ESPN.com · May 22, 2016
Hinchcliffe passes Newgarden for Indy 500 pole
INDIANAPOLIS -- James Hinchcliffe completed his remarkable comeback Sunday by beating out American Josef Newgarden for the Indianapolis 500 pole.
The Canadian driver earned his first IndyCar pole with a four-lap average of 230.760 mph a year after a life-threatening leg injury forced him out of the race.
Newgarden will start second in the May 29 race after going 230.700. It was the fourth-closest differential between first and second in Indy's 100-year history.
Hinchcliffe won it in dramatic fashion, too, on the final run of the nine-car pole shootout. And it came on the fifth anniversary of Sam Schmidt's team winning the pole in 2011.