Indy 500 qualifying results Marco Andretti fastest Day 1

INDIANAPOLIS — Day 1 of Indy 500 qualifying results set up a Honda showdown for the pole and a difficult road to the front for perennial contender Team Penske.

Andretti Autosport swept the top four spots in the Fast Nine, setting up an intrasquad Dallara-Honda battle between Marco Andretti (fastest at 231.351 mph), Ryan Hunter-Reay, Alexander Rossi and James Hinchcliffe.

They will face off against Scott Dixon, Rinus VeeKay, Alex Palou, Graham Rahal and Takuma Sato today in a 1 p.m. ET session for the pole on NBC.

RESULTS: Click here for speeds on the first day of Indy 500 qualifying

FINAL RESULTS: Fast Nine speeds Sunday, plus Day 1 Saturday

VeeKay is the lone Chevrolet in the Fast Nine, and several other of the manufacturer’s star drivers will be deep in the field at the green flag of the Aug. 23 race (1 p.m. ET, NBC) as starting positions 10-33 were set Saturday.

Qualifying Day 1 ✔️ Tomorrow, we have 4️⃣ chances at the pole position!

Tune into @NBC at 1pm ET for Fast Nine qualifying at @IMS. #AllAndretti #Indy500 #INDYCAR pic.twitter.com/od3bAIajmS

— Andretti Autosport (@FollowAndretti) August 15, 2020

Three of Penske’s former Indy 500 winners will start outside the top 20: Will Power (22nd), Simon Pagenaud (25th) and Helio Castroneves (28th). Two-time Formula One champion Fernando Alonso will start 26th, and Tony Kanaan, the 2013 Indy 500 winner, will be in 28th.

Defending series champion Josef Newgarden (13th) of Penske is the next-highest starting Chevy after VeeKay.

Click here for the results of Saturday’s qualifying for the Indy 500

In a continuing effort to help fans keep track of the on track action, SuperMotocross is in the process of developing and implementing leader lights for the unified series.

Currently Supercross (SMX) utilizes stanchions in the infield that are triggered manually by a race official. At least two stanchions are used in each race as a way to draw the eye to the leader, which is especially useful in the tight confines of the stadium series when lapping often begins before the halfway mark in the 22-bike field. This system has been in place for the past two decades.

Later this year, a fully automated system will move to the bike itself to replace the old system. At that point, fans will be able to identify the leader regardless of where he is on track.

The leader lights were tested in the second Anaheim round this year. An example can be seen at the 1:45 mark in the video above on the No. 69 bike.

“What we don’t want to do is move too fast, where it’s confusing to people,” said Mike Muye, senior director of operations for Supercross and SMX in a press release. “We’ve really just focused on the leader at this point with the thought that maybe down the road we’ll introduce others.”

Scheduled to debut with the first SuperMotocross World Championship race at zMax Dragway, located just outside the Charlotte Motor Speedway, a 3D carbon fiber-printed LED light will be affixed to each motorcycle. Ten timing loops positioned around the track will trigger the lights of the leader, which will turn green.

SMX’s partner LiveTime Scoring helped develop and implement the system that has been tested in some form or fashion since 2019.

When the leader lights are successfully deployed, SuperMotocross will explore expanding the system to identify the second- and third-place riders. Depending on need and fan acceptance, more positions could be added.

SuperMotocross is exploring future enhancements, including allowing for live fan interaction with the lights and ways to use the lighting system during the race’s opening ceremony.

Indy 500 qualifying results, Day 1

SuperMotocross set to introduce Leader Lights beginning with the World Championship finals

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