Tag: Indianapolis 500

Qualifications Wrap Up- Rosenqvist Leads; RLL Struggles

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Photo by Kyle McInnes

Drama abounded at both ends of the field at IMS today. Alexander Rossi led for most of the day after first hour runwith a 233.528 mph run. In mid afternoon Felix Rosenqvist ran a 233.947 average to take the top spot.Rosenqvist’s average is the third fastest average in Speedway history.

The fast 12 who have a shot at the pole tomorrow:

Rosenqvist

Rossi

Alex Palou

Rinus VeeKay

Scott Dixon

Tony Kanaan

Takuma Sato

Pato O’Ward

Santino Ferrucci

Marcus Ericsson

Benjamin Pedersen

Will Power

Thre entire teams- Ganassi, McLaren, and Foyt- will try for the pole tomorrow.

Perhaps a bigger surprise than two Foyt cars making the second nround s that only car from Team Penske and just one from Carpenter advance.

Ate the end of the field, the Rahal cars struggled to reach the 230 mph mark needed to crack the fastest 30. With Katherine Legge and Christian Lundgaard 29th and 30th, the team cars would be knocking each other out. In the end, only Legge survived.

The Coyne team also struggled, with David Malukas and Sting Ray Robb on the outside for the majority of the day. Malukas finally found nthe speed in the last 30 minutes and ended in the 23rd spot.

The last chance shootout features three Rahal cars- Lundgaard, Jack Harvey, and Graham Rahal- and Coyb=ne rookie StingRay Robb. It could be a tough day for RLL.

Where Is Andretti

Kyle Kirkwood in 15th was the fastest for Andretti Autosport. Romain Grosjean and Colton Herta bookend Row7. The bteam has been great on street and road courses, but their oval program is lacking. T\Andretti dominated IMS in the mid teens. Now they struggle to be competitive.

Notes

Today saw a record number of first day qualification attempts. The field made 82 runs.

Attendance looked to be one of the larger fist day qualifications crowds in a few years.

Tomorrow’s weather should be much warmer.

Today made me a fan of this format. There was continuous action and lots of drama on both ends of the grid. I still think some tweaks can be made, but today held my interest,

Two teams deserve special recognition. A. J. Foytb Racing for getting both cars int eh second round, Juncos Hollinger Racing for preparing the new chassi for Callum I,ott in time for the morning practice and making the field.

500 Qualifications Update

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All cars have nade at least one qualifying run. Alexander Rossi has the fastest average at 233.528 mph. The highlight of the top 12 is Santino Ferrucci in the A J Foyt car 14 in fifth place. benjamin pedersen, in the other Foyt car, is also in the top 12, sitting ninth currently. Three Arrow McLaren cars and three Chip Ganassi cars are in the pole eligibkle group. Josef newgarden is currently 12th, the only Team Penske car in the top 12.

At the other end of the grid, the preeicted troubles for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racinbg team are showing. Currently Graham Rahal and Jack Harvey are outside the 30 cars who will be locked in at the end of the day. Rahal mjust made a second attempt but did not improve his time. Christian Lundgaard is now in 30th place. Kartherine Legge has qualified 28th. I think Legge is safe, but if Rahal gets bumped tomorrow, does she start the race?

Outside the top 30 right now- Harvey, Sting Ray Robb, Rahal, Callum Ilott.

Qualification day is sunny but cool with a wind making the temperature feel even lower. Another large crowd is on hand. This weekmis arguably the best attended pre race week in several years.

I’ll be ba back later with another update.

Kanaan Leads Small Practice Group

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Under sunny skies and 55 degree temperatures.just 10 cars took advantage of the practice time prior to qualifications. Tony Kanaan turned the fastest lap at 233.026 mph.

The best story of the session was the new nmber 77 of Callum Ilott getting on track after the team decided to switch chassis at 3 pm yesterday afternoon. Ilott ran 14 laps. His best was 230.126 mph.

Kyle Kirkwood turned the most laps, 19, as only five drivers turned more than 10 laps.

With less than an hour to go before qualifying, the air temperature is 58 degrees and the track is 77 degrees.

Th qualifying order:

1 23 Ryan Hunter-Reay
2 26 Colton Herta
3 12 Will Power
4 06 Helio Castroneves
5 98 Marco Andretti
6 8 Marcus Ericsson
7 45 Christian Lundgaard
8 7 Alexander Rossi
9 9 Scott Dixon
10 60 Simon Pagenaud
11 55 Benjamin Pedersen (R)
12 51 Sting Ray Robb (R)
13 6 Felix Rosenqvist
14 66 Tony Kanaan
15 33 Ed Carpenter
16 50 RC Enerson (R)
17 30 Jack Harvey
18 20 Conor Daly
19 29 Devlin DeFrancesco
20 15 Graham Rahal
21 21 Rinus VeeKay
22 5 Pato O’Ward
23 77 Callum Ilott
24 24 Stefan Wilson
25 11 Takuma Sato
26 18 David Malukas
27 14 Santino Ferrucci
28 10 Alex Palou
29 28 Romain Grosjean
30 27 Kyle Kirkwood
31 44 Katherine Legge
32 3 Scott McLaughlin
33 78 Agustin Canapino (R)
34 2 Josef Newgarden

Qualifying Day

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Today’s schedule:

SCHEDULE (All times local):

8 a.m.-6 p.m.: Public Gates Open

8:30-9 a.m.: Group 1 Practice

9-9:30 a.m.: Group 2 Practice

11 a.m.- 5:50 p.m.: NTT INDYCAR SERIES Qualifying

HONORARY STARTERS: 8:30 a.m. – Colts’ Mascot Blue; 11 a.m. – President of the NBA All-Star 2024 Host Committee Mel Raines and NBA All-Star 2024 Host Committee Board Co-Chair and WNBA legend Tamika Catchings

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 (8 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.

Today should be fun. The objective is twofold. If you have a fast car, get into the top 12 by the end of the day. if yopu aren’t contending for the pole, stay out of the last row.

The rain last night washed all the rubber off of the track. We may see more running in them practice sessions than we were expecting. Four consistent laps may be difficult,m especially for the early runners.

From last night: Qual;ifying Order

SCHEDULE (All times local):

8 a.m.-6 p.m.: Public Gates Open

8:30-9 a.m.: Group 1 Practice

9-9:30 a.m.: Group 2 Practice

11 a.m.- 5:50 p.m.: NTT INDYCAR SERIES Qualifying

HONORARY STARTERS: 8:30 a.m. – Colts’ Mascot Blue; 11 a.m. – President of the NBA All-Star 2024 Host Committee Mel Raines and NBA All-Star 2024 Host Committee Board Co-Chair and WNBA legend Tamika Catchings

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 (8 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.

From last night: Qualifying order.

Qualifying Order

It’s time to set the grid for the 107th running of the Indianapolis 500. The byzantine format for qualifying, which I am not a fan of, starts out in a straightforward way, but gets complicated after every car has had their first attempt. I will save my annual rant on this subject for another time.

Friday was fun, and I hope today plays out much like yesterday ended. There is much more on the line today.

It looks like it will be a sunny day with temperatures reaching 68 degrees. When Ryan Hunter-Reay goes out for his run at 11, the temperature willbe 60 degrees.

Despite the green track after last night’s rain, we should see lots of speed.today.

Last evening’s rain means there is a green track. Tire degradation may be high, and therewill be a dropoff in speed on the final lap. The drivers who can manage tires the best will have an advantage.

The faster cars will try to be in the top 12 by the end of the day. there are more than 12 contenders. The slower cars will try to avoid being tone of the four slowest cars. there are more than four cars in this category as well.

Here are some things I’m looking for today:

Will Team Penske be a player again? Will Power and Josef Newgarden each topped the four lap averages lare yesterday.

How far can Colton Herta and Kyle Kirkwood carry Andretti Autosport? Herta has been in the top 10 all three days, and Kirkwood has just missed.

Could the slowest four be the entire Rahal Letterman Lanigan team? I amconcerned hat we might see that scenario. Katherine Legge had the only time not ranked in the thirties yesterday.

Is Meyer Shank back? Simon Pagenaud has been quick all week and Helio Castroneves had a good run late yesterday afternoon.

I will be updating qualifiying every couple of hours and have a wrapup after the day is finished.

Qualifying Order

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From IMS

107th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge Qualifying Draw
1 23 Ryan Hunter-Reay
2 26 Colton Herta
3 12 Will Power
4 06 Helio Castroneves
5 98 Marco Andretti
6 8 Marcus Ericsson
7 45 Christian Lundgaard
8 7 Alexander Rossi
9 9 Scott Dixon
10 60 Simon Pagenaud
11 55 Benjamin Pedersen (R)
12 51 Sting Ray Robb (R)
13 6 Felix Rosenqvist
14 66 Tony Kanaan
15 33 Ed Carpenter
16 50 RC Enerson (R)
17 30 Jack Harvey
18 20 Conor Daly
19 29 Devlin DeFrancesco
20 15 Graham Rahal
21 21 Rinus VeeKay
22 5 Pato O’Ward
23 77 Callum Ilott
24 24 Stefan Wilson
25 11 Takuma Sato
26 18 David Malukas
27 14 Santino Ferrucci
28 10 Alex Palou
29 28 Romain Grosjean
30 27 Kyle Kirkwood
31 44 Katherine Legge
32 3 Scott McLaughlin
33 78 Agustin Canapino (R)
34 2 Josef Newgarden

Fast Friday- Sato Sweeps

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The last 30 minutes of Fast Friday gave us a preview of what tomorrow may bring. There was speed, drama, frustration, and concern. And it isn’t even Bump Day!

Sato set the fastest lap of 234.753 early in the day. Most cars took turns making four lap qualifying runs. At three o’clock Rinus VeeKay had the fastest four lap average 232,898.

A little after 5 Josef Newgarden went out and put up the fastest four lap average. teammate Will Power followed and beat Newgarden.

Marcus Ericsson then went to the top of the four lap chart. Sato then took to the track and posted the nbest average of the day.

If tomorrow is anything like today, get ready for a fun qualifications tomorrow.

Dixon Issue?

Scott Dixon was on a qualifying sim run when he had to cut it short halfway through. He told NBC that there was an issue with the car. Dixon wouldn’t specify the problem, but he said it would put them on the back foot.

More Rahal Woes

The RLL cars continued to struggle today. Their frustration was compounded in the final 15 minutes of the day when Jack Harvey’s car began trailing smoke as he came off turn 2.

Mixed Day for Juncos

Rookie Agustin Canapino had a solid 15th place four lap average. The news wasn’t so great for teammate Callum Ilott.

Team owner Ricardo Juncos decided to switch chassis. he called the car Ilott was driving “dangerous.” The team will switch to the chassis Canapino used in the open test. It is a huge job, but Juncos has been in t5his situation before.

Work begins on the chassis switch

In 2019 Kyle Kaiser crashed on Fast friday. The car was ready for qualifying the next day. Kaiser eventually made the field by bumping Fernando Alonso.

Ilott may miss the morning practice.

Weather for tomorrow looks cool and sunny. Drivers who draw early slots should have an advantage.

I will pos the qualifying order later tonight.

Fast Friday Mid Day Report

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IMS has been very busy today with drivers going out to make simulated qualifying runs. Instead of just tracking fastest laps, we are alsomtracking four lap averages.

The top four lap averages as of 3 pm:

Ed Carpenter Racing looks the strongest overall, and Andretti drivers aren’t far behind.

Takuma Sato has the fastest single lap at 234.753 mph

Current conditions – 80 degrees and cloudy. Tomorrow for quaqlifying the forecast is sunny and 72 degrees., mch different from today.

Notes

Another huge crowd is on hand today. Free parking inside turn 3 was fullt by 10 am.

I talked to Doug Boles a few minutes ago. He told me that Wednesday’s attendance was the biggest practice crowd since they started scanning tickets. Yesterday’s crowd was a little short of a record. He was very happy with the crowd at the GMR Grand Prix last Saturday.

Alexander Rossi just turned in the third best four lap average,

Pato O’Ward went 243 mph in the turn 3 trap. Kirkwood had a speed of 242 through that area.

Back later as things develop.

Fast Friday- A Hint at the Pole?

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Today’s schedule:

10 a.m.-6 p.m.: Public Gates Open

Noon-6 p.m.: NTT INDYCAR SERIES Practice Peacock, Indycar Radio 8th

HONORARY STARTERS: Indianapolis Colts’ rookies

TICKETS: General Admission tickets are $15 for Indy 500 practice days. Children 15 and under are admitted free with a paying adult.

PUBLIC GATES OPEN (10 a.m.-6 p.m.): Gate 1, Gate 2, Gate 3, Gate 4, Gate 6S, Gate 7, Gate 7S, 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 for ADA parking. Paid parking available in Lot 2, Lot 3G and Main Gate for $10 and Gate 1 for $20. Paid ADA parking in Gate 1 for $20.

Today is usually the fastest say of the year. The horsepower boost adds 50 horsepower to the engines. Speeds above 230 mph should be commonplace.

There is a threat of scattered showers after 2pm which may make the first two hours very busy.

So far the cars of Chip Ganassi Racing and Arrow mcLaren have dominated the tuop 10. I don’t expect that to change. I’m alsokeeping my eye on Team Penske, especially Will Power. Simon Pagenaud had a good day yetsrday, and he could be a factor,

Will Andretti drivers other than Colton herta make some noise today? Kyle Kirkwood was in the top 15 for a while on Thursday. Romain Grosjean is languishing in the 20’s.

Ed Carpenter Racing can never be counted out when it’s time to run for the pole. Comor Daly was sixth yesterday, but he sar rhird for some of the day.

The laresr weather says the best chance for rain is after 5 pm, so it should be another good day for running nd watching race cars.

I’ll be back with updates throughout the day,

Here are some photos I took in the pits yesterday afternoon.

Ericsson Tops Day Two

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Marcus Ericsson ran the fastest lap of the week to lead today’s practice session as the Chip Ganassi Racing fleet continued to flex its muscles. Scott Dixon was second, Takuma sato seventh, and Alex Palou was ninth. Ericsson’s lap of 229.607 beat Sato’s top time yesterday by 0.168 mph.

“I felt like we made some changes overnight that helped me and my feeling in the car. I felt really happy with my racecar and then there we just did some stuff for tomorrow. So preparation for tomorrow Good run in and then measure the key one though, as well. So yeah, very positive day And hats off to the gas the team, you know,”ERicsson said

New to the top 10 today were Simon Pagenaud inthird, Conor Daly sixth, pato O’Ward in eighth, and Alexander Rossi in tenth.Colton Herta improved to fifth today.

Graham Rahal moved up to 12th after his team’s struggles yesterday. Teammate Katherine Legge had the slowest time, 223.934 mph.

Thursday was another beautiful day with perfect weather for racing. The forecast tomorrow calls for possible showers starting around 2 pm. Thatt should make for a very busy first two hours.

All cars get extra boost for qualifying tomorrow which inceases power by about 50 horsepower.

Notes

Another large crowd enjoyed practice. Friday usually draws the largest crowd of practice week. If the first two days of practice are an indication, tomorrow’s attendance could be huge.

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