![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Marco-Andretti-photo-by-Joe-Skibinski-e1597700535194.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
In his rookie, 2006 NTT INDYCAR Series season, Marco Andretti nearly broke the curse. But. Not quite. Sam Hornish Jr. flashed by the third-generation star-crossed family\u2019s racer to beat Andretti by a scant 0.0635 seconds, the third-closest finish in the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race\u2019s 103 runnings.<\/p>\n
Since that time, Andretti has won two races, shown some signs of competitiveness but has been an inconsistent qualifier and racer. While he\u2019s often been quick in practice, it\u2019s been rare to see the youngest racing Andretti at the sharp end of the qualifying grid.<\/p>\n
That changed when practice opened for the 104th Indianapolis 500 on Wednesday, August 12th. The No. 98 Andretti Herta Autosport with Marco & Curb-Agajanian U.S. Concrete\/Curb Honda was quick from the get-go, second in the first practice to Andretti Autosport teammate James Hinchcliffe, 224.345mph to Hinch\u2019s 224.526mph. On Thursday it was five-time champion Scott Dixon\u2019s turn at the top of the scoring pylon but Andretti was third, behind 2017 Indianapolis 500 winner Takuma Sato, logging 225.249 to Sato\u2019s 225.693 and Dixon\u2019s 226.102.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Marco-Andretti-pre-qualifying-photo-by-Joe-Skibinski-300x200.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Come Fast Friday and Andretti blitzed them all by turning the fastest lap since Arie Luyendyk nearly hit the 240-mph mark in 1996. Marco\u2019s 233.491mph was, it\u2019s now apparent, the portent of things to come. On Armed Forces Qualifying day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Andretti topped all comers with his four-lap average of 231.351mph to earn top seed in Sunday\u2019s Fast Nine qualifying session.<\/p>\n
What was even more interesting about Saturday\u2019s session is that Andretti was the 28th draw to qualify for the race in the heat of the day and that there were no Team Penske entries in the Fast Nine shootout on Sunday. In fact, the sole Chevrolet to make the nine-car shootout belonged to Dutch rookie Rinus VeeKay, driving the No. 21 Chevy for Ed Carpenter Racing.<\/p>\n
On Saturday, Andretti led four Andretti Autosports Honda Indy cars of 2014 Indy 500 champ Ryan Hunter-Reay in second, 2016 Indy 500 champ Alexander Rossi and 2016 indy 500 pole sitter Hinchcliffe. Dixon was fifth, VeeKay sixth, rookie Alex Palou (No. 55 Dale Coyne Racing with Team Goh Honda) seventh and Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda teammates Graham Rahal and Takuma Sato.<\/p>\n
Spots 10-33 were locked in after several drivers attempted two or three attempts once everyone had cycled through their first opportunities. Andretti Harding Steinbrenner Autosport\u2019s Colton Herta led the balance of the field, while reigning INDYCAR champ Josef Newgarden of Team Penske was 13th, 2018 Indy 500 champ Will Power is gridded 22nd, reigning champ Simon Pagenaud holds the 25th spot and three-time Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves, making another try for a fourth victory here, has 28th grid spot, all for Team Penske. It was the team\u2019s worst qualifying since being shut out of the race in 1995.<\/p>\n
Much changed from Saturday\u2019s benign weather to Sunday\u2019s wind-affected climate. it was still mostly clear with some overcast but the winds picked up to over 10mph, gusts to 20mph. That gave a mighty tail wind on the front straightaway of the historic 2.5-mile oval and a headwind between the second and third turns. The wind caused issues for the drivers as it forced them to battle changes in Indianapolis Motor Speedway\u2019s four turns and short chutes.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Three-generations-of-Andretti-2003-198x300.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
As Saturday\u2019s ninth-place qualifier, Sato was first out and put together four amazingly consistent laps for a combined speed of 230.725, that eventually landed him in third. Then teammate Rahal who, like Sato were the sole drivers to take advantage of Sunday morning\u2019s half-hour practice, battled an ill-handling car to set 229.380 for eighth, falling off with each consecrative tour of the oval. Rookie Palou took his turn and put up 229.676, which earned him 7th spot. VeeKay\u2019s Chevy starts 4th with a four-lap 230.704mph average.<\/p>\n
Dixon, who made a qualifying attempt late on Saturday that saw him produce a 232-mph tour, produced a four-lap average of 231.051mph, marching to the second spot once the order was complete. He was followed by Hinchcliffe\u2019s disappointed 229.676mph average for 6th, Rossi\u2019s 229.234mph 10-mile tour for 9th, Hunter-Reay at 230.648 to take 5th and, finally, Andretti\u2019s pole run.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis place means so much to us as a family,\u201d Marco Andretti said after his 4-lap pace of 231.068, which beat Dixon by 0.017mph. His car was a handful, Marco said: \u201cLap 1 was good; Lap 2 started giving me the hint that [Laps] 3 and 4 were going to be tough. I knew it was going to be interesting; I knew it was going to be close, too, because I was watching the speeds. The luxury of going last is you know the benchmark. Luckily we were just on the better end of that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Marco Andretti\u2019s pole position marks for the first Indianapolis 500 pole for the Andretti family since 1987, 33 hears ago, when Mario Andretti earned the honor. His father Michael has never held pole position at the track. It was the first pole for the No. 98 since 1963 when Parnelli Jones took that number to No. 1 on the qualifying pylon. In speaking to his grandfather this morning, Mario reminded Marco, \u201c\u2018The wind will scare you but it won\u2019t crash you\u2019. He was right today.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the post-qualifying practice session, Marco Andretti was again quickest (224.122mph), turning only 27 laps while Arrow McLaren SP\u2019s Pato O\u2019Ward and Fernando Alonso made 115 tours of the oval. The nine cars behind Andretti after this practice were Castroneves, Dixon, Hunter-Reay, Santino Ferrucci\u2019s Honda, Conor Daly\u2019s Chevy, Marcus Ericsson (Honda), O\u2019Ward, Ed Carpenter\u2019s Chevrolet and Palou.<\/p>\n
Will Marco Andretti erase the memories of his rookie year\u2019s second-place close finish to Sam Hornish Jr. and ease the so-called Andretti Curse from the Brickyard oval next Sunday after 200 laps of racing? He has a week to think about it, now that the two-and-a-half hour practice following qualifying is done and only Carb Day remains to discern the right setup for the 104th Indianapolis 500? It wouldn\u2019t be the worst bet in the world.<\/p>\n
By Anne Proffit<\/p>\n
Starting Grid:
\n1. (98) Marco Andretti (H) 231.068
\n2. (9) Scott Dixon (H) 231.051
\n3. (30) Takuma Sato (H) 230.725
\n4. Rinus VeeKay (C) 230.704
\n5. Ryan Hunter-Reay (H) 230.628
\n6. James Hinchcliffe (H) 229.870
\n7. Alex Palou (H) 229.676
\n8. Graham Rahal (H) 229.380
\n9. Alexander Rossi (H) 229.234
\n10. Colton Herta (H) 230.775
\n11. Marcus Ericsson (H) 230.566
\n12. Spencer Pigot (H) 230.539
\n13. Josef Newgarden (C) 230.296
\n14. Felix Rosenqvist (H) 230.254
\n15. Pato O\u2019Ward (C) 230.213
\n16. Ed Carpenter (C) 230.211
\n17. Zach Veach (H) 229.961
\n18. Conor Daly (C) 229.955
\n19. Santino Ferrucci (H) 229.924
\n20. Jack Harvey (H) 229.861
\n21. Oliver Askew (C) 229.760
\n22. Will Power 229.701
\n23. Tony Kanaan (C) 229.154
\n24. Dalton Kellett (C) 228.880
\n25. Simon Pagenaud (C)228.836
\n26. Fernando Alonso (C) 228.768
\n27. James Davison (H) 228.747
\n28. Helio Castroneves (C) 228.373
\n29. Charlie Kimball (C) 227.758
\n30. Max Chilton (C) 227.303
\n31. Sage Karam (C) 227.099
\n32. JR Hildebrand (C) 226.341
\n33. Ben Hanley (C) 222.917<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In his rookie, 2006 NTT INDYCAR Series season, Marco Andretti nearly broke the curse. But. Not quite.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":65,"featured_media":74540,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[17,3470,5029,22],"tags":[5357,5614,2052,1863,41,3937,7586],"class_list":["post-74539","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-guest-column","category-news","category-racing","category-event-coverage","tag-andretti","tag-anne-proffit","tag-events","tag-indy-500","tag-news","tag-press","tag-races"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Marco-Andretti-photo-by-Joe-Skibinski-e1597700535194.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p42YSK-jof","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74539","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/65"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74539"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74539\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":74543,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74539\/revisions\/74543"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/74540"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74539"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74539"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74539"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}