Scott Dixon wins 2015 Indy 500 pole position

An eventful day featuring a scary fiery crash, a lengthy delay and last minute rules and procedure changes ended with Scott Dixon capturing the Indianapolis 500 pole Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Dixon’s four-lap average speed of 226.760 mph bested Will Power (226.350 mph) and Simon Pagenaud (226.145 mph), giving the Chip Ganassi Racing driver the No. 1 starting spot for the May 24th race. Tony Kanaan, Helio Castroneves and Justin Wilson will share Row 2. The field is comprised of 33 starters aligned in 11 rows.

“It was definitely a tough day,” Dixon said. “I’m stoked. Just extremely happy that we are on the pole I wasn’t sure we went so early that it was going to stick.”

Prior to qualifying, IndyCar Series officials revised how the field would be set when Ed Carpenter crashed in a morning warmup session and became the third driver to flip in five days. Carpenter’s accident was similar in nature to those of Helio Castroneves and Josef Newgarden, who also summersaulted in respective wrecks Wednesday and Thursday. Castroneves, Newgarden and Carpenter all walked away uninjured.

The rash of air airborne cars prompted a three-hour delay Sunday, as officials, team owners and manufacturer representatives sought a solution. Indianapolis is the first speedway race of the new Chevrolet and Honda aerodynamic body kits introduced this season. All three drivers who flipped were using Chevrolet built kits.

After convening, IndyCar announced several changes designed to slow speeds and improve a car’s handling. Every team, no matter its manufacturer alliance, was required to use the same setup in both qualifying and next week’s race. The mandate prompted a more conservative approach by many who sacrificed starting position for a better race setup. Speeds that were eclipsing 233 mph in practice were trimmed by six mph in qualifying.

Because of the prolonged delay, Sunday’s Fast Nine Shootout featuring the top nine qualifiers gunning for the pole-position was jettisoned. Drivers instead got one opportunity to post a four-lap average time.

Dixon, the 2008 Indianapolis 500 winner, took the pole for a second time. His 2008 victory came from the No. 1 starting position. The top five qualifiers were all Chevrolet-powered and represented two teams: Ganassi (Dixon and Kanaan) and Team Penske (Power, Pagenaud and Castroneves).

“It is nerve wracking to be getting in a car that you haven’t really driven because the combination has changed so much,” Dixon said. “All-in-all we are doing our best. We are confident in our race setup. That is what counts.”

Defending race winner Ryan Hunter-Reay posted the 16th-fastest time. Buddy Lazier was the only entrant who failed to qualify.