The opening day of qualifying for the 106th running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge has just wrapped up at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and was shortened due to multiple weather-related stoppages.
The grid has been set from positions 13 to 33.
DragonSpeed with Cusick Motorsports Stefan Wilson starts the race from 33rd place having failed to set a time due to an engine change.
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Jack Harvey in the No.45 Hy-Vee Honda starts 32nd with a four lap average of 226.851MPH.
Christian Lundgaard will make his Indianapolis 500 debut from 31st with a speed of 227.053MPH.
Arrow McLaren SP’s Juan Pablo Montoya who failed technical inspection will start the race from 30th place following a speed of 228.622MPH.
AJ Foyt Racing’s Dalton Kellett in the No.4 K Line Insulators Chevrolet starts the race from 29th place with a speed of 229.916MPH.
Kyle Kirkwood starts his first Indianapolis 500 from 28th with a speed of 229.406MPH.
Defending Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves starts the race from 27th place for Meyer Shank Racing with a speed of 229.630MPH.
Scott McLaughlin will roll off from 26th place with a speed of 230.154MPH for Team Penske.
Colton Herta who suffered an engine issue in the No.26 Gainbridge Honda starts the race from 25th place with a speed of 230.235MPH and speaking following the action he said:
“It was a pretty disappointing day. We didn’t really do much and the running that we did do was pretty under par. We need to look and see what we did wrong and hopefully make corrections so that we are better in the race.”
Devlin DeFrancesco will make his Indianapolis 500 debut from 24th place after a speed of 230.326MPH and speaking following the action the Italian-Canadian said:
“It was a close one on my last lap, nerve-wracking at that speed. We were pushing. We had a slide in Turn 1 on Lap 3, so I was trying to correct it with tools. Then I came back on it and had a slide and understeer through Turn 2. We will go back and review.”
Marco Andretti starts the race from 23rd place with a speed of 230.345MPH and speaking following the action, Andretti who was impeded by Takuma Sato during one of his runs commented saying:
“The car went about as quick as we knew it was going to go from the tunnel and the test. I think we maximized what we were given and that’s all you can ask for in qualifying. It’s a bummer we can’t play for pole. I think we have a race car to win the race, we just have to keep working on car speed.”
Sage Karam starts the race from 22nd with a speed of 230.464MPH.
Graham Rahal in the No.15 United Rentals Honda rolls off from 21st place following a four lap average of 230.766MPH.
Alexander Rossi in the No.27 NAPA Auto Parts AutoNation Honda starts the race from 20th place with a speed of 230.812MPH and speaking following the action he said:
“Day started out promising and I don’t know where we went wrong. That is the most frustrating part. The team did a good job to get us back out there for a second attempt. The conditions changed a lot between then and now with those two runs so we didn’t end up going faster. Then it rained.”
Callum Ilott in the No.77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet starts the race from 19th place with a speed of 230.961MPH.
Ed Carpenter Racing’s Conor Daly starts the race from 18th place with a speed of 230.999MPH.
JR Hildebrand in the No.14 AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet starts the race from 17th place following a four-lap average of 231.112MPH.
Simon Pagenaud starts his first Indianapolis 500 with Meyer Shank Racing from 16th place after recording a four-lap average of 231.275MPH and speaking following the action he said:
We found a lot of speed which is making me smile because lap 1 was super fast. “It’s unfortunate that it’s the luck of the draw and unfortunately, we picked number 30, which is when the sun came out and the track got hot. We couldn’t hold on to the average, but the speed is amazing and is giving me a lot of hope. I think our car has a lot more speed to be up the chart, but the guys did a great job on it so for this time of the day I think it’s a great performance.
Dreyer and Reinbold Racing’s Santino Ferrucci starts the race from 15th with a speed of 231.508MPH.
Josef Newgarden in the No.2 Shell Rewards Team Penske Chevrolet starts the race from 14th place with a speed of 231.580MPH.
Dale Coyne Racing’s David Malukas starts the race, his first Indianapolis 500 from 13th place on the grid with a speed of 231.607MPH.
Two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Takuma Sato made it into the Fast 12 for Sunday in the No.51 Dale Coyne Racing with RWR Nurtec ODT Honda as did Team Penske’s Will Power in the No.12 Verizon 5G Chevrolet.
Six-time NTT IndyCar Series champion and 2008 Indianapolis 500 winner Scott Dixon in the No.9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda made it into the Fast 12 along with his Ganassi team-mate’s Jimmie Johnson, Marcus Ericsson, Tony Kanaan and defending series champion Alex Palou who commented following the session saying:
“I’m super happy with our qualifying run [fourth]. The car was really fast, although it was really busy in the cockpit [constantly adjust cockpit controls to alter the handling]. That’s because we had no real running yesterday [Friday, due to high, gusting winds], but still really happy with our car, and with having all five Chip Ganassi Racing Hondas in the top 12 for tomorrow.
Rinus VeeKay was fastest in the No.21 Bitnile Bitcoin Chevrolet for Ed Carpenter Racing while Romain Grosjean made it into the fast 12 in his No.28 DHL Honda and speaking following the action he said:
“I think we were expecting more wind like this morning and the wind didn’t pick up, so the conditions were very good. We played it too safe for our first run, but it’s okay because if the conditions are similar or the same, we should have a good run tomorrow.”
Ed Carpenter is also through to the fast 12 with a speed of 232.397MPH while two of the three Arrow McLaren SP cars made it through with both Pato O’Ward and Felix Rosenqvist coming home in second and third respectively with speeds of 233.037MPH for O’Ward and 232.775MPH for Rosenqvist.
Qualifying concludes tomorrow with a practice session for the Fast 12 tomorrow morning before positions seven to 12 are set and the the final front two rows will be set with the Firestone Fast 6.