Palou Leads Wild First Day Of Indy Qualifying
(Photo by James Black/Penske Entertainment)
By Dennis Krause
Predictions that the first day of PPG Armed Forces Qualifying for the 109th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge would be challenging were not wide of the mark. Blustery winds and cool temperatures, complicated by the knife-edge handling characteristics of the new hybrid-powered cars, led to thrills and spills at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Alex Palou continued his dominance of the NTT INDYCAR Series, putting his No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda on the provisional pole with a four-lap average of 233.043 mph.
“Yeah, amazing day for us,” said the 2023 pole winner. “Struggled a little bit in practice. We were not able to finish a full qualifying run. I mean, like everybody, it was tough conditions today.
“Glad that we got our balance right. We had a ton of speed in the car. It's been great the comeback we did from last year I think. Yeah, from both sides, I think HRC and the team. Really fast cars. Looking forward to tomorrow.”
Last year’s pole-sitter, Scott McLaughlin, was second fastest in the No. 3 Pennzoil Team Penske Chevrolet at 233.013 mph. Bidding to become the first driver to win three straight Indy 500’s, Josef Newgarden, was third fastest in his No. 2 Shell V-Power NiTRO+ Team Penske Chevrolet with a speed of 233.004 mph.
(Photo by Travis Hinkle/Penske Entertainment
The most surprising run of the day came from rookie Robert Shwartzman in the No. 83 PREMA Racing Chevrolet. Many picked Schwartzman to be the odd man out of the 34 drivers vying for the 33-starting positions on Sunday, May 25th, seeing as how he’s driving for a team new to INDYCAR and that he’s never raced on an oval before. The former Ferrari F1 Academy driver from Tel Aviv, Israel, proved his skeptics wrong by posting the sixth-fastest speed of the day with a four-lap average of 232.584 mph, putting him solidly into Sunday’s Top 12 Qualifying with a chance to win the pole.
“Yeah, really good day. I honestly did not expect it to go that well. We were gradually improving the car step by step. To have such a good run this morning, I was like, Okay, this car is really fast.
“Obviously was really tricky. It's the toughest, I think, qualifying of my career. Four laps consecutive, focus, one slight mistake and you're done. Definitely, it was a big challenge for me.
“I'm happy that I managed to complete all four laps. We're going to top 12. I think it's also a good thing it's the first one of the team. We finally got a top 12, it's here in Indy. Quite a legendary moment for us. Pretty happy.
“The team did a really good job with engineering and mechanics. Everything was step by step without rushing things, making sure everything is right. I think that's where it paid off.”
(Photo by Chris Owens/Penske Entertainment)
Just missing out on the Top 12 was Conor Daly. The driver of the No. 76 ampm Juncos Hollinger Chevrolet had a run earlier in the day of 231.206 mph, only to have it taken away when the car failed post qualifying technical inspection. On the final run of the day, Daly looked to be fast enough to make the Top 12, only to fall .084 mph short when he failed to make the correct adjustment to his car on his final lap.
“Yeah, I mean, honestly, we had a wild day. Our first run, the whole front wing being wrong, was crazy because we obviously have to go to tech before we run, too. It was kind of a shame there.
“We had to come back. In the middle of the day, didn't quite have exactly what we needed. We trimmed out for the last run just to try to stay above where we needed to be.
“Yeah, I did not get the weight jacker back to the right position before turn one in the last lap. It was definitely my fault. The team deserved to be in the (Top) 12. You just got to be perfect here.
“I was trying a few different things to be as consistent as possible. Just happened to not get the weight jacker back in time. That cost us the 12. But a good bounce-back, for sure, for our group, definitely.”
(Photo by James Black/Penske Entertainment)
Waiting in line when the gun went off signaling the end of qualifying was Marco Andretti. Looking to qualify for his 20th Indy 500, the driver of the No. 98 MAPEI/Curb Andretti Herta w/ Marco & Curb-Agajanian Honda has been disappointed in his speed all week and will have to be among the three fastest drivers in Last Chance Qualifying Sunday afternoon to make the starting field.
“I think we would have been just in there,” claimed the 2020 pole winner. “But the trim level that we're at at the end is kind of demoralizing for the speed. I don't know what else to do.
“I think tomorrow is ours to lose. We need to just not be dumb tomorrow and do four solid ones and we should be okay.
“Just the fact that we're running tomorrow is a bummer.
“I feel like I've seen it all here in 20 years. I guess the underwhelming part about it is if I execute it perfectly at a downforce that crashed earlier, I would have been 29th. 30th is not a big deal unless we screw up tomorrow obviously. I don't want to be in that position.
"We have bigger problems. Just had speed problems... I don't know. I've seen it across the garage with big teams. There's always like that one that they change every bolt on the car, and that's how fast it's going to go. I drew that straw this year.
“But yeah, I mean, this place is something else, man,” added Andretti. “I've been on pole here, and I'm about to get a 33 cent check in a couple days. That's just this place. It's crazy.”
(Photo by James Black/Penske Entertainment)
Crazy doesn’t begin to describe the day both Marcus Armstrong and Colton Herta experienced.
In early morning warmup, Armstrong clobbered the first turn wall, destroying his No. 66 Meyer Shank Racing w/ Curb-Agajanian Honda. Armstrong was taken to the infield care center and released after a short time, but not immediately cleared to drive. The crew converted the team’s road course to speedway trim and after finally receiving the OK to get back in a car, Armstrong went out but failed to qualify.
“Yeah, it's obviously hugely disappointing what happened this morning. We had a very fast car. I think (teammate) Felix (Rosenqvist) demonstrated that. I think he got the quickest lap of the day. He is P7 or something now. I think him and I were pretty much the same.
“It was very disappointing when I don't know why I lost the car so suddenly. You could argue a bunch of things. We put a setup on the car that we thought was going to be reasonably conservative for the conditions, but ultimately that wasn't the case.
“Then massive credit to them, to Meyer Shank Racing, for putting our road course car together so quickly. I think we circulated at 229. We didn't even have telemetry on the first runs, we don't know whether C0P (center of pressure) or ride heights are or anything. That second run was a bit like, yeah, we'll see.
“Massive credit to them for putting the car together.”
(Photo by Mike Young/Penske Entertainment)
Consistently fast all week, Colton Herta will start 29th in next week’s race after crashing on the first lap of his qualifying run. Herta hit the first turn wall in nearly the exact spot Armstrong did earlier, only to get airborne and go upside down, land on the roll hoop and slide along the wall. The crew of the No. 26 Gainbridge Andretti Global Honda immediately went to work, building up the spare speedway car in time for Herta to qualify at a speed of 230.192 mph. He will start in middle of the tenth row.
“Yeah, it sucks. I think from our standpoint of where we want to be, what we want to contend with, we're not happy just making the show. We want to fight for the pole, we want to be in the Fast 12. When we don't get the chance to do that, it's pretty disappointing.
“What a heroic effort by the guys,” Herta added. “I don't think I've ever seen anything like that on any car. Bare chassis, bare tub in four and a half hours to a complete car. The only thing that we transferred over was the engine. Everything else was destroyed.
“To have a car that not only runs, but is safe, the balance is right, in that amount of time, I don't even know what to say. It was their day.”
Unable to run any practice laps before going out to qualify, Herta put his trust in his team.
“I think it's really just a guess, to be honest, when you're put in that position. You have to be flat. It's just kind of a hope that everybody did their job.
“I got a lot of trust in my guys, got a lot of trust in Nathan (O’Rourke) my engineer to set the car up properly and do the right things so I'm safe in the cockpit. I think that was a lot of that showing.
“I think for me, this place doesn't scare me,” Herta continued. “ I don't have a problem hitting the wall here and having big ones like today. It doesn't feel good and it sucks, but it doesn't scare me when I get back in the race car.
"When you have that kind of mentality, but you also have a team like we did today, trust in the guys and in Nathan and everybody putting the car together to do the right thing, put the right stuff in the car the right way, it's really not too much of a worry.”
Palou and the 11 other fastest drivers in qualifying Saturday will participate in Top 12 Qualifying at 4pm ET Sunday, which will narrow the field to the Firestone Fast Six that will compete for the NTT P1 Award.
In between those sessions, Rinus VeeKay and Jacob Abel of Dale Coyne Racing, Armstrong and Andretti will compete for the three final spots in the 33-car starting field in Last Chance Qualifying.
Dennis Krause has spent decades covering all forms of motorsports, including over 40 Indianapolis 500s, with stints at WIBA Radio, PIT PASS - Radio’s Premier Motorsports Magazine and Motorsports Minute. Follow him on X @DennisKrause500 or motorsportsminute.bluesky.social or motorsportsminute on Threads or MotorsportsMinute+ on Facebook.