Will Power nipped Scott Dixon near the end of today’s post qualifying practice. Power turned a lap at 229,222 mph. Early in the session Dixon set the fast time of 229.184.Pokle sitter Alex Palou was fourth fastest.
Power said that he thinks he has a car that can win the 500.
The first crash since the track opened for the 500 involved Katherine Legge and Stefan Wilson. Legge made contact with back of Wilson’s car in turn 1 and both cars made contact with the wall. Wilson hit head on. He was assisted from the car by the AMR safety team and was sent to Methodist Hospital for further evaluation.
As we learned about an hour ago, Wilson suffered a fracture of the 12th thoracic vertebra and has been ruled out of driving in the 107th running of the Indianapolis 500. No replacement driver has been named, and probably won’t be until tomorrow. I will not speculate about whom might replace him.
This result is devastating for a driver who has worked so hard to enter the 00. He finally got together with a good organization for this year, only to be sidelined.
With about 45 minutes left in today’s two hour practice session, Katherine Legge ran into the back of Stefan Wilson, sending both cars into the wall. Legge made right rear contact with the SAFER barrier. Wilson did a three quarter spin nand contacted the SAFER barrier head on. Legge continued down the ntrack and made wall contact in turn 2.
Stefan Wilson
Legge got out ofmthe carb without assistance. Wilson was assisted out of the car by the AMR safety team and placed on a stretcher. he was taken to Methodist Hospital for further evaluation.
Katherine Legge
The accident was the first incident of the Indianapolis 500 preparation weeks. Indycar reset the clock to 30 minutes as practice resumed.
1-3 p.m.: NTT INDYCAR SERIES Practice Peacock, Indycaradio
TICKETS: General Admission tickets are $15. Children 15 and under are admitted free with paying adult.
PUBLIC GATES OPEN (11 a.m.-3 p.m.): Gate 2, Gate 4, Gate 6S, Gate 7, Gate 7S, Gate 10, and Gate 10A.
PARKING: Free parking is located in the IMS infield. Enter through Gate 10 from 30th Street or through Gate 2 from 16th Street.
Indianapolis 500 qualifying gave fans quite a shiow. Fans saw the fastest qualifying time by a rookie (Benjamin Pedersen) and a female driver (Katherine Legge), the closes front row in history, and the second fastest pokle speed.
Saturday’s nonstop action was better than many qualifying days with gaps in the proceedings. Sunday had high drama in the Last Chance Qualifying with Jack Harvey’s last lap bump of teammate Graham Rahal
I have never liked the new format for qualifying, but I thought this was the first year it actually worked well. Sunday’s program is a;ways going to be in flux, since it depends on the number of entries.
For this current format to work well, the entry list has to be at least 35 cars. That number would eliminate the down time in the LCQ round. There would also be one less car that is safe and would have tothink about a second run.
I’m no engineer, but I understand why they would wabnt to cool the engines before a second run, but Harvey showed yesterday that a driver can still go fast enough to get in the field even with two runs somewhat close together. Wouldn’t everyone be equal if there were no cooling off period?
Having the Fast Six pole runs immediately after the LCQ was ant-climactic After the frenzy of and excitement of bumping, seeing six cars make one and done qulifying runs. stole a lot of the crowds enthusiasm for the pole winner.
The pole shootout and LCQ need to have some separation. I have always advbocated for deciding the pole on Saturday.. Sunday should be just for bumping.The pole winner can be on television Sunday, talking about his accomplishment and publicizing the race.
It was a game of thoudandths at both ends of the field this afternoon at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Jack Harvey earned the final spot on the grid on the final lap of his third attempt. Alex Palou edged Rinus VeeKay by six thousandths of a mile per hour to win the pole for the 107th running of the Indianapolis 500.
Jack Harvey
In the last chance shootout, Christian Lundgaard and Sting Ray Robb easily secured spots 31 and 32. Jack Harvey qualified next. Graham Rahal quickly bumped Harvey out of the field. Harvey took a second try, but failed to beat out his teammate.As time ran out, Harvey returned to the track. After three laps, he was still behind, but close. His fourth lap was good enough to earn the final starting position by sevn thoiusandths of a mile per hour.
The Fast Six run for the pole saw Palou post a 235 mile per hour lap on his first circuit. he ended with a 234.217 mile per hour average. It was just enough to edge Rinus VeeKay by six thousandnths of a second. Fekix Rosenqvist was third after an anticlimactic run.
Notes
Today continued the drama of yesterday. The only issue I had is with the last cg=hance qualifying. It needs at least 5 cars to work. Havign justfour cars left too much diwn time as Harvey tried to run out the clock before his final runs. Six cars would be ideal in the last chance.
The pole was definitely earned. Having to make three qualifying runs over two days is a grind for the drivers qand the teams. The money awrd for the pole needs to be bigger. The points award should go up as well.
This week was devastating to the Rahal team., One the biggest stars of the series is on the sidelines for the biggest race in the world. it is not the first time this has happened. I believe this isw the first time that a father and son have both had the misfortune to be bumped from the race. Bobby waqs bumped in 1993.
Today’s attendance was the largest I’ve seen on a qualification day in at least 10 years, maybe longer.
I’ll Have some more thoughtson the weekend tomorrow. Thanks for following along this weekend.
Fekix Rosenqvist edged Santino Ferrucci by 17 hundredths of a mile per hour to take first in the Fast 12 shotout. Ferrucci, who was the fourth car on track, set the pace with a233.911 mph average. The next seven cars failed to reach the bar he set. Rosenqvist, the last car on ntrack, beat Ferrucci with a better fourth lap. The Arrow McLaren driver had a last lap of 233.623 mph, while Ferricci’s final trip around the oval was 233.154 mph.
Eliminated from pole contention were Alexander Rossi, Takuma Sato, Tony Kanaan, Marcus Ericsson, Benjamin Pedersen, and Will Power.
The Fast Six
The Fast Six, who will run for the pole at 5 pm Eastern today:
Only two Hondas made the final round. The pole shootout inckudes two cars from arrow McLaren, two from Ganassi, and one each from Foyt and Carpenter.
The two practice sessions before today’s qualifying session are complete. In the Fast 12 practice, Rinus Veekay had what seemed to be an engine issue after turning a lap at 234.801 mph. It turned out to be a turbocharger problem.
Marcus Ericsson led the Fast 12 practie with alap of 235.692. Alwx palou, Takuma Sato, and Benjamin pedersen also had laps at 235 mph. Felix Rosenqvist was the slowest oif the greoup at 233.733 mph. Tony Kanaan did not participate in the session.
In the Last Chance practice, Christian Lundgaard was quickest qt 231.075 mph, followed by Graham Rahal and Sting Ray Robb. Both drivers were above 230 mph. Jack Harvey was slowest of the group with a lap of 230.423.
I walked around the garages this morning. The mood difference between the Foyt garage and the Rahal garages was striking. Foyt’s area was full of exuberance. Santino Ferrucci signed autographs and took pictures with fans.
In the Rahal garages the crew quietly went about their work, yet still took time to talk to fans. There was aq tone of calm urgency.
11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.: Top 12 Qualifying Practice Peacock
12:30-1:30 p.m.: Last Chance Qualifying Practice
2-3 p.m.: Top 12 Qualifying
4-5 p.m.: Last Chance Qualifying Peacock
5:15-5:45 p.m.: Firestone Fast Six Qualifying NBC, Peacock
5:45 p.m.: NTT P1 Award Presentation NBC, Peacock
TICKETS: General Admission tickets are $20. Children 15 and under are admitted free with paying adult. Free entry for all military personnel with a valid military ID.
PUBLIC GATES OPEN (10 a.m.-6 p.m.): Gate 1, Gate 2, Gate 3, Gate 4, Gate 6S, Gate 7, Gate 7S, Gate 9, Gate 10, and Gate 10A.
PARKING: Free parking is located in Turn 3 and Lot 7 (North 40), in the South Carousel Lot for motorcycle parking and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum Lot and Lot 7 (North 40) for ADA parking. Paid parking is $20 in Gate 1 and $10 in Main Gate, Lot 2, Lot 3G and Lot 3P. Paid ADA parking is $20 in Gate 1 and $10 in Lot 2, Lot 3P and Lot 3G. Bicycle parking is located outside Gate 1, Gate 6 and Gate 9.
If you didn’t get enough drama yesterday, there is more on the way this afternoon. The race for the pole iws going to be very close, but the real tension inolves the runs for the last row.
Three drivers from Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing and one driver rfrom Dale Coyne Racing, will battle for the final three spot. Graham Rahal, Christian Lungarard, and Jack Harvey will go against rookie Sting Ray Robb for a spot on row 11.
Rahal was the slowest car yesterday by a significant amount. Robb, a rookie, has the disadvanbtage of inexperience. My pick for missing the race is Graham Rahal. based on the entire week of practice, Rahal has ben consistently behind. I don’t see speed magically appearing today.
Robb’s teammate, david Malukas, found enough speed to get the 23rd starting spot late in the day. I think what the team learned from the 18 car will transfer to the 51 and put him in the field.
The pole is a different story. I enjoyed the battle between Chevy and Honda for the front row yesterday. I think we will see iot again. I am going with Alexander rossi for the pole, with teammate Felix Rosenqvist and Scott Dixon nipping closely at his heels.
Abel Motorsports
A story that was drowned out by the rama at Rahal was Abel Motorsports and driver R C Enerson making the field in the 28th spot. The team came together ;ate, and Saturday was their fourth day on track. Enersonhasn’t driven since 2021. It was easy to dismissw them as the team that would go home.
I had a sense Thursday that this team would make the field. It is great to see a small operation like this come rogether and get in the race. We used to see similar stories in the 60s.
Abel’s Indy NXT experience was helpful in making this possible. I hope they have a good race.
Notes
Some milestones from yesterday:
84 quaklification attempts set a single day record for a qualifying day.
Katherine Legge is now the fastest female driver in Speedway history.
Felix Rosenqvist had the third fastestqualifying time ever.
Agustin Canapino is the fastest rookie qualifier in history.
The Pit Window by Mike Silver 