Sato, Dixon Head Honda Qualifying Effort at Sonoma
• Takuma Sato to start season-ending race from fifth
• Scott Dixon, seeking his fifth IndyCar Series drivers’ championship, will start sixth
• Title to be decided in Sunday’s GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma

SONOMA, Calif. (September 16, 2017) – Indianapolis 500 winner Takuma Sato and Honda’s leading contender for the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series Championship – Scott Dixon – led the way for the manufacturer today in qualifying action in advance of Sunday’s season-ending GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma.

While eight Honda drivers advanced through the first round of knock-out qualifying Saturday at the 2.385-mile Sonoma Raceway circuit, only Sato and Dixon advanced to the final, “Fast Six’ shootout for the coveted pole. Sato’s best lap of 1:16.2208 netted him fifth in the 22-car starting field, while Dixon ended the session sixth.

Pole qualifier Josef Newgarden is Dixon’s primary rival for the 2017 drivers’ championship, but both Helio Castroneves, third; and defending series champion Simon Pagenaud, fourth, are just behind Dixon in the points standings heading into tomorrow’s season finale. Live television coverage of Sunday’s 85-lap championship-deciding event starts at 3:30 p.m. EDT, on the NBC Sports Network.

Scott Dixon (Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) qualified 6th: “I think the air temperature change might have thrown us off a bit. The NTT DATA car was good this morning, but then we just didn’t have the grip [in qualifying]. We were lucky to find a few things and scrape through the qualifying rounds. I actually made a big mistake in Turn 3 that cost us some time, but I don’t think it would have put us close to the top, maybe just up one more position. I think we’re the ‘best of the rest’ today, but the race is tomorrow and there is a lot that can happen between the start and the checkered flag. I’m looking forward to it.”