INDIANAPOLIS — Team Penske swept the top three spots in qualifying for the Indianapolis 500 on Saturday, with Will Power at the top of the list, giving a team under scrutiny a solid shot at winning the pole for “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.”
Kyle Larson also qualified for his first career Indianapolis 500, making the Fast 12 and putting him alongside the Penske trio in going for the pole Sunday. Larson is the fifth driver to attempt the Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600 on the same day, and he could get a dry run by following his pole run with a trip to NASCAR’s All-Star race in North Carolina on Sunday night.
Larson is joined by two other cars from Arrow McLaren, one from Ed Carpenter Racing, one from Meyer Shank Racing, one from Andretti Global, two-time winner Takuma Sato of Rahal Letterman Lanigan and Santino Ferrucci of A.J. Foyt Racing in the pole shootout. That makes seven different teams comprising the Fast 12.
Many cars had engine issues Saturday, and even though nine Chevrolet drivers made the top 12, neither Chevy nor Honda were immune from qualifying problems.
Chip Ganassi Racing, meanwhile, didn’t place a driver inside the Fast 12 as Honda struggled with speed. Alex Palou, last year’s polesitter and the winner on the road course at Indianapolis last weekend, qualified 14th as the highest Ganassi car.
Palou, like teammate Scott Dixon, needed an engine change ahead of qualifying, and there was similar concern about Ganassi driver Kyffiin Simpson’s engine.
But as Palou waited in line to make another run at the Fast 12, Rinus VeeKay of Ed Carpenter Racing rebounded from an early morning crash to snag the 11th spot with seconds remaining before the end of qualifying at 6 p.m. local time.
Last out was Graham Rahal, making one last attempt to crack the top 30 and lock in a place for the Indy 500. He was unable to do it, putting him in the bottom four among the 34 cars, and that quartet will battle for the last three spots on Sunday.
Among those trying to snag one of the final three positions are Marcus Ericsson, the 2022 winner who finished second last year. He crashed Thursday in his new Andretti Global ride and was overwhelmingly frustrated with his Saturday performance.
“This place has very high highs and very low lows,” Ericsson said. “I put myself in this position with my crash. The effort is there but it’s tough, it’s very tough.”
Ericsson will be battling Katherine Legge, the only female in the field, along with Rahal and Nolan Siegel for the last spots. Siegel flipped in Friday practice and the 19-year old has been struggling to bounce back since the frightening crash.
Rahal failed to make the race a year ago. He got his entry when Stefan Wilson broke his back in a crash in practice ahead of the race, and Rahal was picked as the replacement driver.
“I think all winter the boys have worked awfully hard and when you are on the shop floor, you don’t really see all the results, you just work,” Rahal said. “These guys thrashed to get ready to Indy. When a car doesn’t want to pull a gear, it just doesn’t. When you’ve got a car like the guys in the front rows do, they don’t have to do much. And when you don’t, it’s not so easy to ride.”
Meanwhile, the Penske trio dominated Saturday with their early runs.
Power turned a lap at 233.758 mph to take Saturday’s top qualifying spot and put himself in position to win his first Indy 500 pole. Power is IndyCar’s all-time leading pole-winner with 70 for his career, but never at the most prestigious race in world.
“It’s a nice box to tick, a very nice box,” Power said. “You know, it means nothing for the race, but it would be something very nice for me because we’ve been here so many times and been close so many times.”
Power was followed by teammates Scott McLaughlin and Josef Newgarden, the defending race winner, both of whom have been entangled in a Team Penske cheating scandal dating to the season-opening race at St. Petersburg, Florida.
IndyCar detected about six weeks after Newgarden’s victory in March that he and McLaughlin illegally accessed a boost of horsepower when they were not permitted. Both of their finishes were disqualified, all three Penske drivers were fined $25,000 — even though Power never used the manipulated software — and team owner Roger Penske suspended four team members, including Team Penske president Tim Cindric.
Cindric also is Newgarden’s race strategist and considered one of the best in motorsports. Newgarden said even without him, the Penske entries have been ready for a long time as they try to give Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Roger Penske a record-extending 20th Indy 500 victory.
“I thought we were this prepared the last two to three years,” Newgarden said. “I felt confident the last multiple years. The effort this last offseason has been the same as we’ve done every year. We’ve looked at everything, didn’t yield what we needed, we looked at everything again. Still didn’t yield it.
“We’ve been hammering this process and I think there were certainly things probably we were missing, and we worked so hard on everything else, it just elevated the program. I don’t think there’s any guarantees you’re going to see a Penske car on pole this weekend. I don’t know how you can say that.”
It’s hard to search out knowledgeable individuals on this matter, but you sound like you recognize what you’re speaking about! Thanks
I’ll immediately grab your rss feed as I can’t find your email subscription link or newsletter service. Do you have any? Kindly let me know in order that I could subscribe. Thanks.
Thanks for another magnificent post. Where else could anyone get that kind of info in such a perfect means of writing? I’ve a presentation next week, and I’m at the search for such info.
You completed some nice points there. I did a search on the theme and found a good number of folks will go along with with your blog.
I’m really enjoying the design and layout of your blog. It’s a very easy on the eyes which makes it much more pleasant for me to come here and visit more often. Did you hire out a developer to create your theme? Outstanding work!
I have learn several excellent stuff here. Certainly worth bookmarking for revisiting. I wonder how a lot effort you put to create the sort of wonderful informative website.
Renew: An Overview. Renew is a dietary supplement formulated to aid in the weight loss process by enhancing the body’s regenerative functions
I simply could not go away your website prior to suggesting that I really enjoyed the usual info an individual supply in your visitors? Is gonna be back continuously in order to check up on new posts.
Your style is so unique compared to many other people. Thank you for publishing when you have the opportunity,Guess I will just make this bookmarked.2
Good site! I really love how it is easy on my eyes and the data are well written. I am wondering how I might be notified when a new post has been made. I’ve subscribed to your feed which must do the trick! Have a great day!
Hi, just required you to know I he added your site to my Google bookmarks due to your layout. But seriously, I believe your internet site has 1 in the freshest theme I??ve came across. It extremely helps make reading your blog significantly easier.
I was very happy to find this net-site.I wished to thanks in your time for this glorious read!! I positively having fun with every little bit of it and I have you bookmarked to check out new stuff you weblog post.
Wow! This could be one particular of the most useful blogs We have ever arrive across on this subject. Actually Magnificent. I’m also an expert in this topic so I can understand your effort.
I really appreciate this post. I’ve been looking all over for this! Thank goodness I found it on Bing. You have made my day! Thx again
What does the Lottery Defeater Software offer? The Lottery Defeater Software is a unique predictive tool crafted to empower individuals seeking to boost their chances of winning the lottery.
I regard something really special in this website .
I loved as much as you’ll receive carried out right here. The sketch is attractive, your authored material stylish. nonetheless, you command get bought an edginess over that you wish be delivering the following. unwell unquestionably come more formerly again since exactly the same nearly a lot often inside case you shield this increase.
I very lucky to find this internet site on bing, just what I was looking for : D besides saved to favorites.
Hi! This post couldn’t be written any better! Reading this post reminds me of my previous room mate! He always kept talking about this. I will forward this page to him. Fairly certain he will have a good read. Thank you for sharing!
I like what you guys are up too. Such smart work and reporting! Carry on the excellent works guys I have incorporated you guys to my blogroll. I think it’ll improve the value of my site :).
Definitely believe that which you said. Your favorite justification appeared to be on the web the easiest thing to be aware of. I say to you, I definitely get annoyed while people consider worries that they just do not know about. You managed to hit the nail upon the top and also defined out the whole thing without having side-effects , people could take a signal. Will probably be back to get more. Thanks
What is Gluco6? Gluco6 is a revolutionary dietary supplement designed to help individuals manage their blood sugar levels naturally.
I’d have to examine with you here. Which is not one thing I usually do! I take pleasure in reading a post that may make folks think. Additionally, thanks for permitting me to comment!
Very interesting information!Perfect just what I was searching for!
Howdy very nice site!! Guy .. Excellent .. Amazing .. I’ll bookmark your web site and take the feeds also?KI am satisfied to seek out a lot of helpful information here within the put up, we need develop extra strategies in this regard, thanks for sharing. . . . . .
I am continuously searching online for posts that can help me. Thanks!
Very interesting information!Perfect just what I was searching for!
Spot on with this write-up, I actually think this website needs way more consideration. I’ll most likely be again to learn way more, thanks for that info.
Enjoyed reading this, very good stuff, thankyou. “It is in justice that the ordering of society is centered.” by Aristotle.
Thanks for all your efforts that you have put in this. very interesting info .
Thankyou for helping out, good information.
Some truly nice and utilitarian info on this website, besides I think the design holds great features.
I have been browsing on-line more than three hours these days, but I by no means found any fascinating article like yours. It’s lovely worth enough for me. In my opinion, if all site owners and bloggers made excellent content material as you did, the internet will probably be much more helpful than ever before. “A winner never whines.” by Paul Brown.
Greetings! Very helpful advice on this article! It is the little changes that make the biggest changes. Thanks a lot for sharing!
You made a number of good points there. I did a search on the subject and found mainly persons will consent with your blog.
Merely a smiling visitor here to share the love (:, btw outstanding design and style.
Keep up the good work, I read few articles on this web site and I think that your web site is very interesting and contains circles of fantastic info .
Some really interesting info , well written and broadly speaking user pleasant.
I’ve learn a few just right stuff here. Certainly worth bookmarking for revisiting. I wonder how so much effort you place to create this sort of excellent informative site.
Some really nice stuff on this internet site, I enjoy it.
Appreciate it for this post, I am a big big fan of this website would like to go along updated.
Hello! I could have sworn I’ve been to this blog before but after browsing through some of the post I realized it’s new to me. Anyways, I’m definitely happy I found it and I’ll be book-marking and checking back frequently!
Really wonderful info can be found on site. “An executive is a person who always decides sometimes he decides correctly, but he always decides.” by John H. Patterson.
Your home is valueble for me. Thanks!…
I like what you guys are up too. Such intelligent work and reporting! Carry on the excellent works guys I’ve incorporated you guys to my blogroll. I think it will improve the value of my website :).
We stumbled over here different web page and thought I might check things out. I like what I see so now i am following you. Look forward to looking into your web page again.
I liked as much as you’ll receive carried out proper here. The caricature is tasteful, your authored material stylish. however, you command get got an impatience over that you want be handing over the following. unwell indisputably come further earlier again since precisely the same nearly a lot incessantly inside case you shield this hike.
Hello! I simply wish to give a huge thumbs up for the great information you’ve gotten here on this post. I can be coming back to your weblog for more soon.
Yay google is my world beater assisted me to find this outstanding web site! .