Drama. It is what makes the Indianapolis 500 the biggest race on the planet and the first day of qualifications for the 109th “500” brought plenty of drama.
High winds once again played a factor as they pushed to the limits with their cars. On Saturday, only positions 13-30 are locked in. Drivers from positions 1-12 will participate in the Fast 12 shootout on Sunday, then dwindle down to the Fast 6. Drivers in positions 31-34 will fight it out to see who gets bumped from the field in the Last Row Shootout.
At the end of the day, it was Alex Palou on provisional pole at 233.043 mph. Palou, the current championship points leader, established the No.10 DHL Honda crew as the favorites heading into Sunday. Following Palou was the Team Penske duo of Scott McLaughlin (233.013 mph), Josef Newgarden (233.004 mph) in third with Pato O’Ward for Arrow McLaren(232.820 mph) in fourth and in fifth was Palou’s Chip Ganassi Racing teammate, Scott Dixon at 232.659 mph.
Palou, already having won an Indy 500 pole in 2023, looks to get his second on Sunday after having a fast race car.
“Amazing day for us,” Palou said. “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, from both sides, I think HRC and the team, really fast cars. Looking forward to tomorrow.”
SEE: Saturday Qualifying Results
The notable news of the day was impacted by two seperate, but massive wrecks involving Marcus Armstrong and Colton Herta.
Drivers were able to participate in a pre-qualifying practice session from 8:30-9:30 a.m. on Saturday. At 8:46 a.m., Armstrong was going on his first lap at-speed in the No. 66 Spectrum Honda for Meyer Shank Racing. As he entered Turn 1, Armstrong lost the rear of the car, went to correct the steering and was sent into the outside wall. The rear of the car obliterated on impact, destroying the car. The No.66 slid up to the outside wall in Turn 2 as the driver from New Zealand experienced another heavy impact in the front of the car.
As the car came to rest in the second turn, safety crews took their time getting Armstrong out of the car. The medical staff put Armstrong on a gurney as he waved and gave a thumbs-up to the crowd to signal that he was alert.
Armstrong’s crew hustled all day long to get a new car ready for their driver, all while waiting several hours for him to be medically cleared to race. The crew assembled a road course chassis, the car they intended to use at Detroit in two weeks time, to speedway configuration. Armstrong was able to make his first qualifying attempt at 5:04 p.m., but would fall short in making the Top 30, as he will participate in the Last Row Shootout on Sunday afternoon.
“It was very disappointing,” Armstrong told media at the end of the day. “I don’t know why I lost the car so suddenly. You could argue a bunch of things. Ultimately 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 mph. We didn’t even have telemetry on the first runs, we don’t know whether C0P or ride heights are or anything. Massive credit to them for putting the car together.”
Herta crashed the No.26 Gainbridge Honda for Andretti Global around noon on Saturday. As Herta was going into the first of four laps on his first qualifying attempt, he lost the rear of the car exiting Turn 1. The car made impact on the outside wall at the left front tire, causing Herta to flip over as he went down the short-chute between Turns 1 and 2. The car would then make impact against the wall in Turn 2 and skid for several feet, with Herta’s head facing the wall, but protected by the aeroscreen.
Herta walked away under his own power and felt fine after the wreck. The Andretti Global crew assembled a new speedway car for Herta in four-and-a-half hours.
“This place doesn’t scare me. I don’t have a problem hitting the wall.” Herta told reporters after being treated in the infield medical center.
“It sucks,” Herta later said during the end-of-day press conference. “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. 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. Me and Nathan tried our hardest to take us out of the show. They kept us in it.”
Herta was able to put his Honda into the race and he will start 29th on May 25.
As the day progressed after Herta’s crash, which was the last one of the day, a couple of drivers made amazing runs to flirt with the Fast 12 or put themselves safely in that group.
Rookie Robert Shwartzman, driving for the Prema team, safely made the Fast 12 on his first qualifying attempt. Coming to Indianapolis marks Shwartzman’s first time on an oval, after coming from the Formula 1 development ladder and European sports car racing.
“Really good day,” Shwartzman said. “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, as I said already before. It’s the toughest I think qualifying of my career. Four laps consecutive, focus, one slight mistake and you’re done.
It was a big challenge for me. I’m happy that I managed to complete all four laps. We’re going to the 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.”
Noblesville, IN native, Conor Daly, was just shy of the Fast 12. Daly, piloting the No.76 ampm Chevrolet for Juncos Hollinger Racing, had his first attempt of the day erased after failing post-qualifying inspection. Daly would then fight all day to put his car in the Fast 12. At the end of the day with 3:45 left in the session, Daly would go out, and look to improve and get that spot to run on Sunday, but after not getting the weight jacker in the right position on the last lap of the run, Daly would not improve from the 13th starting position.
“I did not get the weight jacker back to the right position before turn one in the last lap,” Daly explained. “It was definitely my fault. The team deserved to be in the Fast 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 Fast 12. But a good bounceback, for sure, for our group.”
The drama continued late in the day as Marco Andretti fought to solidify his spot in his 20th Indy 500. Andretti, the grandson of the 1969 race winner, Mario Andretti, would fight Graham Rahal for the 30th starting spot.
Rahal, the son of 1986 “500” winner Bobby Rahal, sat on the bubble position for the last few hours of the day. The driver of the No.15 United Rentals Honda for Rahal Letterman-Lanigan Racing has been in that exact position every year for the last three years. Rahal missed the “500” in 2023, but would be a substitute for the injured Stefan Wilson.
Andretti would hit the panic button at 5:30 and make an attempt to get into the race. The No.98 Mapei crew pushed their Honda into the Lane One, the priority lane. Lane Two was reserved for drivers who wanted to keep their original time, but wanted to improve. In Lane One, drivers forgo their time as they look to make the race.
Andretti would go out, but the average speed was not good enough, so the crew waited as the car cooled down in pit lane. Daly would go out, around 5:55 p.m., as Andretti and crew raced back to Lane One. As Daly finished his run, the gun to signal the end of time trails went off and Andretti was left on the outside looking in, with Rahal securing the 30th starting spot.
“I think we would have been just in there The trim level that we’re at at the end is kind of demoralizing for the speed,” Andretti said. “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. Yeah, just the fact that we’re running tomorrow is a bummer.”
Andretti will join Armstrong and Dale Coyne Racing drivers Rinus Veekay and rookie Jacob Abel to see who will end up on the last row of the grid for the “500”.
The drama will continue on Sunday as one driver will join the storied list of pole sitters for the Indy 500 and one driver will be bumped from the field and will not be in the race on May 25.