Honda First Round Indianapolis 500 Qualifying Report

#28: Romain Grosjean, Andretti Autosport Honda
#48: Jimmie Johnson, Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
#10: Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing Honda

Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing lead Honda Effort In First Round Indianapolis 500 Qualifying

  • Chip Ganassi Racing places all five drivers in top 12
  • Honda drivers claim seven of 12 slots for tomorrow’s pole shootout
  • Three of five Honda teams qualify for Sunday’s fast-12 shootout

SPEEDWAY, Ind. (May 21, 2022) – Led by defending series champion Alex Palou, all five Chip Ganassi Racing Honda entries – and seven Honda drivers from three teams – advanced through first-round qualifying today at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for next weekend’s 106th running of the Indianapolis 500.

Led by Palou in fourth, those advancing to the final two qualifying rounds on Sunday include his Ganassi teammates Tony Kanaan (5th), Jimmie Johnson (6th), Marcus Ericsson (8th) and Scott Dixon (10th). Other Honda drivers to advance included Andretti Autosport’s Romain Grosjean, 9th; and Takuma Sato, who rounded out the top-12 for Dale Coyne Racing with RWR.

Indianapolis 500 Honda First Round Qualifying Results

  • 4th Alex Palou Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
  • 5th Tony Kanaan-W Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
  • 6th Jimmie Johnson-R Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
  • 8th Marcus Ericsson Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
  • 9th Romain Grosjean-R Andretti Autosport Honda
  • 10th Scott Dixon-W Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
  • 12th Takuma Sato-W Dale Coyne Racing with RWR Honda
  • 13th David Malukas-R Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Honda
  • 17th Simon Pagenaud-W Meyer Shank Racing Honda
  • 21st Alexander Rossi-W Andretti Autosport Honda
  • 22nd 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
  • 26th Helio Castroneves-W Meyer Shank Racing Honda
  • 30th Christian Lundegaard-R Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda
  • 31st Jack Harvey Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda
  • W – Indianapolis 500 race winner
  • R – Indianapolis 500 rookie

Quotes

Alex Palou (Chip Ganassi Honda) Fourth-fastest in Indianapolis 500 first-round qualifying: “I’m super happy with our qualifying run [fourth]. The car was really fast, although it was really busy in the cockpit [constantly adjust cockpit controls to alter the handling]. That’s because we had no real running yesterday [Friday, due to high, gusting winds], but still really happy with our car, and with having all five Chip Ganassi Racing Hondas in the top 12 for tomorrow”

Jimmie Johnson (Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) Seven-time NASCAR champion ran sixth in first-round qualifying: “What an awesome day here in Indy. Not only for the four laps [qualifying] on track, which were amazing, but in the quiet moments I had before my run. I was able to look around and take in the moment. What a special moment it was. I’m so lucky to be here, and things are looking pretty good [for Sunday’s final qualifying].

Fast Facts

Honda has won more Indianapolis 500 races than any major automaker: 14 victories from 21 races – a win ratio of 66%since the company entered the INDYCAR competition in 1994.

Honda first won the ‘500’ in the manufacturer’s fourth attempt, when Buddy Rice piloted his Rahal Letterman Racing Honda to victory in 2004.

Other Honda-powered Indy winners include Dan Wheldon in 2005 and 2011, Sam Hornish Jr. (2006), Dario Franchitti (2007, 2010 and 2012), Scott Dixon (2008), Helio Castroneves (2009 and 2021), Ryan Hunter-Reay (2014), Alexander Rossi (2016), and Takuma Sato in 2017 and ’20.

Honda has had more race starts at the Indianapolis 500 than any other auto manufacturer: 405 starts. Honda drivers also have completed more race laps at the Indianapolis 500 than any other carmaker: 70,935 laps.

Where to Watch Sunday’s Indianapolis 500 Final Qualifying

Live television coverage Sunday’s final qualifying for the 105th running of the Indianapolis 500 starts at 12:30 p.m. ET with practice on NBC Peacock. The two rounds of final qualifying will be broadcast on NBC at 4 p.m. ET.

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).