Kentucky kid
The Indianapolis MotoGP at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is Sunday, August 18, at 2 p.m. EDT. Be sure to catch all the action on Fox Sports 1. American Nicky Hayden starts 6th on the grid. Reuters

The Indianapolis MotoGP at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is Sunday, August 18, at 2 p.m. EDT. Be sure to catch all the action on Fox Sports 1. For race fans out there that will not have access to the Speed Channel when the lights go out, be sure to catch the live stream online by signing up for MotoGP 2013 MultiScreen Season VideoPass here.

If Marc Marquez wasn't already a star before Indy, he certainly is now. The Repsol Honda rider made a Valentino Rossi pass on Valentino Rossi at Laguna Seca to become the first rookie to ever win at the legendary Montery, California, race track. In fact, Marquez won at Austin too. This weekend, the Moto GP grid returns to the United States for the second time this season and Marquez is shaping up to be the clear favorite. If Marquez wins at Indy on Sunday, he will boast a clean American sweep in his rookie season.

Unbeaten in practice, 20-year-old Marquez was comfortable on his Honda from the get-go. On Saturday, he became the fastest ever to lap around Indianapolis on two wheels, claiming the Indianapolis Grand Prix pole position by a staggering half a second with a 1:37.958.

"I'm happy with how things went in the qualifying session. Obviously taking pole is important, but it's tomorrow that really counts. We knew the qualifying session was all about the single flying lap, the tyres had a lot of grip then and I took advantage of it. But tomorrow will be tough because everybody is struggling quite a lot at the end of the race with the tyre. Anyway, I think we have a good base. We are ready to fight for the win, but for sure, Jorge and Dani will be strong. We will monitor the situation."

Fellow spaniards Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa lock at the front row of the grid. The first bike on row two is the fearless Cal Crutchlow, followed by the young Alvaro Bautista, and finally the fastest American of the weekend, Ducati rider Nicky Hayden. Crutchlow's Tech 3 Yamaha teammate Bradley Smith, LCR Honda's Stefan Bradl, and the fan favorite Valentino Rossi make up row 3. Indianapolis is the Doctor's worst qualifying of the season.

Andrea Dovizioso starts 10th, Andrea Iannone is 11th, and second American and top CRT rider Colin Edwards starts 12th. Unfortunately, the third American, Ben Spies had to withdraw from the Indy weekend after dislocating his left shoulder in a gnarly fall.

“Our goal was not sixth position, but realistically, with our package right now, that was about as much as we could hope for,” said Kentucky's own Nicky Hayden.

“Squeezing on the second row is certainly not too bad. By far, that was the best lap I was able to get in this weekend. We got a couple good ideas for the race. We definitely want to try to smooth it out over the bumps and try to change directions a little bit better. We probably aren't going to make huge changes, being that was the best that I've went all weekend. But we'll try a couple little tweaks.”

On his fellow countryman, Nicky was especially happy to see Colin Edwards make it through to Q2 as the top CRT rider. “It was good for all of the fans here and good for Colin - he deserved it. I was happy to see it,” said Hayden.

However, Hayden feels disappointed for Ben Spies and wishes him the best.

“Well, that's racing. I hate it. Even though we are all competitors, we still don't like seeing guys getting hurt,” said Hayden. “You hate to see it. It's a shame for everybody - for Ducati, the fans, for Ben. Hopefully he's back soon. Luckily, it wasn't worse than it was.”

The Indianapolis MotoGP at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is Sunday, August 18, at 2 p.m. EDT. Be sure to catch all the action on Fox Sports 1. For race fans out there that will not have access to the Speed Channel when the lights go out, be sure to catch the live stream online by signing up for MotoGP 2013 MultiScreen Season VideoPass here.