Pole day is in the books at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and it was a historic day. For the first time in the 100 years of the Indianapolis 500, a Canadian will sit on the pole. Alex Tagliani has the honors after a terrific Saturday that saw him earn the No. 1 spot in the morning, then race to take it back in the afternoon as the fastest nine made second runs. With an average speed of 227.472 miles per hour, Tagliani topped the field and earn the pole for next weekend’s race.
Indy 500 Qualifying Results: Lineup And Starting Grid After Pole Day
Rain threatened earlier and the track was dampened in turns one and two, but the field was able to squeeze qualifying in. Even the fast nine runs were able to give it ago after many thought the weather would wash it out, forcing the top-nine to sit on their morning times. As it stood, drivers were given a chance to improve, setting up an afternoon shootout at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Dario Franchitti is your sad trombone winner of the day after turning in fast laps the first three times around during his fast nine run only to run out of gas. He’ll start ninth on Saturday after threatening the pole position.
Here is the starting order heading into Sunday’s bump day session. The rest of the field will battle it out for the final nine spots on Sunday.
1. 77 Alex Tagliani 227.472 mph
2. 9 Scott Dixon 227.340
3. 2 Oriol Servia 227.168
4. 99 Townsend Bell 226.887
5. 12 Will Power 226.773
6. 98 Dan Wheldon 226.490
7. 44 Buddy Rice 225.786
8. 67 Ed Carpenter 225.121
9. 10 Dario Franchitti ---
10. 5 Takuma Sato 225.736
11. 14 Vitor Meira 225.590
12. 4 JR Hildebrand 225.579
13. 06 James Hinchcliffe 225.572
14. 30 Bertand Baguette 225.285
15. 11 Davey Hamilton 225.250
16. 3 Helio Castroneves 225.216
17. 43 John Andretti 224.981
18. 59 E.J. Viso 224.732
19. 41 Bruno Junqueira 224.691
20. 22 Justin Wilson 224.511
21. 88 Jay Horward 224.483
22. 07 Tomas Scheckter 224.433
23. 82 Tony Kanaan 224.417
24.78T Simona de Silvestro 224.392
For more on the race, stay with our 2011 Indy 500 StoryStream. Be sure to head over to Pop Off Valve for all things IndyCar, including the three excellent Indy 500 resources: The Indy 500 experience, Indy 500 traditions and the history of the Indy 500 and the Brickyard.
See More:
