page_title: 2011 Indianapolis 500
section_title: Qualifying
hierarchical_section_title: 2011 Indianapolis 500 / Time Trials / Saturday May 21 – Pole Day / Qualifying
caption_attribution_description: English: Front row qualifiers for the 2011 Indianapolis 500 (L to R): Scott Dixon (qualified 2nd), Alex Tagliani (1st), Oriol Servià (3rd).
context_page_description: The 95th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Sunday May 29, 2011. The race was part of the 2011 IZOD IndyCar Series season. The track opened for practice on May 14 and time trials were held from May 21 to 22. Alex Tagliani won the pole position, and the race was won by Dan Wheldon. It was his second Indy 500 win after the 2005 race, and the last win of his racing career. It was the first of two Indy victories for car owner Bryan Herta.
  American rookie J. R. Hildebrand of Panther Racing took the lead with two laps to go. As the leaders were cycling through pit stops, Hildebrand was nursing a car very low on fuel. He was attempting to stretch his tank to the finish line and hold on for an unexpected victory. It would have been the first Indy 500 win for Panther Racing, after three consecutive runner-up finishes, and two series championships. On the final turn of the final lap, Hildebrand went high to pass the slow car of Charlie Kimball. He drifted wide and crashed into the outside wall. As his wrecked car coasted down the front straight, Wheldon slipped by in the final 1,000 feet to take the victory.
context_section_description: First segment summary: The first segment was scheduled from 11 a.m. until 4 p.m. All drivers in the qualifying order were guaranteed at least one opportunity to make a qualifying attempt. The top 24 would make up the provisional starting field. The top nine would advance to the pole position "shootout." Alex Tagliani set the pace early, with a run of 226.954 mph. Other drivers putting in top 9 speeds included Dan Wheldon, Townsend Bell, and Will Power. The day was headlined by several part-time IndyCar teams, while several full-time contenders struggled mightily. Penske failed to get all three of their cars in the top 9; after his morning practice crash, Ryan Briscoe failed to make the top 24. Hélio Castroneves, trying to become the first driver to win three consecutive Indy poles, missed the top 9. All five cars of Andretti Autosport struggled, with John Andretti the only driver to crack the top 24. Ed Carpenter was one of the final drivers to make an attempt, and qualified with an impressive 226.171 mph, good enough for 6th fastest for Sarah Fisher Racing. After being burned in a crash on Thursday, Simona de Silvestro made three qualifying attempts, and on her third attempt, managed to qualify 24th. The only crash of the session was by Ho-Pin Tung, who wrecked on his final lap and suffered a concussion. A short rain shower ended the session about 25 minutes early.
  Fast Nine Shootout summary: Rain delayed the start of the Fast Nine "shootout,"  therefore each of the nine participants were allowed only one attempt at the pole position. The top nine drivers from the earlier segment took to the track in reverse order of speed. Oriol Servià set the pace early with a run of 227.168 mph. Dario Franchitti was running fast enough to clinch a front row position, but he ran out of fuel on the final lap and dropped to ninth. Scott Dixon was the second to last driver to make an attempt. He took over the provisional pole position from Servià, and he himself ran out of fuel in the last few seconds of his run. Alex Tagliani was the final driver to go out. His run of 227.472 mph secured the pole position for Sam Schmidt Motorsports.
caption: Front row qualifiers (L to R): Scott Dixon, Alex Tagliani, and Oriol Servià.
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