INDY 500: Honda basks in Indy rebound

"It's hard to put into words," a visibly relieved and elated St. Cyr told RACER. "After the year we had last year, this just feels great. It's not just pole, it's four Hondas in the top-5."

HPD race team leader Allen Miller echoed St. Cyr's enthusiasm.

"After last year, what a comeback," he said of Chevy's dominance during the 2015 Indy 500. "I'm so happy. We never give up. From last year, we knew we were behind, stepped up to the task, and everybody involved put in a huge amount of work."

Based on the trap speeds set in qualifying, it appears Honda has moved ahead of Chevy in the horsepower category. And with HPD taking control of its 2016 aero kit, the California-based outfit has made gains across the board for the 500.

"If you look at the history of HPD, it started 23 years ago as an engine rebuilder," St. Cyr (far left) said. "The engines were designed and built in Japan and we just rebuilt them here. Since then, we've taken a step-by-step approach to the point where we designed and built this IndyCar engine ourselves – without any input from our parent company in Japan. It's similar with the aerodynamics.

"Our chassis group was very small, and when it finally got determined we were going to do aero kits, it was always the plan that Honda would eventually take control, but in the short term, we looked to our partners at Wirth Research. And we've developed the kit more in-house, and using our resources in Japan, and that's part of our long-term strategy. And we still have a great relationship with Wirth Research."

"I couldn't make this stuff up," he said. "Considering the low he had last year to where he is this week, it's indescribable. I'm so happy for him, so happy for the Schmidt Peterson team, and think it's just great for them."

HPD's towering boss – ever the realist – also cautioned against making more out of Honda's pole than is necessary with the big race right around the corner.

"It's a good start, but it's just one step in our journey," he continued. "Quite frankly, the real goal is next week. I want to thank all the work that people did at Honda Performance Development, all the work the teams did as one big group to figure out what we need to do, and it's really satisfying to be here right now. But there's more left to achieve."