As always, the final round of qualifying for the 108th Indianapolis 500 did not disappoint.
Both the Last Chance Shootout and the Firestone Fast 6 came down to the last driver on track, and eventually we saw the fastest pole speed in history, and a front row the likes of we haven’t seen in 36 years.
So as we look forward to the race this weekend — weather permitting — here are a few thoughts from Sunday.
who impressed me
Team Penske — I know what you are thinking: yeah, well…duh.
It’s the Evil Empire, and its Sith Lord owns IMS and the series. Push-to-pass, pushrods and all of that.
But still, what they did was something we hadn’t seen since 1988, and when that happened, the feat was accomplished by two of the best drivers the Speedway has ever seen, and a 500 winner and series champion. Combined that triumvirate had been to Victory Lane a total of nine times.
Take a look at the stable now:
A Penske driver hadn’t sat on the pole since 2019, when Simon Pagenaud swept the entire month of May
Josef Newgarden last started on the front row in 2016, and that was for Ed Carpenter Racing.
Will Power is the greatest qualifier in IndyCar history, but has yet to win a pole for the 500, and last started on the front row when he won in 2018.
Scott McLaughlin had never started or finished better than 14th in his three previous starts.
McLaughlin, who I’ve said in the past needed to figure out IMS if he ever wanted to be a championship contender, put it in P1 while just topping Alex Palou’s pole record of a year ago, Power takes up the middle and Newgarden is on the outside.
You can say all you want about Penske, but the fact of the matter is that you need a combination of fast cars and drivers with talent and the stones to match, and that all came together on Sunday.
Yeah, that’s pretty impressive.
Alexander Rossi — For the winner of the 100th Indy 500, it’s been a rough several years. I don’t know the source of the funk that became his career since he finished third in points in 2019, but he’s only won twice in his last 75 races and has become what amounts to a midfield driver.
Is his P4 qualifying spot an indication the funk may be turning the corner?
Who knows, but he’s been solid all month, and when Rossi gets it rolling at Indy, he is elite. He’s got five top 5 finishes in his seven races here, and seems to have that edge back.
He seems a little pissed at the whole Penske thing, and has a great car for Sunday. He’ll be ready to go.
Ryan Hunter-Reay/Katherine Legge — It’s difficult to be a one-off entry for the 500. Even with all of the experience in the world, it’s still tough to climb in the car once a year and get the job done.
Sunday, RHR turned back the clock a little bit by making the Fast 12, and Legge went out early in the Last Row Shootout and put up a time that was going to be difficult to top, let alone by the other three drivers.
Keep an eye on the Dreyer & Reinbold cars this weekend. Hunter-Reay finished P11 last year, and they have posted two other top 10 finishes since 2021. His teammate Conor Daly also had a chance for the Fast 12 before suffering one of those strange plenum issues during his final qualifying run on Saturday. He has some work to do starting P29, but he does have a great car.
who struggled
Chip Ganassi Racing — Between engine issues, a crash by Linus Lundqvist, and a struggle to get up to speed, CGR just wasn’t up to the task over the weekend.
Palou, the defending series champion and polesitter from a year ago, led the way for the team by qualifying P14, but an even bigger surprise was Scott Dixon who will go off in P21. That’s his worst starting spot since he started 18th in 2019.
Even crazier is that Kyffin Simpson and Marcus Armstrong, both making their first appearances in the 500, outqualified their well-decorated teammate. I’m sure there will be an improvement on race day, but the entire team left itself with tons of work to do.
But while I’m at it, Row 7 will be the one to watch on Sunday. Put it this way: I can guarantee Marco Andretti, Helio Castroneves, and Dixon don’t have plans to stay in the back of the field for very long.
Graham Rahal — I just can’t understand how a guy with his experience keeps finding himself in the same position: struggling to get up to speed at IMS.
After being bumped out of the race by teammate Jack Harvey a year ago, 2024 was more of the same for a driver that has made 16 previous starts: he couldn’t find enough speed.
It wasn’t just Rahal, of course. Outside of Takuma Sato, who is an absolute alien at Indy and qualified P10, the rest of the RLL stable didn’t blow up the speed charts, either. Christian Lundgaard will start 28th and Pietro Fittipaldi will go off 30th, so it was a whole team issue.
Still, those two are still young drivers coming from road racing backgrounds who are still trying to learn the nuances of IMS. Rahal has four top 10 finishes and has completed thousands of miles in competition, let alone practice and testing.
He’s shown in the past he can race well, and both Abby and I have said we wouldn’t be surprised to see him in the top 10 by the end of the day, but he’s just never figured out qualifying, and that makes his life really difficult.
Marcus Ericsson — Talk about a surprise Last Chance Shootout participant. Somehow, the 2022 champion and 2023 runner-up found himself fighting for is 2024 Indy 500 life on Sunday afternoon.
Ericsson had been struggling all week in his first year with Andretti Global, and a crash on Fast Friday didn’t help matters. After falling into the shootout after only posting the 32nd best qualifying time on Saturday, his first shot at putting himself solidly in the field ended when he lost track of the laps in his first qualifying run and lifted as soon as he crossed the line after three laps.
With just minutes to spare, Ericsson finally got himself into the field and will roll off 32nd on Sunday. Prior to this year, Ericsson had never had trouble in qualifying, having started 13th or better in his previous five appearances.
Other than a P5 at Long Beach, Ericsson’s first season with his new team hasn’t gone well, and it looks like it’s going to continue through this weekend.
fcfg podcast
If you haven’t had the chance to listen to our interview with IMS president Doug Boles, what are you waiting for? Check it our here or on your favorite podcast platform.
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