Chip Ganassi Racing Indianapolis Qualifying Day 1

All Four Chip Ganassi Racing Hondas to Fight for Indianapolis 500 Pole

All four Chip Ganassi Racing Hondas advanced to fight for the pole by finishing among the top-12 fastest four-lap average speeds at the first day of Qualifying today. CGR is now guaranteed to have all of their cars roll off in the top-12 at the Indianapolis 500 for the third consecutive year. 

Alex Palou registered a four-lap average speed of 233.398 mph, the best among the Ganassi stable and the 3rd-fastest across the field. Scott Dixon (233.375 mph) piloted the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda to the fifth-best position on the day, while Takuma Sato (233.322) ranked seventh and Marcus Ericsson (233.030 mph) finished 10th. 

Scott Dixon will be looking to capture pole position for the third consecutive year, something no driver has ever done in Indianapolis 500 history. With another pole, Dixon would also tie Rick Mears for the most (6) in race history.

Alex Palou, Takuma Sato and Marcus Ericsson will be in search of their first career pole at this historic race. A pole position on Sunday would be the seventh all-time for Chip Ganassi Racing.

Top-12 Qualifying will run from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. ET Sunday, May 21, followed by the Firestone Fast 6 and Last Chance Qualifying from 4:00 p.m. ET. Coverage will once again be available on both NBC and Peacock.

Alex Palou
No. 10 American Legion Honda
“It was a good day. It was tough for the crew, making some changes late to the car. But the speed today was really good. We were a bit worried about the draw that we had. The field is really tight and starting 20th wasn’t ideal. But honestly, it was really good. We qualified third and we’re in the Fast 12. It was the target for today and hopefully we can make a couple of changes and be ready to fight for the Fast 6.”

Scott Dixon
No. 9 PNC Bank Honda“It was an interesting day. The first run was somewhat decent. I made a few mistakes so it was nice to get back out and run again. We made a very good gain then. The car was very nice to drive and we definitely left some on the table still. I really wanted to run that last one. I think we could have seen some big speeds.

Takuma Sato
No. 11 Deloitte Honda
“It was an exciting Qualifying, but a tough one really. It was quite challenging conditions and we slid on the last lap of the very first attempt. We went back and improved, which was great teamwork. All cars are in the top-12, which is the most important thing. We’ll look at the data tonight and we will be challenging tomorrow 100 percent.”

Marcus Ericsson
No. 8 Huski Ice Spritz Honda
“As usual, a pretty stressful day. Our first two attempts were okay, but not perfect and with the competitiveness of the field, you need to be as close to perfect as possible. The 8 car Huski Ice Spritz Honda crew did a really good job to get the car in the window. The last attempt was really solid and I expect the same for tomorrow. It’s a new day tomorrow where all four Ganassi cars will be out there, which is impressive. It shows the strength of this organization.”