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Indy 500 Qualifying Results 2021: Final Times from Saturday's Races
May 22, 2021
Spots 10 through 30 in the 2021 Indianapolis 500 have been set after Saturday's round of qualifying.
Scott Dixon set the pace for all drivers in the 35-car field with a four-lap average of 231.828 mph. He will be among the stars competing in the Fast Nine shootout Sunday to determine the top nine spots in the Greatest Spectacle in Racing.
Joining Dixon in the Fast Nine shootout will be Colton Herta, Tony Kanaan, Ed Carpenter, Rinus Veekay, Helio Castroneves, Alex Palou, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Marcus Ericsson.
2021 Indianapolis 500 Qualifying Results
1. Scott Dixon
2. Colton Herta
3. Tony Kanaan
4. Ed Carpenter
5. Rinus VeeKay
6. Helio Castroneves
7. Alex Palou
8. Ryan Hunter-Reay
9. Marcus Ericsson
Coming out of Fast Friday, Dixon explained that a lot of drivers were struggling to find a clear track to practice.
“You had some guys doing some pretty silly stuff out there," he told reporters. "Teams should have been held responsible for some of those runs as well. I know it’s difficult. I know everybody wants to try to get a run. Some of those closing speeds when you have people doing cooldown laps at 150 mph, you’re coming in at 240, gets pretty hairy."
Things appeared to get better Saturday, at least for the drivers who qualified for the Fast Nine. Each of them averaged better than 231 miles per hour.
Dixon has won the pole at the Indianapolis 500 three times previously. His only win in this race from the pole position was in 2008. The last time he started first was in 2017, but he wound up posting the worst finish of his career (32nd).
Palou earned a spot in the Fast Nine despite his car running into the wall. He was checked by the medical staff and cleared to resume practicing:
Defending champion Takuma Sato will start from the 15th position. The Japanese star won last year from the outside spot on the first row. There hasn't been a driver who started outside the top 10 win the Indy 500 since Alexander Rossi in 2016.
In addition to the intrigue of the Fast Nine Shootout, Sunday will also see two of the drivers in the Last Row Shootout miss out on a chance to compete in the May 30 race.
The group of five vying for the final three spots will be Will Power, Simona de Silvestro, Sage Karam, Charlie Kimball and RC Enerson.
Power, the 2018 Indianapolis 500 champion, started this season with back-to-back top-10 finishes. He's been OK in the past three races with top-14 finishes in each event, but the 40-year-old is trying to get back on track this weekend.
The last-chance qualifying run will begin at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday. It will be followed by the Fast Nine Shootout at 3 p.m. ET.