Team Penske and Chevrolet dominated qualifying for the 108th Indianapolis 500, which takes place next Sunday, May 26 on the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway 2.5-mile oval. It was a weekend of dominance for the Bow-Tie brand and for the racers using Chevrolet power in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES.
It was Scott McLaughlin and his No. 3 Pennzoil Chevy-Dallara who led Team Penske’s threesome to the top of Indy’s pylon, with his record, pole-winning average speed of 234.220. This was the team’s 19th pole position at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
McLaughlin is joined by two-time INDYCAR champ and 2018 Indianapolis 500 winner Will Power’s No. 12 Chevy-Dallara, together with reigning victor Josef Newgarden’s No. 2 Chevy-powered machine.This is the second sweep for Penske’s team, which did the same thing in 1988 with four-time Indy 500 champ Rick Mears on pole, 1985 spin-and-win Indy 500 star Danny Sullivan second and four-time Indy 500 winner Al Unser third.
McLaughlin, whose best of three qualifying efforts prior to Sunday was 14th last year, was relieved to have such a good qualifying effort, even as his team and teammates have practiced at the sharp end of the 33-car field. (Nolan Siegel, the 34th entry was bumped from the field on Sunday in Dale Coyne’s No. 18 Honda-Dallara.) “There’s so much pride in being able to do it,” McLaughlin said of earning this pole position. “I’m working hard. Indy hasn’t been kind to me, and a lot of it was my own doing. I need to work on things and this is the first step!”
Chevrolet drivers nearly locked out the first three rows of the 11 that constitute the Indy 500 grid. The sole bright spot for Honda of those three rows was Felix Rosenqvist’s assumption of position nine on the outside of the third row, racing for Meyer Shank.
NTT INDYCAR SERIES qualifying for the Indianapolis 500 is a full-weekend affair, starting with Fast Friday, when the turbocharged engines receive about 100 added horsepower for Saturday and Sunday’s two days of qualifying. On Saturday, positions 13-33 are set with both last row and Firestone Fast 12 and Fast Six are contested Sunday afternoon. Both days were hot, humid and sun-drenched, with Sunday feeling more like a mid-summer day than one in the middle of May.
Arrow McLaren Racing took two of their four cars to the second row, with Alexander Rossi’s Chevy-Dallara fourth, NASCAR Cup Series star Kyle Larson fifth and A.J. Foyt Racing’s Santino Ferrucci sixth in the final Firestone Fast Six qualifying effort late Sunday afternoon.
Row 3 belongs to Ed Carpenter Racing’s Rinus VeeKey, who overcame a massive shunt on Saturday to end up in the top 12 shootout on Sunday, Pato O’Ward of Arrow McLaren and Rosenqvist. Two-time winner Takuma Sato lines up tenth in a Honda-Dallara for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, with Andretti Autosport’s Kyle Kirkwood 11th (Honda) and former winner Ryan Hunter-Reay 12th for DRR-Cusick Motorsports with Chevy power.
While he was the fastest driver in combined practices, Colton Herta was unable to make the Fast 12 shootouts on Sunday and takes 13th for Andretti Global with Curb-Agajanian’s Honda-Dallas, followed by reigning INDYCAR champ Alex Palou’s Chip Ganassi Racing Honda and Callum Ilott, filling in with the No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevy-powered car.
There were some surprises at the rear of the field, as 2022 Indy 500 winner Marcus Ericsson’s No. 28 Andretti Global Honda-powered machine is in the middle of the last row, joined by Katherine Legge’s Dale Coyne Racing with RWR Honda and Graham Rahal’s Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda machine. Rahal, one might recall, failed to qualify in 2023 and nearly missed the field again this year.
If you’re not paying attention to Kyle Larson’s first appearance on an Indy 500 grid, start now. A driver who can acclimate to any kind of motor sport, Larson practiced at the sharp end of the field all week and ended up making the Firestone Fast Six in his initial attempt. Larson said he was, “So happy how the day is going,” on Sunday afternoon. “The balance was fine if I hit my marks, but if I missed an apex, I tried to scrub and got nervous,” he revealed. “It’ll be great to be on the first two rows of the Indy 500.” As the fifth drier to attempt the double of wining both the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600, Larson has one of the better chances of claiming that achievement.
Larson left the Indy track and flew to North Wilkesboro for NASCAR’s All-Star race, where he finished fifth. He was, of course, chasing the $1 million prize for winning that race, which went to Joey Logano of Team Penske. Yes, it was that kind of a weekend for America’s most successful open wheel squad – and a true NASCAR force as well.
After reaching for all-out speed over the weekend, the field of 33 went back to “normal” settings for two hours of practice on Monday afternoon, and Team Penske was at it again, as Newgarden led all comers. Although Herta was the fastest overall from eight practice sessions, he had his Honda-powered car quickest on Friday, when added boost was applied to all engines.
McLaughlin has bragging rights leading up to the start of the 108th Indianapolis 500 on Sunday at noon ET, but it’s anyone’s guess who will be caressing the BorgWarner trophy once 500 miles and 200 laps of the 2.5-mile oval are completed. Carb Day practice on Friday is offering a possibility of showers and thunderstorms after 2PM, well after the single hour’s practice session, while showers and possible thunderstorms are forecast – at this time – for Sunday’s race. Weather in the midwest is highly volatile and dependent on any number of factors that could cause different outcomes. It’s been quite a while since the 500 has had to run a day or two late… will that happen this year?
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