Jimmie Johnson makes Indy 500 pole shootout

The rain held off long enough for a full round of Indianapolis 500 qualifying on a soupy day that saw blistering speeds — some of the fastest in race history, and fastest in 26 years — and controversy at Andretti Autosport.

Rinus VeeKay put his Chevrolet atop the scoring pylon with a four-lap average speed of 233.655 mph around Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It bumped fellow Chevy driver Pato O'Ward to second at 233.037 as the two budding IndyCar stars were the first two drivers to qualify for the May 29 race.

Arie Luyendyk set the four-lap qualifying record in 1996 at 236.986, and VeeKay's average was third fastest of all time behind Luyendyk and Scott Brayton's mark of 233.718. O'Ward's average was fifth fastest in history, with Tony Stewart fourth in 1996.

Jimmie Johnson qualified for his first Indy 500 and once again showed incredible speed. In an early Saturday morning practice, Johnson turned a lap at 233.961 mph — 14th fastest in track history. The seven-time NASCAR champion has steadily become a legitimate contender to win the Indy 500, which would be his fifth victory on the Indianapolis oval; Johnson won four times in NASCAR.

Johnson was the sixth fastest qualifier and on Sunday has a shot at winning the Indy 500 pole. The fastest 12 in the 33 car field have two Sunday shootouts and the “Fast Six” will set the first two rows for the May 29 race.

Can he actually win the pole?

“I got a shot,” said Johnson, “I don't know what the odds are, but I'll send it for sure.”

This journey into the Indy 500 is like nothing Johnson has ever experienced in a career spanning more than two decades.

“There's really not a comparison, this is so much more intense,” he said. “Plus, you have to run four laps, there's not just one. But there is much more on the driver here than what happens in Daytona 500 qualifying.”

Johnson qualified just behind two of his Chip Ganassi Racing teammates as all five of the Honda-powered drivers advanced into Sunday. Reigning series champion Alex Palou was fourth fastest and Tony Kanaan was fifth. Marcus Ericsson was eighth and Scott Dixon was 10th.

Tennis

SWIATEK ENTERS ON A ROLL >> Here's one measure of just how dominant Iga Swiatek has been as the French Open begins Sunday:

The 28-match winning streak accumulated by the new No. 1 in the WTA rankings has been surpassed by only three women since 2000 — Venus Williams (35 in 2000), Serena Williams (34 in 2013) and Justine Henin (32 in 2008), all former No. 1s, all owners of multiple Grand Slam titles. Pretty heady company. “Well, I know that the pressure is going to come, for sure, and I know that on clay, maybe the media are going to call me the favorite,” said 2020 French Open champion Swiatek, whose first-round match against 121st-ranked Lesia Tsurenko is scheduled for Monday.

“But honestly, I don't know what to expect, because it's the first time I'm in a position like that and I'm world No. 1,” Swiatek said. “For sure, the thing I know is that I'm going have fun playing on clay.”

The 20-year-old from Poland has won her past five tournaments and 42 of her past 43 sets.

Everyone in tennis, it seems, is taking notice.

“She's fresh. She's natural. She's young,” 13-time French Open winner Rafael Nadal said. “The way that she's playing this year looks unstoppable.”

Probably not exactly unstoppable, of course. Swiatek knows this run won't last forever.

If it does continue for seven more matches across just shy of two more weeks, though, the first Polish tennis player to be ranked No. 1 and to win a Grand Slam singles title will own a second. ALCARAZ IN ACTION SUNDAY >> The only Grand Slam tournament that begins on a Sunday gets going with an end-of-day chance for the world to watch Carlos Alcaraz, the Spaniard who recently turned 19 and is generally considered a future champion. The No. 6-seeded Alcaraz will close the Day 1 schedule at Court Philippe Chatrier against Juan Ignacio Londero, a 28-yearold from Argentina who is ranked 141st. Londero is only 6-9 over his career at major tournaments, but he did make a run to the fourth round at Roland Garros in 2019 before losing to 13-time champion Rafael Nadal. For Alcaraz, this will be his sixth Grand Slam appearance and second in Paris.

Soccer

MBAPPÉ SIGNS NEW DEAL WITH PSG >> Kylian Mbappé celebrated with fans at Parc des Princes then scored a hat trick after signing a new three-year contract with Paris SaintGermain on Saturday and turning down the chance again to join Real Madrid.

Before PSG beat Metz 5-0 in its final home game, France's World Cup-winning star stood on a platform near the center circle to address fans.

“I'm very happy to continue this adventure, to stay in France, in Paris, my city. I always said Paris was my home,” Mbappe said.

Mbappe then held up a PSG jersey with 2025 written on it as he stood alongside president Nasser AlKhelaifi, who had just announced the new deal.

The PSG contract of one of soccer's most coveted players was expiring in June, and Mbappé would have been available on a free transfer.

But instead of joining 13-time European champion Madrid, which has chased him for so long, Mbappé decided to stay to try to deliver PSG its first Champions League title.

PSG turned down Madrid's official bid of 180 million euros ($190 million) — the same amount it signed Mbappé for from Monaco in 2017 — and even another reported amount of 200 million euros ($211 million) was not enough to sell its star despite him having only a year remaining on his contract.

Colleges

STANFORD CLAIMS PAC-12 TITLE >> The No. 4 Stanford Cardinal (37-14, 21-9) clinched the Pac-12 baseball regular season title on Saturday by completing a sweep of USC at Sunken Diamond.

The title is the program's second under head coach David Esquer, the former Cal coach who also led Stanford to the top of the conference during in 2018.

Saturday's 12-5 victory over the Trojans marked the Cardinal's 12th win in a row, the program's longest streak since 1999.