Field is Set for 110th Indianapolis 500
The result set the starting slots for 13-33 in initial single-car qualifying (and there was time for only one attempt, rather than two or more), followed later in the afternoon by qualifying for the top 12 and eventually the Firestone Fast Six. In each case in the latter two sessions, drivers qualified from worst to first, first among 12 contestants and later for six. No matter the changes, the results were easy to understand: Alex Palou, the reigning Indy 500 champion, was the fastest driver of all in his Chip Ganassi Dallara/Honda.
Palou, the four-time INDYCAR champion who won last year’s 500-mile race, wasn’t the quickest driver amongst the top 12, or even the top six in the run-up to the final four-lap runs. That honor went to Meyer Shank Racing’s Felix Rosenqvist. But he couldn’t match the big number Palou had set down in the final run-up to earn pole position: 232.248 mph. Rosenqvist settled for fourth place with his Honda-powered Dallara, behind the Chevrolets for 2016 Indy 500 winner Alexander Rossi (231.990) and Team Penske’s Chevy-powered David Malukas (231.877). Rosenqvist, (231.375) A.J. Foyt Racing’s Santino Ferrucci (230.846) with his Chevrolet power and Pato O’Ward’s Chevy-powered Arrow McLaren Dallara completed the six that made three qualifying attempts on Sunday.
Since there was no bumping, anyone that made an attempt gets to start this Greatest Spectacle in Racing. And if you’ve never subjected yourself to it, this is the one race in the year you must attend. If not once, then maybe 40- or 50 times, like anyone that’s gone once! There were some big surprises in a glance at the grid. Four-time winner Helio Castroneves, working with Meyer Shank Racing, is way down in 15th place. Josef Newgarden will start his Team Penske Chevy/Dallara from 24th, right next to Ryan Hunter-Reay, who won this race in 2014. Other winners left out of either the six- or 12-car secondary or tertiary pole qualifying attempts include Scott Dixon’s Chip Ganassi Racing Honda in 11th, two-time winner Takuma Sato in 13th with his Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda, Andretti Global’s Marcus Ericsson qualified 18th and his teammate, Will Power in 20th. The slowest driver was Sting Ray Robb in Juncos Hollinger’s Chevy.
Monday changed a lot. A two-hour practice was scheduled so that all the teams could get their cars back to regular order from the elevated boost and chassis adjustments they’re allowed to use in qualifying and getting set-ups right for racing, not qualifying. The weather was iffy, with rain expected in the second hour. Just before the weather showed up (the cue is always “It’s raining in Terre Haute”), the Big One occurred in the second turn of the 2.5-mile oval. That’s a usual spot where drivers can get out of shape; there’s been plenty of discussion about having the track work on the corner.
But never mind the discussions. Alexander Rossi’s Ed Carpenter Racing Chevy got out of shape and smacked the outside wall just after the apex. He managed to collect Pato O’Ward and Romain Grosjean. At that point, they’d been practicing for fewer than half an hour. After Rossi smacked the SAFER barrier he suffered a secondary hit from O’Ward’s Arrow McLaren Chevy, while Grosjean, had been trying to avoid the incident and got caught up in it, with his Dale Coyne Racing Honda. That meant the on-track session lasted all of 35 minutes, due to track inspection, the three-car shunt, combined with rain and lightning in the area. Rossi sustained minor injuries to a finger on his left hand and his right ankle. He’ll be evaluated prior to the final practice on May 22, Carb Day. If cleared, he’ll be racing a backup.
Katherine Legge, who has been racing worldwide for at least two decades and who has driven just about any type of racing vehicle, is hoping to become the first woman to complete both the Indianapolis 500 and Coca Cola 600 on the same day. This will be Legge’s fourth Indy 500, driving a car entered by A.J. Foyt Racing (Chevy) and assisted by Sarah Fisher and HMD Motorsports. If she is able to race and finish the 500, then fly to Charlotte, then race and finish the Coca Cola 600 on the same day, Legge will join such drivers John Andretti (1994), Robby Gordon and Tony Stewart, who have each made multiple attempts to complete “The Double”, Kurt Busch and Kyle Larson, who has made two attempts last year and the year prior. Stewart, like Larson tried twice; Robby Gordon made five attempts! Now it’s Legge’s turn.
As always, weather in the midwest is likely to play games with the running of the 500. There are years when competitors have to deal with high heat and broad sun, but this year sure doesn’t look like it’s going to turn out that way. Carb Day, this Friday, is the final tuneup for all entries and NOAA is promising showers. The 500 Parade is set for Saturday, also with predicted showers as temps move towards 80 degrees, which is the forecast high for Sunday. Chance of showers then change of thunderstorms is, at this time, the forecast for Sunday, while showers are predicted through Wednesday! All that wet activity would create havoc for the Indy cars, which intend to run through the streets of Detroit a week after Indy. We’ll have to wait and see if that happens.