Dixon, Honda Fastest in First Round Qualifying for Indianapolis 500

• All 17 Honda-powered entries make the field on day one of qualifications
• Honda drivers claim seven of nine slots for tomorrow’s pole shootout
• Three of five Honda teams qualify for Sunday’s fast-nine shootout

SPEEDWAY, Ind. (May 22, 2021) – All 17 Honda-powered NTT INDYCAR SERIES entries made the field for the 105^th running of the Indianapolis 500 on the first day of qualifications for the Greatest Spectacle in Racing.

Led by six-time series champion and 2008 ‘500’ winner, Scott Dixon, Honda power propelled seven cars into tomorrow’s fast-nine shootout, including his three Chip Ganassi Racing teammates: Tony Kanaan (third), Alex Palou (seventh) and Marcus Ericsson (ninth). However, Palou’s team will have to rebuild his #10 NTT DATA-backed machine overnight after a crash – following his initial qualifying run –  to ensure the young Spaniard is ready for tomorrow’s Top Nine shootout.  

The Ganassi cars will be joined in the dash for pole position by Andretti Autosport’s Colton Herta and Ryan Hunter-Reay, as well as Meyer Shank Racing’s Helio Castroneves.

Indianapolis 500 Honda First Round Qualifying Results

•   1^st  Scott Dixon-W                  Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
•   2^nd  Colton Herta                  Andretti Autosport Honda
•   3^rd  Tony Kanaan-W               Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
•   6^th  Helio Castroneves-W      Meyer Shank Racing Honda
•   7^th  Alex Palou                                   Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
•   8^th  Ryan Hunter-Reay-W       Andretti Autosport Honda
•   9^th  Marcus Ericsson               Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
• 10^th  Alexander Rossi-W                      Andretti Autosport Honda
• 11^th  Ed Jones                          Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan Honda
• 13^th  Pietro Fittipaldi-R             Dale Coyne Racing with RWR Honda
• 15^th  Takuma Sato-W               Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda
• 16^th  James Hinchcliffe            Andretti Autosport Honda
• 18^th  Graham Rahal                 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda
• 20^th Jack Harvey                     Meyer Shank Racing Honda
• 23^rd  Santino Ferrucci              Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda
• 25^th  Marco Andretti               Andretti Autosport Honda
• 28^rd  Stefan Wilson                   Andretti Autosport Honda

W – Previous Indianapolis 500 race winner

R – Indianapolis 500 rookie

Quotes

Scott Dixon (Chip Ganassi Honda) Fastest in Indianapolis 500 first-round qualifying: “Man, you forget how stressful this [qualifying] is! You start to shake a bit. That’s the first time I’ve ever gone first [in line for qualifying, determined by a draw], but huge credit to everyone at Honda and on the PNC Bank car. Our goal today was just to get into the ‘Fast Nine’ [second-round qualifying to determine the pole and first three rows of the 33-car starting field].  It’s great that our initial time held, and I feel confident we’re in good shape for [final qualifying] tomorrow, and always proud to be powered by Honda.”

Helio Castroneves (Meyer Shank Racing Honda) Three-time ‘500’ winner, posted sixth-fastest speed in first-round to qualify for Sunday’s Fast Nine shootout: “The AutoNation / SiriusXM Honda was very solid. Qualifying went exactly how we practiced it yesterday – we were actually a bit quicker than we anticipated, which was perfect. Our goal was to get in the top nine so that we could have a shot at pole tomorrow and we did that. Tomorrow is a different day and we’ll work to find some more speed overnight and be back at it for qualifying tomorrow.”

Fast Facts

• Honda has won more Indianapolis 500 races than any major automaker: 13 victories from 20 races – a win ratio of 65% – since the company entered the INDYCAR competition in 1994.

• Honda has had more race starts at the Indianapolis 500 than any other auto manufacturer: 388 starts

• Honda has completed more race laps at the Indianapolis 500 than any other carmaker: 67,789 laps

Where to Watch Sunday’s Indianapolis 500 Final Qualifying

Live television coverage Sunday’s final qualifying for the 105^th running of the Indianapolis 500 starts at 11 a.m. ET with practice on NBC Peacock.  Last Chance qualifying will be broadcast on NBCSN at 1 p.m. ET; followed by Fast Nine coverage on NBC beginning at 2:30 p.m. 

Honda Racing social media content and video links from Indianapolis can be found on Instagram (www.instagram.com/hondaracing_hpd), Twitter (twitter.com/HondaRacing_HPD) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/HondaRacingHPD).  Additional features and long-form videos can be found on the Honda Racing/HPD YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/HondaRacingHPDTV).