James Hinchcliffe wins Indy 500 pole a year after near-fatal crash

INDIANAPOLIS —  James Hinchcliffe watched the Indianapolis 500 last year from his hospital bed. He had nearly died from injuries six days earlier in a crash at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Now he’ll start the historic 100th running of “The Greatest Spectacle In Racing” from the pole.

The Canadian driver, who spent the last year fighting back from the life-threatening leg injury, completed a remarkable comeback Sunday by posting a four-lap qualifying average of 230.760 mph on the final run of the day to barely edge American Josef Newgarden for the pole.

“I get it. [The accident] was a big deal,” Hinchcliffe said after winning the top spot by 0.06 mph, the fourth-closest pole finish in race history. “You’re coming back to this place and you want to focus on the here and now and not remember or focus on hitting the wall at 125 Gs. Hopefully, this [the pole] is the topic of conversation for the next week.”

The pole shootout was so close that Ryan Hunter-Reay, who will start third, thought he actually had passed Newgarden on the second-to-last attempt when he was clocked at 230.648.

When Hinchcliffe’s speed was announced, the large crowd in the front straightaway roared, and it wasn’t just fans who appreciated the accomplishment of one of the series’ most popular drivers.

Newgarden and Hunter-Reay, the 2014 race champ and one of Hinchcliffe’s former teammates with Andretti Autosport, both congratulated the Schmidt Peterson Motorsports driver who missed the final 11 races last season after a broken suspension part punctured his left leg and nearly caused him to bleed out the day after Indy 500 qualifying ended.

“I don’t think anyone can describe nearly losing your life at a track, then going back there to go 240 mph into a corner,” Hunter-Reay said.

Hinchcliffe also struggled to explain the frenzied finish on a wild qualifying weekend.

Newgarden thought he had given Ed Carpenter Racing its third pole win in four years after finishing with an average of 230.700 on the 2.5-mile oval.

Hinchcliffe’s victory marks the first time in six races that Team Penske drivers have not won the pole and ends a 31-race pole drought for Honda, which dated to the 2014 race in Houston. It’s the first time Honda has taken the 500 pole since 2011, the year before Chevrolet rejoined the IndyCar engine competition.

For Newgarden, it will be his first career front-row start at Indy.