Scott Dixon earns Indianapolis 500 pole for fourth time

Scott Dixon slammed the brakes on IndyCar's youth movement by winning his fourth Indianapolis 500 pole by a mere 0.03 mph Sunday.The six-time IndyCar champion was the ninth and final driver to make his four-lap qualifying attempt around Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and he had to beat a pair of IndyCar's rising young stars to grab the pole.Colton Herta, the 21-year-old American signed last week to a contract extension with Andretti Autosport, made his attempt moments before Dixon. And Dixon didn't want feedback from his three Ganassi teammates who had already made their qualifying runs."It's so easy to get yourself out of sorts, but you've really got to get yourself out there and feel it out," Dixon said.His average speed of 231.685 mph knocked Herta to second and VeeKay to third for the front row for next Sunday's race. But the Chevy power seems just fine, as VeeKay and team owner Ed Carpenter qualified third and fourth and sat atop the leaderboard until Herta and Dixon made the final two runs of the day.Lining up next to Carpenter on the second row will be Tony Kanaan, at 46 the oldest driver in the field, and Alex Palou. Kanaan and Palou are Dixon's teammates at Ganassi, as is Marcus Ericsson, who qualified ninth.Ryan Hunter-Reay for Andretti was seventh and Helio Castroneves eighth for Meyer Shank Racing."If I was a fan, I'd be really excited by that Fast Nine qualifying," said Herta, who muttered a curse word when he learned his starting position earned him an 8 a.m. Monday photo shoot for the front-row qualifiers.The first three rows account for six Indianapolis 500 wins and eight series championships among four drivers, proving veteran experience still matters at Indianapolis Motor Speedway."It's very weird that the guy starting ahead of me was wearing diapers when I started my first Indy 500," Kanaan said of VeeKay, who will be the youngest driver to start the 500 in its 105 runnings.In a 75-minute shootout for the final three spots in the field held right before the Fast Nine session, Sage Karam, Will Power and Simona de Silvestro made the race.