Marco Andretti has won the pole for the Indianapolis 500 in a lightning fast first step after snapping up the infamous “Andretti Curse” at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Andretti recorded a four-lap average of 231,068 mph in Sunday’s qualifier, and an Andretti will now lead the field to green for the first time in 33 years. Mario Andretti won his third and final pole for the Indy 500 in 1987, when grandson Marco was a child.
When his grandfather examined the conditions before Sunday’s qualification, noting that the wind had picked up from a day earlier when Marco Andretti was the fastest in the field, he recalled advice Mario Andretti had long shared with the racing family.
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“He said, ‘The wind will scare you, but it will never crash you,'” Marco Andretti said, tears in his eyes and his hands shaking too short.
The third-generation driver was greeted by his Andretti Autosport teammates, and then shared a strong embrace with his father, Michael, the team owner. Mario Andretti won the only Indy 500 win for the family in 1969; Michael Andretti fell short in 16 threads and the August 23 race will be Marco Andretti’s 15th attempt.
“Fantastic. It was unbelievable,” said Michael Andretti. “He did not take his foot off the gas.”
Andretti Autosport had claimed four positions in Sunday’s quick nine shootout setting the first three rows for the Indy 500. But teammates James Hinchcliffe, Alexander Rossi and Ryan Hunter-Reay did not have the same speed as they did Saturday, and Michael Andretti fears his team would be shut down from the front row.
Scott Dixon placed an average of four laps of 231,051 mph to take over the top spot and held it until Marco Andretti finished last. His first two rounds blew and he said he really started to feel the wind on the second round. Andretti kept it open and driven for an enormous achievement for the Andretti family.
‘He deserves it. I know what this place means to his family and especially to him, ”said Dixon. ‘He did a good job, even under this pressure to work it out. If anyone did it, I did hope it was Marco. “
Almost every driver in the field made their way to pit lane to congratulate Andretti, who, like his father, haunts Indianapolis. Marco Andretti never finished higher than third in the race. His father, who never won a pole, finished second in 1991.
“An Andretti on the pole at Indianapolis – sorry we can not explode the crowd,” said teammate Hunter-Reay. The 104th Indy 500 will be the first in racing history without spectators, as the coronavirus pandemic forced new track owner Roger Penske to close the gates to the public.
Andretti will sit in the front row alongside two previous Indy 500 winners. Dixon of Chip Ganassi Racing qualified second and Takuma Sato finished third for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.
Rinus VeeKay, a 19-year-old rookie for Ed Carpenter Racing, finished fourth and the only Chevrolet driver in the top nine. Hunter-Reay and Hinchcliffe filled the second row.
Alex Palou, a rookie for Dale Coyne Racing, finished seventh and will start alongside Graham Rahal and Alexander Rossi.
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