Final half of grid locked in for Indy 500

After being rained out on Saturday, IndyCar held the beginning of its qualifying schedule on Sunday at noon.

Each driver only received one shot to set their best four-lap average due to the compressed schedule that necessitated all rounds be run on a single afternoon.

One by one, each car was sent out on track, with the top 12 at the end of the session advancing to further rounds.

That meant that positions 13-33 were locked in after just a single attempt, and no more options were available.

RelatedPosts

IndyCar announces revised Indy 500 qualifying schedule

1 day ago

Weather delays Indy 500 qualifying

1 day ago

Drivers near the front advanced to the next round, however, including Felix Rosenqvist who was fastest of all.

His four-lap average was 232.599 MPH, making him the driver to watch going into the afternoon.

Next on the charts was David Malukas in second, followed by Conor Daly in third and another Team Penske representative with Scott McLaughlin fourth quickest.

Rinus VeeKay was fifth quick, securing a position in the Top 12.

Caio Collet was the sole rookie to advance, continuing his strong performance from testing that took place here last month.

Scott Dixon, Pato O’Ward, and Santino Ferrucci all advanced, with each driver continuing their strong history at the speedway.

The reigning champion Alex Palou squeaked above the cut line with his late run, and Kyffin Simpson was 12th quickest but fast enough to advance.

Overall, Chevrolet was the power plant to beat, having secured eight of the 12 available positions on the first four rows and six of the fastest seven.

Locked into position

Just below the cut line was Takuma Sato in the #75 RLL Honda, missing the chance to advance by exactly 0.1 MPH. He will start his 17th Indy 500 from 13th.

Unfortunately for the Andretti Global trio, they were simply slow during their runs.

Continuing a trend that has been present during all of this year’s Indy 500 practice and test sessions, all three cars were stable but did not have the pace the team wanted.

Marcus Ericsson will be the furthest up the grid, with a run that earned him 18th place.

Will Power was just a shade slower, earning the 20th starting position, and Kyle Kirkwood was slower still, placing him on the ninth row.

Ed Carpenter was quick on the first lap in his #33 ECR Chevy, but drifted perilously close to the wall on the exit of Turn 2.

The veteran guessed a gust of wind was the culprit, but regardless of the cause he had to back off a bit and was only able to earn the 14th grid position.

His team-mate Christian Rasmussen also had a wiggle while at speed, but similarly was able to save himself from disaster. He earned the 16th starting spot.

ECR’s two close calls were the biggest moments of the day, and no drivers so much as touched the wall even while pushing as fast as they could with as little downforce as they could manage.

Near the back

Finding himself well below his team-mates, two-time Indy 500 winner Josef Newgarden earned the 24th starting position and will have work to do next weekend.

Both Dale Coyne Racing entries were near the bottom of the charts, with Romain Grosjean earning the 25th grid position and Dennis Hauger the 31st.

Katherine Legge set the 27th best time, locking her in for the first half of her historic Indy 500 / Coke 600 Double attempt.

With a lot of eyes on his progress, Mick Schumacher completed his run near the halfway point in the session.

His run was good enough to place him 28th on the grid, and he continued to take in the experience with a collected calm worthy of his family name.

Slowest on the charts was Sting Ray Robb, who could only muster a 226.572 MPH average in his Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevy.

No big disaster for the fourth-year driver, however, as there is no bumping this year and he is already locked into the race. He will just have to start from the last position.

Next rounds of qualifying begin at 4:30 PM eastern time, with a Top 12 session first followed by the Fast Six round that will decide pole.

Results so far