Indy 500 pole position Marco Andretti puts family back on top

INDIANAPOLIS — Marco Andretti backed up his blazing speed in Indy 500 qualifying Sunday, knocking off Scott Dixon to win the pole position at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

It’s the first time an Andretti driver has been on the pole in 33 years at the Brickyard when Marco’s legendary grandfather, Mario, qualified first in 1987.

“It was awesome,” Marco said, crediting his grandfather with crucial advice (“the wind will scare you, but it won’t crash you”) for dealing with high crosswinds on the 2.5-mile oval Sunday.

QUALIFYING RESULTS: Speeds from Sunday’s Fast Nine, Saturday session

Andretti, whose previous best start at Indy was third in 2013, turned a four-lap average at 231.068 mph in his No. 98 Dallara-Honda for the sixth pole position of his career and his first since 2018.

.@MarcoAndretti WINS the pole position for next Sunday's #Indy500!

Tune in next week on @NBC at 1PM ET! pic.twitter.com/AVheWORXb6

— IndyCar on NBC (@IndyCaronNBC) August 16, 2020

He is trying to join his grandfather (who won in 1969) as only the second Andretti to win the Greatest Spectacle in Racing.

His father, Michael, was winless in 16 career starts at the Indy 500.

The Andretti Autosport team owner said Marco’s pole attempt Sunday was “fantastic, it was unbelievable. The car was so loose, and he just didn’t take his foot off the throttle, and he drove the hell out of it. He did a hell of a job.”

Dixon was second (the fifth front row start of his Indy 500 career), followed by a career-best Indy starting spot for 2017 winner Takuma Sato as Dallara-Hondas swept the top three.

Rinus VeeKay, 19, was the top Chevrolet in fourth after the best qualifying effort by a teenager in Indy 500 history.

Marco Andretti outperformed three other Andretti Autosport teammates in the Fast Nine as Ryan Hunter-Reay (fifth), James Hinchcliffe (sixth) and Alexander Rossi (ninth) all slowed down after they swept the top four spots in provisional qualifying.

Andretti, though, lost none of his pace after turning the fastest laps the past two days at Indy, where drivers given an extra 50 horsepower with a turbo boost mandated for qualifying setups by the NTT IndyCar Series that sent lap speeds skyrocketing over 230 mph.

Alex Palou qualified seventh, and Graham Rahal was eighth as the remainder of the field was set after positions 10-30 were determined in Saturday’s qualifying session.

It took four attempts for Kyle Larson to win his first High Limit Sprint Car Series race in the series he co-owns with brother-in-law Brad Sweet, but once he found victory lane, he has been undefeated with his win at Eagle (Nebraska) Raceway. For the second week, Abreu led early only to fall prey to Larson.

The win was Larson’s third straight victory and the fifth consecutive top-five, giving him a perfect sweep of the season after finishing 10th in last year’s inaugural race at Lincoln Park Speedway in Putnamville, Indiana.

Larson started third behind Abreu and Brent Marks but was embroiled in a fierce battle with Anthony Macri for third during the first dozen laps. Larson slipped by Macri in traffic until a red flag waved for a flip by Lachlan McHugh.

Meanwhile at the front of the pack, Marks retook the lead from Abreu on Lap 18. Larson followed one lap later and then caution waved again. Tyler Courtney lost power and fell to 24th after starting eighth.

Marks scooted away on the restart but tragedy struck in Lap 26. Leading the race, Marks hit a pothole in Turn 1, bicycled and then flipped, handing the lead to Larson.

Abreu caught Larson again during the final laps and in a reprise of their battle at Tri-City Speedway, the two threw sliders at one another for several laps until Larson built some separation and ran away to the checkers.

𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗧. 𝗪𝗔𝗦. 𝗘𝗣𝗜𝗖.@EagleRaceway went above and beyond in their return to the main stage with the High Limit Sprint Car Series tonight!

pic.twitter.com/H3XKQEOpg6

— High Limit Racing (@HighLimitRacing) June 7, 2023

“I didn’t feel like my pace in [Turns] 1 & 2 slowed down a ton,” Larson said from victory lane. “I missed it once there and then I saw his nose in 3 & 4. I didn’t know if he nailed the bottom that well behind me and I think he might have slid me in the next corner, so he was definitely on the top.

“I was nervous to move up there because my car was really pogoing up in the entry of 1. I got up just in time, made a few mistakes and he threw a couple more sliders at me but he was just a little too far back and I was able to squirt around him. Then I really had to commit to hitting my marks – back my effort down a bit to avoid mistakes.”

After leading early, Abreu fell back as far as sixth, but faith in his car kept hope alive.

“I just needed to do a few things a few laps before I did and fix some angles, then my car got a whole lot better,” Abreu said. “I’m thankful for this team; they do an amazing job. They don’t give up on me. I know my car is going to be there right at the end of these races, so it’s just the discipline of being patient.”

For Abreu, it was his third near-miss this season. He was leading at Lakeside in the 2023 opener until a tire went flat in the closing laps and he lost the lead to Larson late in the Tri-City Speedway race. Abreu has finished sixth or better in his last three High Limit races with each result being progressively better until his pair of runner-up results.

Third-place finisher Scelzi was the hard charger, advancing from 17th.

“I had a very specific plan; don’t go near [the hole in Turn 1],” Scelzi said. “It worked out. No one wanted to start on the top. I think I gained a couple of rows there on the choose cone and ran the middle, which seemed to be better than right around the bottom.”

Michael “Buddy” Kofoid in fourth and Macri rounded out the top five.

World of Outlaws star and former NASCAR driver Kasey Kahne was one of 41 entrants, but he was not among the 26 starters. He failed to advance to the Main after finishing eighth in the B Main and seventh in his heat.

Feature Results

A Feature (40 Laps): 1. 57-Kyle Larson[4]; 2. 24-Rico Abreu[1]; 3. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[17]; 4. 71-Michael Kofoid[5]; 5. 39M-Anthony Macri[3]; 6. 9-Chase Randall[9]; 7. 26-Zeb Wise[14]; 8. 1X-Jake Bubak[15]; 9. 8-Aaron Reutzel[10]; 10. 14D-Corey Day[18]; 11. 11-Cory Eliason[12]; 12. 5T-Ryan Timms[11]; 13. 88-Austin McCarl[13]; 14. 21H-Brady Bacon[22]; 15. 48-Danny Dietrich[16]; 16. 7S-Robbie Price[19]; 17. 21-Brian Brown[23]; 18. 22-Riley Goodno[26]; 19. 52-Blake Hahn[25]; 20. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[21]; 21. 3J-Dusty Zomer[6]; 22. 14-Cole Macedo[7]; 23. 19-Brent Marks[2]; 24. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[8]; 25. 25-Lachlan McHugh[20]; 26. 53-Jack Dover[24]

2023 High Limit Sprint Car Series

Race 1: Giovanni Scelzi wins at Lakeside Speedway
Race2: Anthony Macri wins at 34 Raceway
Race 3: Kyle Larson wins at Wayne County Speedway
Race 4: Kyle Larson wins at Tri-City Speedway

Marco Andretti puts storied racing family back on top with Indy 500 pole

Kyle Larson wins third consecutive High Limit Sprint race at Eagle Raceway, Rico Abreu second again

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