Starting lineup for the 106th Indy 500

By May 29, 2022, 5:30 AM EDT
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INDIANAPOLIS — Scott Dixon will lead the Indy 500 starting lineup for the fifth time in his storied career, qualifying on the pole position of the race’s 106th edition.

Alex Palou and Rinus VeeKay also comprised the fastest front row (average speed of 233.643 mph) in Indy 500 history for the May 29 race (11 a.m. ET, NBC), breaking a mark (233.233) that had stood since 1996.

Dixon, who ranks second all time behind Rick Mears’ record six Indy 500 poles, will start first in the Indy 500 for the second consecutive season as Chip Ganassi Racing placed all five of its Dallara-Hondas in Sunday’s Fast 12 pole shootout.

INDY 500 PRIMER: Important details, schedule for watching on NBC

STARTING LINEUP: Click here for the 11 rows of three cars in the 106th Indy 500

Dixon set the fastest pole speed in Indy 500 history and the second-fastest qualifying speed in Indy 500 history behind Arie Luyendyk’s 236.896 mph in 1996.

Marcus Ericsson (fifth at 232.764) and Tony Kanaan (sixth at 232.372) joined Dixon and Palou in the Fast Six for Ganassi.

Jimmie Johnson, who is in his first full IndyCar Series for Ganassi, qualified 12th at 231.264 for his Indy 500 debut,

Other notables:

–Formula One veteran Romain Grosjean, also an Indy 500 rookie, qualified ninth as the top Andretti Autosport driver.

–Defending Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves, who will attempt to win a record fifth Indy 500, will start 27th.

–Takuma Sato, who is trying to become the first driver to win three Indy 500s with three teams, qualified 10th.

Indy 500 starting lineup by row for the May 29 race (11 a.m. ET NBC):

ROW 1

1. (9) Scott Dixon, Honda, 234.046
2. (10) Alex Palou, Honda, 233.499
3. (21) Rinus VeeKay, Chevrolet, 233.385

ROW 2

4. (33) Ed Carpenter, Chevrolet, 233.080
5. (8) Marcus Ericsson, 232.764
6. (1) Tony Kanaan, Honda, 232.372

ROW 3

7. (5) Pato O’Ward, Chevrolet, 232.705
8. (7) Felix Rosenqvist, Chevrolet, 232.182
9. (28) Romain Grosjean, Honda, 231.999

ROW 4

10. (51) Takuma Sato, Honda, 231.670
11. (12) Will Power, Chevrolet, 231.534
12. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Honda, 231.264

ROW 5

13. (18) David Malukas, Honda, 231.607
14. (2) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 231.580
15. (23) Santino Ferrucci, Chevrolet, 231.508

ROW 6

16. (60) Simon Pagenaud, Honda, 231.275
17. (11) JR Hildebrand, Chevrolet, 231.112
18. (20) Conor Daly, Chevrolet, 230.999

ROW 7

19. (77) Callum Ilott, Chevrolet, 230.961
20. (27) Alexander Rossi, Honda, 230.812
21. (15) Graham Rahal, Honda, 230.766

ROW 8

22. (24) Sage Karam, Chevrolet, 230.464
23. (98) Marco Andretti, Honda, 230.345
24. (29) Devlin DeFrancesco, Honda, 230.326

ROW 9

25. (26) Colton Herta, Honda, 230.235
26. (3) Scott McLaughlin, Chevrolet, 230.154
27. (06) Helio Castroneves, Honda, 229.630

ROW 10

28. (14) Kyle Kirkwood, Chevrolet, 229.406
29. (4) Dalton Kellett, Chevrolet, 228.916
30. (6) Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet, 228.622

ROW 11

31. (30) Christian Lundgaard, Honda, 227.053
32. (45) Jack Harvey, Honda, 226.851
33. (25) Stefan Wilson, Chevrolet, no speed

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

By Jun 7, 2023, 3:00 PM EDT
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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.

“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

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