Where do we start? The opening day of qualifying for the 108th running of the Indianapolis 500, presented by Gainbridge, served up some incredible drama. Team Penske’s Will Power in the No.12 Verizon Business Chevrolet was fastest with a four-lap average of 233.758MPH, Scott McLaughlin was second fastest with a four-lap average of 233.332MPH, and defending Indianapolis 500 winner Josef Newgarden set a four-lap average speed of 233.293MPH.
Alexander Rossi had a great session in the No.7 VELO Chevrolet for Arrow McLaren, ending the day in fourth place with a 233.069MPH, while Kyle Kirkwood was the fastest Honda-powered driver for Andretti Global with a 232.764MPH.
In his first Indianapolis 500, Kyle Larson made it into the Fast 12 in the No.17 HendrickCars.com Arrow McLaren Chevrolet with a 4-lap average of 232.563MPH. Felix Rosenqvist in the No.60 AutoNation Sirius XM Honda for Meyer Shank Racing had a solid run, finishing the day in seventh place with a speed of 232.547MPH.
AJ Foyt Racing’s Santino Ferrucci had a great day as he ended up in eighth place so will have a run at the Fast 12 on Sunday with a four-lap average of 232.496MPH. Speaking following the action, Ferrucci said:
“We were pretty good. “Chevrolet power is obviously the motor to be on it looks like today. Very thankful for that, for them, and for Homes For Our Troops. We’ll see where we’re at when it’s over.”
Takuma Sato was ninth for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing with a four-lap average of 232.473MPH, just ahead of Pato O’Ward, who set a 232.434MPH, and Rinus VeeKay, who did a phenomenal job recovering from a heavy crash to make it into the Fast 12. The biggest story of the day was Dreyer and Reinbold Racing with Cusick Motorsports Ryan Hunter-Reay in the No.23 Chevrolet, who ended the race in 12th place with a speed of 232.385MPH.
Colton Herta starts the race from 13th place just ahead of defending series champion and last year’s Indianapolis 500 pole-sitter Alex Palou in the No.10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda who set a four-lap average of 232.306MPH.
Callum Ilott starts the race in 15th place with a speed of 232.230MPH, just ahead of Marcus Armstrong and Ed Carpenter, while Kyffin Simpson starts his first Indianapolis 500 in 18th place with a four-lap average of 231.948MPH.
Marco Andretti starts the race from 19th place with a speed of 231.890MPH while four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves starts the race from 20th place. Scott Dixon in the No.9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda will start the race from 21st place with a speed of 231.851MPH following an engine and gearbox change this morning.
Agustin Canapino starts the race from 22nd place for Juncos Hollinger Racing just ahead of Sting Ray Robb for AJ Foyt Racing. Christian Rasmussen starts the race from 24th place, just ahead of Tom Blomqvist and Romain Grosjean. Speaking following the action, Sting Ray Robb said:
“Big improvement from run one and run two. “Happy with the things we found back at the garage. Still disappointed with the result. I think that we can be further up. Just based off of Santino (Ferrucci), I feel like we were the same speed [that he ran Friday] if not a little bit quicker than yesterday. I think that if we get a chance, we’d like to get one more run, but at the moment, I can be proud of the guys. We’re in the show, and we’ll find out on Monday what kind of Goodheart Chevy we have.”
Linus Lundqvist starts the race from 27th place, just ahead of Christian Lundgaard of RLL. Conor Daly starts the race from 29th for Dreyer and Reinbold Racing with Cusick Motorsports with a four-lap average of 231.243MPH. Marcus Ericsson is in 30th place with a four-lap average of 230.765MPH. Coming back on Sunday for the final three spots on the grid, the last-row shoot-out is two Rahal drivers, Graham Rahal, and Pietro Fittipaldi. Katherine Legge and Nolan Siegel also have to come back on Sunday.
Qualifying continues on Sunday, where the pole will be decided, as will the final row.