Indy 500 Qualifying Results 2015: Sunday Times, Pole Position Winner, Reaction

It took longer than anyone anticipated, but qualifying for the 2015 Indianapolis 500 finally happened after multiple delays. Scott Dixon took the pole position on an unusual qualifying session that consisted of four laps for each driver. 

This marks the second Indy 500 pole for Dixon, who finished with a four-lap average of 226.76 mph. The last time he started first at this race was 2008, which happened to be the year he won at Indianapolis. 

Rain wiped out the original qualifying session on Saturday. It was supposed to get underway early in the afternoon Sunday, but Ed Carpenter suffered a crash in the morning that changed everything, as officials needed to take extra precautions for driver safety and get the qualifying in. 

The solution from Indianapolis Motor Speedway officials, per IndyCar driver James Hinchcliffe, was a truncated practice session followed by the qualifying:

Qualifying was limited to four laps around the track with the average speed determining the order. Here's how it played out:

Pos	Driver	Avg. Speed (mph)
1	Scott Dixon	226.760
2	Will Power	226.350
3	Simon Pagenaud	226.145
4	Tony Kanaan	225.503
5	Helio Castroneves	225.502
6	Justin Wilson	225.279
7	Sebastian Bourdais	225.193
8	Marco Andretti	225.189
9	Josef Newgarden	225.187
10	J.R. Hildebrand	225.099
11	Carlos Munoz	225.042
12	Ed Carpenter	224.883
13	Oriol Servia	224.777
14	Charlie Kimball	224.743
15	Juan Pablo Montoya	224.657
16	Ryan Hunter-Reay	224.573
17	Graham Rahal	224.290
18	Carlos Huertas	224.233
19	Simona de Silvestro	223.838
20	James Jakes	223.790
21	Tristan Vautier	223.747
22	Alex Tagliani	223.722
23	Sage Karam	223.595
24	James Hinchcliffe	223.519
25	Conor Daly	223.482
26	Townsend Bell	223.447
27	Takuma Sato	223.226
28	Pippa Mann	223.104
29	Gabby Chaves	222.916
30	Sebastian Saavedra	222.898
31	Jack Hawksworth	222.787
32	Stefano Coletti	221.912
33	Bryan Clauson	220.523

After Carpenter's crash, which was the third during practice this week, Hulman & Company CEO Mark Miles announced that cars needed to be in the aero setup that is required during the race and drivers would not get points for qualifying, via ESPN.com:

"

As a precautionary measure, IndyCar will require that the cars qualify today in the same aero setup that they will run in the Indianapolis 500 next weekend. Also, for today, boost levels will return to race conditions. Given these changes, we have elected to not award points for today's qualifications.

"

As Jeff Olson of USA Today wrote, the shift in car dynamics would "further reduce speeds" in qualifying and during the Indianapolis 500. 

Dixon had no issues with his car, taking the pole as one of the first cars out of the chute and maintaining the lead throughout. 

The most likely explanation for Dixon's success, besides the shift in car dynamics, may have been provided by WTHR meteorologist Kelly Greene's evening weather report about the wind gusts:

Once the wind started to pick up, drivers were forced to slow down, and that led to most of the qualifying runs coming later in the day. 

Even though racing is ultimately an individual sport, the team aspect did come into play with Tony Kanaan congratulating his fellow Chip Ganassi driver:

It was probably easier for Kanaan to give Dixon kudos when he got locked into the No. 4 spot, which the 2013 Indianapolis 500 winner talked about on Twitter:

According to Curt Cavin of the Indianapolis Star, Dixon became the 19th driver in Indianapolis 500 history with multiple poles under his belt:

Carpenter was able to get his backup car out of the garage following his crash early in the day and used it to great effect. The 34-year-old was third out of the gate in qualifying and briefly held the lead with an average speed of 224.883 mph. 

Cavin was complimentary of the effort Carpenter put forth in his backup car:

Being able to qualify strong has not been a problem for Carpenter, who held the pole in each of the past two Indianapolis 500 races. The issue has been during the actual event, as he's finished 10th and 27th, respectively. 

Not being on the pole takes some of the pressure off Carpenter, so perhaps he will be able to break through following those recent struggles. 

One name to keep an eye on is Marco Andretti. The third-generation star has been so close to victory at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in his career, finishing in the top four five times since 2006. He had one of the best qualifying times among the late drivers and won't be intimidated by the stage. 

Darron Cummings/Associated Press

The Andretti curse, which dates back to Mario Andretti's only Indy 500 win in 1969, is going to haunt the family until someone snaps it at this event. Michael Andretti, whose opinion may be biased, told Gregg Doyel of the Indianapolis Star that he believes a win by Marco would be great for the sport.

"It would be amazing," Andretti said. "It would hit the front page of a lot of newspapers and magazines and all that, and that's what the series needs."

It's certainly a story that would resonate with many people who have been watching the Indianapolis 500 for decades and hoping to see another member of the Andretti family finally put everything together on this track. The 28-year-old has his work cut out for him with a talented bunch in front of him to start the race.

Drivers had to pack so much into such a small amount of time. Practice was shortened, and qualifying took place immediately afterward. It wasn't ideal for anyone, but things finally took shape in the afternoon. 

Dixon took advantage of the opportunity and put himself in a great position to win IndyCar's biggest race, though no one has won from the top spot since Helio Castroneves in 2009.