Honda Starts Strong in Chase for 13th Indianapolis 500 Victory

• Front-row qualifying sweep for Honda sets stage for exciting “500”
• Honda lineup includes four former winners; 11 of 12 fastest qualifiers
• Victory on Sunday would be the 13^th for Honda since 2003

SPEEDWAY, Ind. (August 18, 2020) – A powerful qualifying performance from Honda teams and drivers has set the stage for an exciting 104^th running of the Indianapolis 500 as the manufacturer seeks its 13^th victory at the famed “Brickyard” on Sunday.

            Led by pole qualifier Marco Andretti, Honda drivers swept the front row in qualifying, and claimed 11 of the top-12 starting positions.  Andretti’s pole was the 11^th for Honda on the famed 2.5-mile oval, and the first Indy pole for the third-generation racer from the “first family” of American motorsports. 

            “Honda has a long history of success at Indianapolis, and everyone at Honda Performance Development has played an important role in our 12 previous wins,” said Ted Klaus, HPD president.  “Qualifying was a great success, and we were thrilled to have the pole and an all-Honda front row. Everyone at HPD worked hard through the off-season with our partner teams to improve our overall performance.  We all know that the race on Sunday is going to be a battle, and that’s why it will be fascinating and fun to watch.

            “Honda’s commitment to innovation through motorsports, remains just as strong today as when the company was founded in 1946. We’re proud of Honda’s success at Indianapolis, and our long history of participation in this great race.  We are looking forward to an exciting 500 miles, and to finishing in Victory Circle for the 13^th time!”

            Two former “500” winners – Scott Dixon and Takuma Sato – fill out the first of the 11 rows of three that make up the field, and will start second and third, respectively.  Dixon is the current championship points leader with three previous wins this season, while Sato is Honda’s most recent “500” winner, from 2017.

            Another Honda-powered former race winner, Ryan Hunter-Reay, will start fifth, with former pole qualifier James Hinchcliffe alongside in sixth.  Hunter-Reay was victorious at Indy in 2014; while Hinchcliffe returned from serious injuries in 2015 to claim the pole in 2016.

            The third row is also all-Honda, led by promising rookie Alex Palou in seventh, Graham Rahal in eighth and 2016 winner Alexander Rossi, ninth.  Continuing the Honda-dominated top half of the field, Colton Herta will start from the inside of the fourth row, 10^th; with Marcus Ericsson 11^th and returning Honda racer Spencer Pigot filling out the row in 12^th.

            The remainder of the 15-driver Honda field at Indianapolis include 14^th-starting Felix Rosenqvist; Zach Veach, who will start 17^th; Santino Ferrucci and Jack Harvey, who will start 19^th and 30^th, respectively; and James Davison, who qualified 27^th.

Honda is the most successful major car manufacturer at the Indy 500, winning more races, having more starts and completing more laps than any other major automaker in the 103 previous editions of the event. Since 1994, Honda has taken part in 19 Indianapolis 500 races, and powered 12 race winners at The Brickyard.

During 26 years of IndyCar competition, Honda has won 14 Manufacturers’ Championships, with Honda drivers winning 249 races and 16 series championships – a record unmatched by any other car company since Honda entered Indy car competition in 1994.

Honda’s Indianapolis 500 Highlights:

• Honda has won more Indianapolis 500 races than any major automaker: 12 victories from 19 races; or a win ratio of 63%

• Honda has had more race starts at the Indianapolis 500 than any other auto manufacturer: 372 starts

• Honda has completed more race laps at the Indianapolis 500 than any other carmaker: 65,103 laps

2020 Indianapolis 500 Starting Field:

Ps.	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Speed
1.	Marco Andretti	Andretti Herta Autosport	Honda	231.068
2.	Scott Dixon-W	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda	231.051
3.	Takuma Sato-W	Rahal Letterman Lanigan	Honda	230.725
4.	Rinus VeeKay-R	Ed Carpenter Racing	Chevrolet	230.704
5.	Ryan Hunter-Reay-W	Andretti Autosport	Honda	230.648
6.	James Hinchcliffe	Andretti Autosport	Honda	229.870
7.	Alex Palou-R	DCR with Team Goh	Honda	229.676
8.	Graham Rahal	Rahal Letterman Lanigan	Honda	229.380
9.	Alexander Rossi-W	Andretti Autosport	Honda	229.234
10.	Colton Herta	Andretti Harding Autosport	Honda	230.775
11.	Marcus Ericsson	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda	230.763
12.	Spencer Pigot	RLL with Citrone/Buhl Autosport	Honda	230.539
13.	Josef Newgarden	Team Penske	Chevrolet	230.296
14.	Felix Rosenqvist	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda	230.254
15.	Pato O’Ward-R	Arrow McLaren SP	Chevrolet	230.213
16.	Ed Carpenter	Ed Carpenter Racing	Chevrolet	230.211
17.	Zach Veach	Andretti Autosport	Honda	229.961
18.	Conor Daly	Ed Carpenter Racing	Chevrolet	229.955
19.	Santino Ferrucci	DCR with Vasser-Sullivan	Honda	229.924
20.	Jack Harvey	Meyer Shank Racing	Honda	229.861
21.	Oliver Askew-R	Arrow McLaren SP	Chevrolet	229.760
22.	Will Power-W	Team Penske	Chevrolet	229.701
23.	Tony Kanaan-W	A.J. Foyt Enterprises	Chevrolet	229.154
24.	Dalton Kellett-R	A.J. Foyt Enterprises	Chevrolet	228.880
25.	Simon Pagenaud	Team Penske	Chevrolet	228.836
26.	Fernando Alonso	Arrow McLaren SP	Chevrolet	228.768
27.	James Davison	DCR with Ware/Byrd/Belardi	Honda	228.747
28.	Helio Castroneves-W	Team Penske	Chevrolet	228.373
29.	Charlie Kimball	A.J. Foyt Enterprises	Chevrolet	227.758
30.	Sage Karam	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	Chevrolet	227.099
31.	JR Hildebrand	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	Chevrolet	226.341
32.	Max Chilton	Carlin Racing	Chevrolet	225.819
33.	Ben Hanley	Dragon Speed Racing	Chevrolet	220.946

W – Previous Indianapolis 500 winner

R – Indianapolis 500 rookie