Photo by Kyle McInnes

Scott Dixon won the pole for the 106th running of the Indianapolis 500 with a record pole four lap average of 234.046 mph. It is Dixon’s fifth pole at IMS and second consecutive start at the head of the grid. Those are the facts of this story, but this pole elevates Dixon onto an even higher plane of the Indycar record book than he already occupied.

Dixon now is in second place in three categories, just one away from tying three different legends of the sport. His six championships are one short of A. J. Foyt’s seven titles. He has won 51 races, one less than Mario Andretti, who is in second place on the all- time career list. As of 5:30 pm today Dixon is one Indianapolis 500 pole behind Rick Mears.

We witness greatness every time Dixon takes to the track. I feel privileged to have watched Foyt, Andretti, Mears, and now Dixon.

Quick Thoughts on the Day

The two round format was okay, but i thought the round of twelve took some of the starch out of the Fast Six. I would prefer a return to the Fast Nine.

A better format if the Fast twelve is retained and television windows are available would be an earlier practice, round one around midday, and the final six at 4 pm. Spacing out the sessions would give the engines the needed cooling time.

Going last in the Fast Six continues to be an advantage. The driver knows exactly what he needs to be on the pole.

I was happy to see speed records return. It has been a while. Now Indycar needs to go after the one lap track record.

Has Honda caught up with Chevrolet? The Fast Six had four Hondas and two Chevys.

What a great weekend for Chip Ganassi Racing. The team had all five of their cars in the top twelve, and four of them advanced to the Fast Six. Ed Carpenter Racing had the other two spots in the final round.

Rinus VeeKay starts on the front row for the second straight year. He is going to win this race one day, maybe a week from today.

The record pole average is the second fastest average in Speedway history. The record has stood since 1996.

The provisional grid, which should become official soon.