102 Stats in 102 Days Until 102nd Indy 500 – Day 41, Fastest Race Qualifier (March 26, 2018)

The 102nd Indianapolis 500 is 62 days away! This is the 41st day of the 102 Stats in 102 Days Until the 102nd Indy 500.

Each day from now until the Saturday before the Indianapolis 500, we’ll post a list of stats related to the race. Some are well-known statistics, while others are a little more in-depth.

Here is a look at the fastest qualifiers for the Indianapolis 500. The list is different from polesitters, as some drivers set fastest qualifying speeds after pole day. The 1911 starting grid was based on date of entry; therefore, that race was not included in this list.

Fastest Race Qualifier

- Rick Mears: 5 (1979, 1982, 1986, 1988, 1989)

- A.J. Foyt: 4 (1965, 1969, 1974, 1975)

- Mario Andretti: 4 (1966, 1967, 1976, 1987)

- Tom Sneva: 4 (1977, 1978, 1981, 1984)

- Arie Luyendyk: 4 (1993, 1996, 1997, 1999)

- Helio Castroneves: 4 (2003, 2007, 2009, 2010)

- Rex Mays: 3 (1935, 1936, 1940)

- Scott Dixon: 3 (2008, 2015, 2017)

- Ralph DePalma: 2 (1920, 1921)

- Jimmy Murphy: 2 (1922, 1924)

- Leon Duray: 2 (1925, 1928)

- Billy Arnold: 2 (1930, 1931)

- Jimmy Snyder: 2 (1937, 1939)

- Duke Nalon: 2 (1948, 1949)

- Walt Faulkner: 2 (1950, 1951)

- Jack McGrath: 2 (1954, 1955)

- Parnelli Jones: 2 (1962, 1963)

- David Bruce-Brown: 1 (1912)

- Jack Tower: 1 (1913)

- Georges Boillot: 1 (1914)

- Howdy Wilcox: 1 (1915)

- John Aitken: 1 (1916)

- Rene Thomas: 1 (1919)

- Tommy Milton: 1 (1923)

- Earl Cooper: 1 (1926)

- Frank Lockhart: 1 (1927)

- Cliff Woodbury: 1 (1929)

- Lou Moore: 1 (1932)

- Bill Cummings: 1 (1933)

- Kelly Petillo: 1 (1934)

- Ronney Householder: 1 (1938)

- Mauri Rose: 1 (1941)

- Ralph Hepburn: 1 (1946)

- Bill Holland: 1 (1947)

- Chet Miller: 1 (1952)

- Bill Vukovich: 1 (1953)

- Pat Flaherty: 1 (1956)

- Paul Russo: 1 (1957)

- Dick Rathmann: 1 (1958)

- Johnny Thomson: 1 (1959)

- Jim Hurtubise: 1 (1960)

- Eddie Sachs: 1 (1961)

- Jim Clark: 1 (1964)

- Joe Leonard: 1 (1968)

- Al Unser: 1 (1970)

- Peter Revson: 1 (1971)

- Bobby Unser: 1 (1972)

- Johnny Rutherford: 1 (1973, 1980)

- Teo Fabi: 1 (1983)

- Pancho Carter: 1 (1985)

- Emerson Fittipaldi: 1 (1989)

- Gary Bettenhausen: 1 (1991)

- Roberto Guerrero: 1 (1992)

- Al Unser Jr.: 1 (1994)

- Scott Brayton: 1 (1995)

- Billy Boat: 1 (1998)

- Greg Ray: 1 (2000)

- Scott Sharp: 1 (2001)

- Bruno Junqueira: 1 (2002)

- Buddy Rice: 1 (2004)

- Kenny Brack: 1 (2005)

- Sam Hornish Jr.: 1 (2006)

- Alex Tagliani: 1 (2011)

- Ryan Briscoe: 1 (2012)

- Will Power: 1 (2013)

- Ed Carpenter: 1 (2014)

- James Hinchcliffe: 1 (2016)

BOLD designates not the polesitter.

Notes of Interest

- In the 100 races starting with the 1912 race, there have been 20 times in which the fastest qualifier did not start from the pole position.

- Ralph DePalma was the first driver to set the fastest speed in qualifying more than once and consecutively, doing so in 1920 and 1921.

- Jack Tower qualified fastest for the 1913 Indianapolis 500 but started from the back row, as the starting positions were determined by a blind draw.

- The fastest qualifier did not start on the pole for three consecutive races, on two different occasions: 1912-1914 and 1946-1948.

- Arie Luyendyk set the fastest four-lap average of 236.986 mph in qualifying for the 1996 race but did not start on the pole.

- Will Power was the most recent fast qualifier not to serve as the polesitter, in 2013. His best speed of 228.844 mph came during the first segment of pole day, but Ed Carpenter earned the pole with a speed of 228.762 mph in the Fast Nine Shootout. Power, meanwhile, set a speed of 228.087 mph and started sixth.

- Gary Bettenhausen, at the age of 49, was the oldest driver to become the race’s fastest qualifier, in 1991. That race was the only one in which Rick Mears was the polesitter but did not set the fastest speed.