INDIANAPOLIS – Marco Andretti delivered when it mattered most and the reward for the third-generation racer was the pole for the 104th Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
With steady winds creating a strong tailwind in turn one and a headwind in turn three, Andretti was able to turn the fastest four-lap average in Sunday’s Fast Nine Shootout to win his first Indianapolis 500 pole.
It’s also the first Indianapolis 500 pole for a driver named Andretti since his grandfather, Mario Andretti, claimed the pole in 1987. Marco Andretti’s father and team owner, Michael Andretti, never won the pole for the Indianapolis 500 during his driving career.
Marco Andretti was also the fastest driver during Saturday’s qualifications. That was impressive in itself because he ran his four-lap effort during the hottest part of the day.
The order for Fast Nine qualifying on Sunday was inverted based on the qualifying speeds from Saturday’s qualifying results. As the fastest driver on Saturday, Marco Andretti was the last driver to make an attempt Sunday.
He knocked Scott Dixon off the pole with a four-lap average of 231.068 mph in the No. 98 US Concrete Honda.
It sent off a wild celebration from his rival competitors, many who remain friends with Marco Andretti and have seen him endure criticism for his lack of production over his career.
The Team Penske garage erupted in joy as all four of its drivers watched Marco Andretti’s effort on television in Gasoline Alley. Even Dixon, the man he bumped off the pole, was happy to see his friend finally achieve a major result.
Before practice our guys were watching #Indy500 qualifying.
Needless to say they were pretty excited for @MarcoAndretti! #INDYCAR pic.twitter.com/kxqqoJiENe
— Team Penske (@Team_Penske) August 16, 2020
“I just know him as Marco my friend,” Dixon said. “He’s a great person. Everybody included, his family, is.
“I’m not sure why. I think it’s hard when you drive for a team that’s owned by your dad. Graham Rahal gets some flack sometimes. These are extremely talented guys.
“For me it was just really, one, hard because we didn’t win the pole. If anybody out of that list, honestly Marco was the guy I was hoping for because I think he deserved it. That’s a hard situation to go into, especially being last up and everything is on the line.
“We threw up a decent number. It wasn’t going to be easy to beat. That’s definitely going to help Marco in a lot of ways throughout the season as well, maybe beyond. We just hope he doesn’t get too confident for next weekend.”
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