• Scott Dixon, Alex Palou will start one-two with Honda power
  • Dixon records second-fastest qualifying run in Indianapolis 500 history
  • Third consecutive Indy 500 pole for Honda, two-in-a-row for Dixon

SPEEDWAY, Ind. (May 22, 2022) – For the fifth time in his incredible career, Scott Dixon will lead the field to green at the Indianapolis 500. The 2008 Indy 500 winner and six-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion claimed pole in an electric Firestone Fast Six final qualifying run Sunday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway with a four-lap average speed of 234.046 mph, the fasted pole speed – and second-fastest qualifying run – in Indianapolis 500 history.

2022-Indy500-Quals

Dixon will line up on the front row alongside his Chip Ganassi Racing teammate, defending series champion Alex Palou.  Two other Ganassi Honda drivers – Marcus Ericsson and veteran Tony Kanaan – will start fifth and sixth, respectively.

2022-Indy500-Ganassi

Honda’s HI22TT V-6 Indy car engine powered four of the six qualifiers in today’s “Fast Six” qualifying round session, as well as seven of the top 12 qualifiers who advanced out of yesterday’s first-round qualifying.

The other Honda drivers to advance out of first-round qualifying included Romain Grosjean, who will start ninth; two-time Indy winner Takuma Sato, who will start 10th; and seven-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson, who will start his first ‘500’ from 12th.

Honda Drivers and Teams in the 2022 Indianapolis 500

  •   1st Scott Dixon-W                    Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
  •   2nd Alex Palou                         Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
  •   5th Marcus Ericsson                Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
  •   6th Tony Kanaan-W                  Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
  •   9th Romain Grosjean-R             Andretti Autosport Honda
  • 10th Takuma Sato-W                 Dale Coyne Racing with RWR Honda
  • 12th Jimmie Johnson-R              Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
  • 13th David Malukas-R                Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Honda
  • 16th Simon Pagenaud-W            Meyer Shank Racing Honda
  • 20th Alexander Rossi-W             Andretti Autosport Honda
  • 21st Graham Rahal                    Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda
  • 23rd Marco Andretti   Andretti Autosport Honda
  • 24th Devlin DeFrancesco-R        Andretti Autosport Honda
  • 25th Colton Herta      Andretti Autosport Honda
  • 27th Helio Castroneves-W          Meyer Shank Racing Honda
  • 31st Christian Lundegaard-R      Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda   
  • 32nd Jack Harvey                      Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda    

W - Indianapolis 500 race winner

R - Indianapolis 500 rookie

Quotes

Scott Dixon (Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) Pole qualifier, his fifth Indianapolis 500 pole; second only to Rick Mears with six Indy poles: “That’s what this place is all about, it’s so amazing.  The ups and downs you can have just in one day are crazy.  A massive ‘thank you’ to all the fans, it’s so good to see everyone in the grandstands.  Thank you so much to the #9 team and Honda, they brought it today.  To get all five of our [Chip Ganassi Racing] cars into the Top 12, and then four into the Fast Six, I hope [team owner] Chip [Ganassi] has got a smile on his face!  Hard work and people, that’s what it takes.  I’m one of the lucky guys that gets to drive, but the amount of effort from everyone back at the shop; and though HPD and Honda, the speed that they bring; and all my teammates; it takes everyone.  But this is only stage one, it won’t mean anything come next Sunday.  We’re starting in the right spot, and we’ll definitely be trying to keep it on the right spot come race day.”

Alex Palou (Chip Ganassi Honda) Will start his third Indianapolis 500 from the middle of the first row: “Super happy to be starting on the front row, that’s a first for me at Indianapolis.  The entire Chip Ganassi team did an amazing job and Honda is starting 1-2 with Scott Dixon and me.  So, really happy about that and hope we can take one of our cars to Victory Lane next Sunday!”

Kelvin Fu (Vice President, Honda Performance Development) on Honda’s 15th Indianapolis 500 pole: “This is Honda’s third consecutive pole for the ‘500’ and two in a row with Scott Dixon.  The team at HPD did a great job dealing with the new [qualifying] format, and the sheer bravery of the whole Ganassi lineup in all of their qualifying runs was absolutely amazing.  It’s been a tough start of the season for us, but this is a validation of all the hard work going on at HPD and our partner teams.  They came through today, on the biggest stage in our sport.  There’s still next week, and we’ve got a race to win.  We’ll enjoy the moment tonight, but then it’s back to work for next weekend’s 500.”

Where to Watch Sunday’s 106th Running of the Indianapolis 500

Live NBC network coverage of the 106th running of the Indianapolis 500 begins at 11 a.m. EDT, with the green flag to start Sunday’s 200-lap contest at 12:45 p.m. EDT.  Live streaming will also be available on NBC Peacock.