INDIANAPOLIS — Marco Andretti doesn’t wake up thinking about his haters. He sees you. He knows you’re there. He hears the noise. But, he’s made a vow to not let you affect him.

He also knows just how differently everything would be if the 2006 Indy 500 ended differently.

“I mean, when you struggle, it makes is all worth it when you’re able to have days like today,”” Marco Andretti said after earning the pole in dramatic fashion for next Sunday’s 104th Running of the Indianapolis 500 (1 p.m. ET, NBC, INDYCAR Radio Network).

“Yeah, I mean, it’s been brutal. I’m a competitor. I don’t want to not win races, not be on the podiums. I don’t know, we’re just wired to not quit, man. I love this sport. I’m going to keep doing whatever you can do for it and to try to be successful.”

Andretti, said all week that the fourth lap of a qualifying run would make or break the pole. It did. He and Scott Dixon were even through the first three laps of their respectively qualifying runs. Dixon, ran a 230.337 mph on his final lap. Andretti?

230.532 mph.

That’s his first pole of his career at Indy and the first by an Andretti here since 1987. It’s a run that if this place wasn’t quiet from being behind closed doors, the place would have erupted with glee.

“It would have been awesome,” Andretti said on if fans were here to witness what he just did. “I can’t complain. I’m lucky to be driving racecars during these times. Yeah, that would have been amazing.

“There’s time to celebrate. I think we got to focus on the task at hand.”

Focused he is. Arguably, this is the most focused I’ve seen him. He’s been quick all week in turning in the second, third and first practice speeds respectively on the three days.

He turned in the fastest practice lap in 24 years on Fast Friday at 233.491 mph. He was the fastest in qualifying at 231.068 mph. Now, can he be the fastest man next Sunday and be the first across the yard of bricks?

“Funny enough really I was more focused on the racecar,” Andretti said of his pace earlier in the week during practice. “I was trying to bury myself in traffic on older tires a lot today. We didn’t really focus on fast times. It was kind of nice that materialized as well.

“It’s good that the car rolled off with some pace. That’s always kind of like the first hurdle you have to get over. From there it’s just working on the car balance. That’s what we were able to do. We were one of the better ones in the pack today. It just seems kind of hard to pass where things are at right now.

“So far so good. It was a good start.”

Andretti, said that he’s one change away on his race car to make him happy.

Still, he isn’t going to be fooled by this pace. He notes that he’s been fast here during practice a lot. He’s just not turned that speed into a win.

“More days like this,” continued Andretti. “I’m not just talking about the speed. Just the way the car felt, really putting ourselves in really tough situations like the race is going to be. That’s going to be my focus, is to try to get comfortable with being uncomfortable and put myself in really tough spots, make the car as good as we can make it.

“Really, really focused on the race. I’ve been quickest here a lot, I’ve been on the front row, I’ve been in the top 10 the majority in qualifying, but it hasn’t gotten me a Borg-Warner. That’s my focus right now.”

Andretti, is currently 0-for-14 in his career at the Indianapolis 500. While it looked early on that Andretti would eventually end that dreaded “Andretti Curse” unfortunately, he just never has.

So far this month, Andretti looks like the favorite for the 104th Running of the Indianapolis 500 (1 p.m. ET, NBC, INDYCAR Radio Network).

That’s why we always go back to that 2006 race and think, what would have been? Andretti, was leading on the last lap of his rookie year in ’06 before Sam Hornish Jr. beat him in a drag race to the yard of bricks. He’d finish third two years later for two top three finishes in his first three Indy starts. Throw in another third place run in 2010 and you get three top three’s in five tries.

He’s just been as jinxed though as his dad and grandpa.

From a wild pit stop that saw tires put on his car on the wrong sides, to freak incidents, he’s just never been able to sip the milk in victory circle here.

That sounds a lot like the way that his season has gone thus far too.

“Yeah, I mean, when stuff is out of my control, there’s not much I can do, right?” Andretti said on opening day of practice. “Just got to keep going. A lot of it’s been circumstantial, DNF’s here, a fire in Iowa, stuff like that.

“I think we just came off one of my worst tracks, is Iowa. We top 10’d it. That was our first normal race of the season and we were in the top 10.

“We started at Texas, we should have finished fourth through sixth. We had some stuff go wrong there.

“It’s not really pace this year. That’s kind of what is keeping me upbeat and positive. This place, I feel good around here regardless.”

“I mean, race pace is only as fast as the car ahead of you,” said Andretti. “It seems when you’re more than two cars back, it’s really hard to pass.”

Luckily, he’s the first car up.

His competitors were so happy for Andretti on Pole Day on Sunday and spoke as to why.

“Super happy for Marco,” said second place starter Scott Dixon.”They’ve been really good all week. He’s such a great guy and a good friend for so many years. To see him get a pole position at Indianapolis, I know what that means to him and especially his family, as well.

“I just know him as Marco my friend. He’s a great person. Everybody included, his family, is.

“I’m not sure why. I think it’s hard when you drive for a team that’s owned by your dad. Graham Rahal gets some flack sometimes. These are extremely talented guys.

“For me it was just really, one, hard because we didn’t win the pole. If anybody out of that list, honestly Marco was the guy I was hoping for because I think he deserved it. That’s a hard situation to go into, especially being last up and everything is on the line.

“We threw up a decent number. It wasn’t going to be easy to beat. That’s definitely going to help Marco in a lot of ways throughout the season as well, maybe beyond. We just hope he doesn’t get too confident for next weekend.”

Is this the year that he gets that ever so coveted victory? So far, it looks like it.