In 1988 Team Penske locked out the front row. Rick Mears on the pole, Danny Sullivan in the middle, and Al Unser, Sr. on the outside.

Today a similar scenario is a very good possibility. Chevrolet powers nine of the 12 cars eligible for the pole today, and yesterday Team Penske set the three fastest times, with Will Power on the provisional pole. Power has to be considered the favorite to win the top spot, but I would not count out Scott McLaughlin’s chances today.

Who could spoil the Penske front row party? One of the Mclaren drivers, Alexander Rossi, fourth yesterday, or Pato O’Ward, who recovered from an early issue to salvage 10th place yesterday afternoon.

Among the Honda drivers, Kyle Kirkwood came closest to spoiling the Chevy party, but he could only manage fifth place, a half second from the front row.. Felix Rosenqvist has qualified well this season and could move up to row two, Takuma Sato seems to have a great car, but I’m not sure how well he will qualify.

Last Chance

The four cars vying for the three final spots in the field have a less daunting task today. They each only have to beat three cars instead of 30.

For time Saturday it appeared we would see another Rahal versus Coyne shootout, and it essentially is. Marcus Ericsson of Andretti is the lone outsider in basically a rematch of the 2023 last chance rematch.

I think Nolan Siegel will be the one missing the show. Since his crash on Thursday, the car has not shown any speed. Hoiw much downforce dare they remove to make the rookie comfortable enough to challenge for a palce on the grid?

McLaren Turnaround

Yesterday morning, Arrow McLaren had a series of misadventures which I chronicled here. To review, the nfirstb half of their day went like this:

Kyle Larson aborted his run after a plenum issue. He just completed a run and is currentlyn sixth.

Alexander Rossi pulled his car out of line to keep it cool. He has since placed the car fourth provisionally.

Pato O’Ward pulled his car out of line, then made a run. He had the same issue as Larson, but O’Ward finished the four laps. He is currently 32nd.

Callum Ilott qualified at his appointed time and had aa solid run. His car was disqualified in tech for a non compliant rear wheel offset. He has not made another attempt as of this moment.

The afternoon went much better.

Alexander Rossi, Kyle Larson, and Pato O’Waard qualified in the top 12. Rossi, the only driver not having issues, was fourth, Larson earned the sixth spot, and O’Ward squeezed into the 10th position.

Ilott requalified in 15th.

I think hey will have a better day today, and Pato is a dark horse for the front row.

Plenum Problems

One thing that could stand in the way of Chevrolet success today is if the plenum issues from Saturday returns. Will it hit different teams than it did yesterday? Did Chevy resolve the problem overnight?

This will be something to watch for this afternoon.