Andretti leads Honda over Chevy in Indy 500 qualifying
Marco Andretti led a Honda rout on the first day of Indianapolis 500 qualifying — session dominated by Andretti Autosport and Honda as Team Penske was shut out of pole contention.
Andretti posted a fourlap average of 231.351 mph to top the speed chart Saturday ahead of teammates Ryan HunterReay, Alexander Rossi and James Hinchcliffe. The fastest nine advance to a Sunday shootout that determines the first three rows for the Indy 500.
The Andretti organization grabbed four of the slots and Honda drivers took eight of nine overall.
“Honda brought it this year,” Andretti said. “I was able to just go out and do my job and, man, when it all comes together, it is just beautiful.”
Hunter-Reay was second, Rossi third and Hinchcliffe fourth in the Andretti sweep.
“To be one-through-four is pretty unheard of,” Rossi acknowledged. Andretti Autosport tried to get all six of its cars into the top nine but Colton Herta was 10th and Zach Veach 17th after multiple attempts.
It’s also not clear that the Andretti group has the fastest car — Scott Dixon logged the fastest lap of the day at 232.356 mph in an aborted qualifying run at the buzzer. Dixon said he wasn’t trying to bump the Andretti quartet off the top when he made the late run for Chip Ganassi Racing.
“We were just checking a few things for tomorrow, we wanted to get the right balance,” Dixon said.
It was a miserable effort for Chevrolet, which only placed 19-year-old rookie Rinus Veekay from Ed Carpenter Racing in the fast nine. The Chevy camp has struggled with straight speed since the Friday horsepower boost and all four of the flagship Team Penske entries will start deep in the field.
Josef Newgarden, the reigning series champion, was the highest-qualifying Penske driver at 13th. Will Power was 22nd, defending race winner Simon Pagenaud was 25th and three-time winner Helio Castroneves was 28th.
The race was originally scheduled for its traditional Memorial Day weekend date but pushed to Aug. 23 because of the pandemic. Teams are not accustomed to these temperatures and the heat has been one of Chevy’s biggest issues.
ELSEWHERE
A NASCAR: Austin Cindric won the NASCAR Xfinity Series race on the road course at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, his fifth victory in the last six events.
Cindric looked like the guy to beat early and escaped a melee on a restart late to stay in contention. He passed leader Brandon Jones shortly after taking the green flag with five laps to go on the 14turn, 3.61-mile layout and did what he’s done often lately – celebrate in victory lane. It was his second win in two weeks on a road course. He won at Road America in Wisconsin last week. …
Driver Austin Dillon tested positive for COVID-19 and will not compete in Sunday’s Cup Series race at Daytona International Speedway’s road course.
Richard Childress Racing said Dillon tested positive Saturday morning. He experienced mild symptoms and sought a test on his own. He is now self-quarantining from the team. His wife and newborn son remain healthy and symptom-free, the team added. Kaz Grala will drive the No. 3 Chevrolet at Daytona on Sunday.
Formula One: World champion Lewis Hamilton secured a recordextending 92nd pole position at the Spanish Grand Prix, nudging Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas into second place by just .059 seconds.