incredible. Now we've got the best seat in the house for the start of the 100th Running of the Indianapolis 500." (What is like knowing you have a car to do it?): "It's crazy. Obviously, this race always has more pressure than anywhere else and, it being the 100th, there's a little more attention as well. Obviously, we've done something right as a team. It's a long race. Ten miles is one thing. You've got to hold your breath for that whole thing. But 500 is a very different deal. You've got to be patient. You've got to breathe. You've got to know when to push and when to relax. At least we've got a good starting spot, the best starting spot and we can kind of go from there." (About his parents): "A year ago, they came here for a very different reason. They were out of the country when I had my accident last year. I can't imagine what that plane trip must have been like for them. Mom moved in on May 1. She said she wasn't missing a single minute of on-track action just in case I tried to kill myself again and, luckily, that wasn't the case. We're here. These two have been everything in my life and my career. I couldn't have done any of it without them."

JR HILDEBRAND (No. 6 Preferred Freezer Fuzzy Vodka Chevrolet): "We went out when the conditions were pretty lousy. We knew that ahead of time so we wanted to make sure that we could get four good laps in and not be in a position where we're fast but having a tricky time putting laps together. You saw a lot of guys do that this morning and in qualifying today. We ended up 15th, which I think we're pretty pleased with. At this point, it's really about the race. Anywhere that we were going to qualify today within reason was going to put us in a position to win next Sunday. Now we use what time we have left on track to get dialed-in in race trim."

MAX CHILTON (No. 8 Gallagher Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet): "Yesterday I lost a little bit of confidence, but I was ready to go today in the Gallagher car. Just a phenomenal effort by the whole team to get another car prepared after the incident yesterday. We struggled a bit with the setup and I'm disappointed with the way qualifying ended up like this, but it's over now and we'll move forward. The team deserves all the credit for turning an entire car around in 12 hours and now we're in and the 500 is all that counts."

SCOTT DIXON (No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet, 2015 Verizon IndyCar Series champion): "We had an engine issue this morning and Team Target and the other CGR teams changed it all out and got us ready for qualifying in just over an hour. That is absolutely unheard of. This is truly why this is a team sport. I obviously didn't pick up a wrench today and they probably liked it that way, knowing my mechanical skills. INDYCAR would not have let us in qualifying if we didn't get the car ready in time and we would have started dead last. Given the situation and what we went through today as a team, I'm pleased."

[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"]TONY KANAAN (No. 10 NTT Data Chevrolet): "Of course, I'm disappointed with our run today. We've struggled all week finding speed, but we thought we had the car to a point after this morning's practice that we felt good about. It's just been frustrating when you know you can be faster, but it just doesn't come together. It is what is it is, though. We'll just need to put this behind us and refocus on our race car. I've said it before, but I started further back in the field when I won in 2013 so no one should be writing us off yet."

SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS (No. 11 Team Hydroxycut Chevrolet): "It was a solid qualifying run for the Hydroxycut – KVSH Racing Team. The only shame is that we were not geared up for the tailwind. We had a rescue plan for the wind which we used, but it definitely was not ideal for us. When you upshift twice and downshift twice a lap, it's about a tenth of a mile per hour that goes away per shift. It's a shame because we probably should have done a 228 (mph) flat if the conditions had been better. At least the laps were very consistent. Not quick enough, not where we want to be, but we did the best with what we had today and overall it was a good run.

WILL POWER (No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet): "Well, I just couldn't get the Verizon Chevy up to speed. We were wide open all of the way around. The conditions were a little harder, so we added some downforce and, unfortunately, it just wasn't fast enough. Despite that, I'm still proud of the Verizon Chevy team and very happy with the run and getting into the Fast Nine. It was fun to be there and now we're looking forward to the race."

TAKUMA SATO (No. 14 ABC Supply AJ Foyt Racing Honda): "The 14 ABC Supply crew did a fantastic job after having had difficult days this week and difficult qualifying runs for the sister cars. We were all nervous about it, especially with the gusty winds. We performed very similar to what we had this morning, which was fantastic so the engineers and crew did a perfect job and gave me a fast car, a very fast car, so I was very happy."

GRAHAM RAHAL (No. 15 Steak 'n Shake Honda): "I have been chasing it all week, particularly in qualifying trim. It's been frustrating obviously because the car has gone slower as the week has gone on and I'm not sure why that is. My race car is really good, this is just a qualifying-trim issue. We can't put our finger on it so we're going to have to go back and figure it out for next year. We wanted to qualify further up for the points. We're going to lose 30-plus points to the lead group in the championship, which is frustrating because we were fifth in the points coming into qualifying. This is going to hurt us pretty bad, but what can we do? We've got to focus on next Sunday and try to get another Rahal in Victory Lane along with Steak 'n Shake, PennGrade and all of our partners. We can win this thing. I started 29th and earned my best finish of third here. I've seen it all happen here. I'm not worried about the race."

SPENCER PIGOT (No. 16 RLL/Mi-Jack/Manitowoc Honda): "The car was definitely very comfortable today. I think we put a little bit more downforce on expecting it to be hot, windy and kind of difficult like it was this morning, but it turned out to maybe be just a little bit too much. It was comfortably flat the whole time but that's all right. The important thing is that we're going to be racing in the Indy 500 and the car is in one piece, so a big thank you to everyone at the team. I think we have a good race car and we will put in a lot of laps in the next couple of days of practice to try and fine tune it."

CONOR DALY (No. 18 ShirtsForAmerica Honda): "We've been struggling with the heat, as a group. It's a shame, some people are dealing with the heat better than us and making it work, but we didn't do it today so I'm disappointed. The conditions are unpredictable, the wind is so strong and it's sketchy. For us, to pad that, you add downforce and that takes away speed. We have to work on our setup tomorrow and make it better, but that's all right. I know our car is fast. We could do 228s yesterday but it just goes to show you that it's all in the conditions. This place is really challenging."

GABBY CHAVES (No. 19 Boy Scouts of America Honda): "I was a lot happier with the car balance today, we're just lacking a little bit of speed after yesterday. In trying to get back to the right setup, we gave up a little bit on speed, but at least we have the car balance where we want it. I'm pretty confident that we'll have a strong race car. I'm starting about nine positions better than I did last year and I was able to work my way into the top eight with only a few laps to go before suffering some damage to the car, so I expect to be able to overtake some cars, move my way forward and be there at the end. I'm just really happy to be here, and to have the opportunity to race in the 100th Running of the Indianapolis 500, I can't thank Dale Coyne Racing enough for giving me this chance."

ED CARPENTER (No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet): "I've got a great car. That's as well of handling car as when I had the pole here. It just doesn't want to go fast this week. We'll hope for a little more speed next week but the handling is certainly there, so I think we'll have what it takes to get to the front in the race. We'll have to pass more cars and be a little more aggressive than what I had anticipated earlier in the race."

JOSEF NEWGARDEN (No. 21 Preferred Freezer Chevrolet): "I got going up the gears; I went fifth, sixth on the frontstretch and it was just on the limiter and with this headwind normally you downshift on the backstretch. I was just holding six on the limiter all the way through Turn 2. I was like, 'What is going on, this thing's super quick!' It's the quickest the car's been all month. It was a good time to peak. This is the pinnacle; this is the greatest event that you can be a part of in racing so it's just cool to be here. I was so happy to see our speed on that first lap and I got really hopeful that it might be enough to hang on, but it wasn't. I'm happy for James (Hinchcliffe). It was a great run by them and Schmidt Peterson Motorsports has done a fantastic job. We lost the battle today but I'm hoping we can win next weekend."

SIMON PAGENAUD (No. 22 Menards Team Penske Chevrolet): "Well, we didn't do as well as we would've liked. It was a little difficult being the first car out, but we ended up eighth and we're happy with that. It's actually a pretty good starting spot. We came here to win the race and that obviously is still our focus. I couldn't be prouder of the whole Menards Chevrolet team. Everybody has worked so hard to give me a great car and I'm really excited for the race next week."

SAGE KARAM (No. 24 Gas Monkey Energy Chevrolet): "We just had too much downforce in the car today. The cloud cover definitely cooled off the track surface and we just didn't need that downforce. The car was so good yesterday that I thought we had a shot at 10th today. The track is changing every time you go out there. We thought we needed more downforce with the hotter track temperature and the temps down 10 degrees with the clouds. I wish we could have taken the wedges out of the car and put in some of the speed ramps. The weather was constantly changing and it just caught us out. The Gas Monkey Energy crew have been outstanding this week on setups for the race and I feel confident going into next Sunday. It's not all about today. It's about next Sunday. It would have made my job easier for the race if we could have qualified a bit better. It's been nine months for me since my last race. It's an incredible feeling to be back here at Indy. Anytime you are turning laps here it's still a magical feeling. I can't wait to back into Turn 1 with 32 other cars and make 200 laps again."

STEFAN WILSON (No. 25 Driven2SaveLives – KVRT Chevrolet): "Just really excited to be qualified for the Indy 500. It's great to be qualified in 30th position. Thank you so much to all of the guys on my team, they've spent some long hours at the track to get the car ready and to work on it over the week. I'm thankful to my team owners, Jimmy Vasser and Kevin Kalkhoven, for giving me this opportunity and, of course, my sponsors, Gap Guard, Driven2SaveLives – Indiana Donor Network, Innovative Solar and Premiere Glass and Mirror. Thank you to all of them for making it possible. Now we get to put the downforce back in and race setup to have a good race on Sunday."

CARLOS MUNOZ (No. 26 United Fiber & Data Honda): "Now that qualifying is finished, we are focused on the race. I expected a little bit better today. It wasn't the best run, we could've done better. These United Fiber & Data guys work really good – my mechanics, my engineers, everyone. For sure, it would've been nice to be on the front row for the race, but qualifying is what's nice for the show – the race is the most important thing. I think we have a good car for the race and now that's what we will focus on."

MARCO ANDRETTI (No. 27 Snapple Honda): "Qualifying without fifth gear is not easy. All I can say is I hope we are getting our (bad) luck out of the way before this race. I ride with my guys – we could start this race 33rd and I'm going in as confident as ever. Yeah, we could've been top nine or even pole contenders, but we've been up against it all week- a different problem every time we come out. But we're ready to battle and the way I look at it is like having a bad first pit stop in the race, even if you're on pole. We just have to keep battling. We're looking to do what (Juan Pablo) Montoya did last year and Ryan (Hunter-Reay) did the year before that. That's the goal."

RYAN HUNTER-REAY (No. 28 DHL Honda): "We left all we had in the DHL Honda on track today – it was on rails. Perfect qualifying run, just came up short. We have a great car – the crew has done a tremendous job putting together an incredible car. It's great to start on the front row of the 100th Running of the Indy 500."

TOWNSEND BELL (No. 29 California Pizza Kitchen/Robert Graham Honda): "It was great to get back out for qualifying today – it's the 100th Running of the Indy 500 and I had a shot at the pole, maybe even the front row. I'm a little bummed we're not up there but we have a fast car. Our last practice run this morning, I about left the car in the dumpster. It was as close as it can possibly get here and to still drive away, I was really lucky. The California Pizza Kitchen/Robert Graham car is one of the best I've ever had here. It's not just the car, though, it's the team, the approach. Working with (engineer) Craig Hampson has just been terrific and he has given me a great car along with the whole Andretti Autosport and Honda crews."

ALEX TAGLIANI (No. 35 Alfe Heat Treating Special Honda): (About his crash before taking the green flag for qualifying): "It really caught me off guard because it really happened late into the corner, like almost at the exit of Turn 4. I was really almost at the straightaway and that's why I got caught because normally when I get loose early on, I have a chance to catch it. It's really unfortunate. We've been struggling a little with the setup and we just need to regroup and hopefully get it back and try to forget about this one and have a good race for the team and the sponsor. I thought I was going to catch it. Honestly, you always think that as the driver but, unfortunately, this time I didn't. Honestly, when I felt it go I thought, 'OK, I'm going to come out of that one and the next lap will be a better one.' But I never could recover. The wiggle was too much and we lost the rear and it was too late."

JACK HAWKSWORTH (No. 41 ABC Supply AJ Foyt Racing Honda): "The conditions were hotter than expected so the tires fell off. Like yesterday, we had consistent 225 mph speeds, but the rear tires fell off. I kept getting more loose throughout the run. The speed is still not there. We're still struggling for outright speed and, in the end of the run, the tires fell off and we were not quick enough. The tire degradation was the biggest problem and what made the cookie crumble."

CHARLIE KIMBALL (No. 42 Tresiba Chevrolet): "We made some big changes to the car overnight and it was much better this morning in practice. The No. 42 Tresiba Chevrolet was a little less reactive to the conditions, which was nice because we fought the wind quite a lot yesterday. That's the great thing about Chip Ganassi Racing – you get a lot of data to learn from, especially with guys as good as TK (Tony Kanaan) and (Scott) Dixon. Overall, regardless of how today went, we have a really good race car. We'll work on the race setup tomorrow and Friday and just keep with the mentality that it's not where you start, it's where you finish."

MATT BRABHAM (No. 61 PIRTEK Team Murray Chevrolet): "It was pretty solid out there today, it was nice to lay down another four clean laps. The weather was quite different to yesterday. It was a lot hotter and a bit more windy out there. The laps were good, the car felt great and there were no big moments, so it was all really well-controlled. The focus now switches to getting the race car ready. We've got a lot of things to sort out to get the car good for dicing with everyone else in traffic. The PIRTEK Team Murray crew are on it and will be busy over the next few days getting ready for the race."

PIPPA MANN: (No. 63 Susan G. Komen Honda): "It feels fantastic. Yesterday was so tough for the entire Dale Coyne Racing team and those guys stayed so late last night, they worked so hard, then to have the issues this morning as well in morning warmup, those were the first laps I turned at speed since I was backwards yesterday. Relief, happy, thrilled. We've had such a great race car all week, that in different circumstances, we've had liked to have gone faster, but for today I'm just so happy we got that taken care of and we can now get to working on our race car."

Oriol Servia
Oriol Servia

ORIOL SERVIA (No. 77 Lucas Oil Special Honda): "It really was a tough one. These windy and heat conditions make it tough. Drivers, for sure, but especially the engineers to find the right balance. We struggled yesterday. We have a very fast car, but we just couldn't balance it for four laps. This morning, we put more downforce in it and we still couldn't balance it. We couldn't put four laps together. They were scratching their heads (and made some changes) and it worked. I had a fantastic car for four laps. It was very consistent. I'm happy. There's no choice, You put it all out there. It's a matter as if the car can handle it or not, because you're not going to back off. That's why I'm so happy they did a good job and gave me a great car."

BRYAN CLAUSON (No. 88 Cancer Treatment Centers of America Honda): "It's been a lot of fun, it's great to be back here at the speedway. It's also been great working with our Johnathan Byrd's/Dale Coyne Racing team and to get back into the groove. We have a good group, we're just trying to plug away and trying to get laps and we seem to be getting better and better each time out. I can't really ask for more."

ALEXANDER ROSSI (No. 98 NAPA Auto Parts/Curb Honda): "Eleventh was one away from what we could've hoped for after yesterday, so we'll take it. It's pretty clear that the Andretti cars are pretty strong, including the NAPA Auto Parts/Curb car. We'll keep working away these next few days and do the best that we can to be as prepared as possible for race day."

Lineup

Rank No Name Speed Lap 1 Lap 2 Lap 3 Lap 4 Engine Team
1 5 James Hinchcliffe 230.760 230.885 230.940 230.765 230.450 Honda Schmidt Peterson Motorsports
2 21 Josef Newgarden 230.700 231.551 230.706 230.320 230.227 Chevy Ed Carpenter Racing
3 28 Ryan Hunter-Reay 230.648 230.595 230.858 230.738 230.401 Honda Andretti Autosport
4 29 Townsend Bell 230.481 230.234 230.269 230.649 230.774 Honda Andretti Autosport
5 26 Carlos Munoz 230.287 230.135 230.200 230.462 230.353 Honda Andretti Autosport
6 12 Will Power 229.669 230.081 229.568 229.517 229.512 Chevy Team Penske
7 7 Mikhail Aleshin 229.562 230.003 229.262 229.331 229.653 Honda Schmidt Peterson Motorsports
8 22 Simon Pagenaud 229.139 229.649 229.315 229.000 228.597 Chevy Team Penske
9 3 Helio Castroneves 229.115 229.690 229.415 228.802 228.556 Chevy Team Penske
10 77 Oriol Servia 229.060 229.069 229.124 229.163 228.885 Honda Schmidt Peterson Motorsports with Marotti Racing
11 98 Alexander Rossi 228.473 227.498 228.546 228.930 228.923 Honda Andretti Herta Autosport with Curb-Agajanian
12 14 Takuma Sato 228.029 228.636 228.000 227.812 227.671 Honda AJ Foyt Enterprises
13 9 Scott Dixon 227.991 228.607 228.204 227.785 227.373 Chevy Chip Ganassi Racing Teams
14 27 Marco Andretti 227.969 229.150 228.395 227.897 226.451 Honda Andretti Autosport
15 6 JR Hildebrand 227.876 228.289 228.000 227.569 227.646 Chevy Ed Carpenter Racing
16 42 Charlie Kimball 227.822 228.190 228.024 227.715 227.362 Chevy Chip Ganassi Racing Teams
17 2 Juan Pablo Montoya 227.684 228.328 227.862 227.559 226.989 Chevy Team Penske
18 10 Tony Kanaan 227.430 228.208 227.415 227.156 226.945 Chevy Chip Ganassi Racing Teams
19 11 Sebastien Bourdais 227.428 227.478 227.403 227.474 227.357 Chevy KVSH Racing
20 20 Ed Carpenter 227.226 227.588 227.102 227.266 226.949 Chevy Ed Carpenter Racing
21 19 Gabby Chaves 227.192 227.407 227.417 226.683 227.261 Honda Dale Coyne Racing
22 8T Max Chilton 226.686 227.307 226.787 226.555 226.099 Chevy Chip Ganassi Racing Teams
23 24 Sage Karam 226.436 227.038 226.076 226.390 226.243 Chevy Dreyer & Reinbold-Kingdom Racing
24 18 Conor Daly 226.312 226.749 226.840 226.232 225.434 Honda Dale Coyne Racing
25 63 Pippa Mann 226.006 226.469 226.126 225.808 225.623 Honda Dale Coyne Racing
26 15 Graham Rahal 225.847 226.490 225.962 225.984 224.956 Honda Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
27 61 Matt Brabham 225.727 225.381 225.918 225.742 225.868 Chevy PIRTEK Team Murray
28 88 Bryan Clauson 225.266 226.126 225.765 224.852 224.330 Honda Dale Coyne Racing
29 16 Spencer Pigot 224.847 224.277 224.384 225.035 225.699 Honda Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
30 25 Stefan Wilson 224.602 224.769 224.676 224.460 224.504 Chevy KV Racing Technology
31 41 Jack Hawksworth 224.596 225.567 225.159 224.985 222.695 Honda AJ Foyt Enterprises
32 4 Buddy Lazier 222.154 224.956 222.380 221.851 219.496 Chevy Lazier Partners Racing
33 35 Alex Tagliani No Time No Time No Time No Time No Time Honda AJ Foyt Enterprises

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