Marco Andretti At Top Of Indianapolis 500 Leaderboard

Not a whole lot this year has been normal. Almost nothing has seemed familiar.

But in the NTT IndyCar Series, the universe is back in its traditional orbit for the moment. An Andretti is the leader of the pack at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Marco Andretti, third-generation driver in the famous family synonymous with speed, would not be denied the pole position for next Sunday’s spectator-less Indianapolis 500 Mile Race. His victory Sunday in the Fast Nine Shootout reinforced his top-qualifying run Saturday and marks the first time since 1987 an Andretti will lead the field of 33.

His grandfather, family patriarch Mario Andretti, was fastest in 33 years ago, in 1987.

His father, Michael Andretti, never captured the Indianapolis 500 pole position and never won the race in 16 starts, although he had a stellar driving career that included 42 victories and a championship in elite open-wheel competition. However, Marco’s feat marks the 42nd time a car Michael Andretti owns has captured a pole in the series and the second time an Andretti team driver did so at Indianapolis. Tony Kanaan did it in 2005.

Marco Andretti’s sixth career pole – thanks to a four-lap average speed of 231.068 miles an hour in the No. 98 U.S. Concrete/Curb Honda – represents his best start for the 500. His previous best was third in 2013.

“Obviously, I was emotional. It’s funny – I was screaming after the run, so I don’t have a voice. Everybody is thinking I’m crying, but I just can’t talk right now. I was emotional. We put so much into it. This place means so much to us as a family,” the 33-year-old from Nazareth, Pa., said. “We’ve just been through so many ups and downs at this place. Obviously my cousin John [who passed away this Jan. 30, at age 56, following a bout with colon cancer] is riding with me, my grandfather from home. We know family is pulling for us. We live and breathe this sport, this race in particular.

“I was joking with Dad,” Marco Andretti said. “I’m like, ‘This is probably like my third legitimate shot as far as just outright pace in 15 years.’ When I lost the 500 in 2006, you saw me mad because I knew that it is possible that 15 years later I’m talking to you guys and I haven’t won one yet. That’s why I was so mad.”

He was referring to the dramatic 2006 finish in which Sam Hornish passed the 19-year-old race leader Andretti about 450 feet before the checkered flag and won by .0635 seconds, or about one car length – the third-closest margin of victory in the previous 103 Indianapolis 500s. (Surprisingly, it was the first time in the event’s 90-year history that a driver successfully completed a pass for the lead on the final lap.)

“It’s a tough place,” Andretti said of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. “Last year I had the worst race of my career. Here we are. We can win it. The NTT IndyCar Series is so competitive. Everybody is so close. It’s easy to go from last to first if you just find that little bit.”

But Sunday was Marco Andretti’s day, one of the biggest in his career.

And dad Michael couldn’t have been prouder, calling his son’s performance in the sunny, warm, and windy conditions “fantastic” and “unbelievable.” He said, “He didn’t take his foot off the throttle, and he did a hell of a job. He saved the day. The first three runs for Andretti Autosport were disappointing, but he pulled us through. I’m really proud of him.”

Mario Andretti, 80, was watching from his home at Nazareth, Pa., and said “never so nervous in my life” as he watched his grandson’s run on NBC TV. “I’m happier now than I’ve ever been,” he said. “I jumped so high I hit my head on the ceiling, and it’s a nine-foot ceiling. He knows what he needs to do to get the best out of the car and minimize mistakes. He’s seriously focused on winning the 500.”

Even Scott Dixon, the 2008 winner who halfway through the Fast Nine Shootout had set the pace (231.051 mph) that Andretti trumped, was cheering the accomplishment. Dixon, who’ll start the race alongside Andretti in the middle of Row 1 in the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda for Chip Ganassi Racing, said a week from now it would be nice “to break up the Andretti party.” But he said, “I know what this place means to his family. Honestly, Marco was the guy I was hoping for, because I think he deserved it.”

The notoriously aggressive Takuma Sato, who was seeded ninth after Saturday qualifying, registered a four-lap average of 230.725 mph in the No. 30 Panasonic/PeopleReady Honda to earn a spot on the outside of the front row. He won the race in 2017.

Andretti’s teammate Ryan Hunter-Reay – the 2014 winner and No. 5 qualifier – said, “An Andretti on the pole at Indianapolis — too bad we couldn’t hear the crowd explode.”

Public-health concerns as coronavirus lingers forced Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Roger Penske to abide by state and local restrictions that meant no fans will be permitted to attend. Penske and the IMS already had had no real choice but to postpone the race from the customary Memorial Day weekend in May to August 23.

The next day of on-track action will be Miller Lite Carb Day Friday, Aug. 21. All 33 drivers have an opportunity to make their last laps before Race Day.

Marco Andretti said Saturday afternoon that securing the pole position Sunday was “going to be about little things. It’s going to be about getting every downshift right, every shift right, all things we have to do inside the car, the balance. I love working with my engineer. When you roll off with speed, that’s always the Indianapolis first hurdle. When you get over that, it’s about fine-tuning and circumstances. So hopefully we are on the better end of things. It’s going to be what it’s going to be.”

That last sentence is about as “Andretti” a statement as a third-generation driver can make after knowing his grandfather won at Indianapolis in 1969 but watching his whole life as the indifferent racetrack broke his family’s heart time after time since then.

The number 33 keeps popping up – Marco Andretti is 33, he’s fastest among 33 racers at Indianapolis, and he captured the pole at The Brickyard 33 years after his iconic grandfather did. So is Marco Andretti superstitious?

All he said was, “I’m hoping the Andretti curse doesn’t exist in August.”