Power on provisional pole for Indy 500 in all-Penske top three

The 2018 Indy 500 winner beat team-mate Scott McLaughlin by a fairly hefty 0.426mph average over four laps of The Brickyard, with 2023 race winner Josef Newgarden third.

Day 1 Qualifications determines the 12 drivers who will fight for pole tomorrow, locks in 13th to 30th on the grid, and sends the rest into Last Chance Qualifications, with four drivers to vie for the last three positions on the starting grid.

Into the Fast 12 are: Power, McLaughlin, Newgarden, Alexander Rossi, Kyle Kirkwood, Kyle Larson, Felix Rosenqvist, Santino Ferrucci, Takuma Sato, Pato O’Ward, Rinus VeeKay, and Ryan Hunter-Reay.

VeeKay rescued a Fast 12 berth with the second-last run of the day after crashing on his first run, pushing Colton Herta into 13th on the starting grid and two-time IndyCar champion Alex Palou back to 14th, while 2008 Indy 500 winner Scott Dixon is set to start 21st.

The bottom four are 2022 Indy 500 winner and 2023 runner-up Marcus Ericsson, rookie Nolan Siegel, Katherine Legge, and Graham Rahal, whose Honda engine misfired on his first run of the day.

Back at 11:00 ET, Kirkwood had the honour of the very first qualifying run and set a four-lap average of 232.764mph in the #27 Andretti Global Honda.

Unsurprisingly, though, that was well-beaten by the next driver on track, with McLaughlin wheeling the #3 Penske Chevrolet to a 233.332mph.

There was drama two cars later when VeeKay crashed on his first timed lap, breaking loose at Turn 3 and spinning the #21 Chevrolet into the wall.

He was able to exit the car under his own power but left his Ed Carpenter Racing crew with a task to repair the damage in a matter of hours.

Another two cars later came Larson, who is this year attempting the Indy 500-Charlotte 600 ‘double’.

He hit mid- to low-232mph laps before coming off the throttle at the start of his final 2.5mi due to an alarm on the dash of the #17 McLaren Chevrolet and would pit before completing Lap 4.

There was also an issue in the paddock at the Chip Ganassi Racing garages, with an engine change being undertaken on Dixon’s car, meaning the #9 Honda had lost its guaranteed qualifying run.

Power was ninth on-track and the 2018 Indy 500 winner stormed to top spot with four laps all faster than McLaughlin could manage on any single lap, for an average run speed of 233.758mph for the #12 Chevrolet.

Newgarden was next to roll out and made it a Penske one-two-three with a 232.293mph average in the #2 Chevrolet.

Ferrucci (#14 AJ Foyt Chevrolet) was fifth and Marcus Armstrong (#11 CGR Honda) sixth when Palou set a 232.306mph run to take up seventh in the CGR #10 Honda.

As Palou had gone out, Callum Ilott was scrubbed from eighth, his run cancelled when IndyCar tech determined the #6 McLaren Chevrolet had a non-compliant left-rear wheel offset.

McLaren big guns Pato O’Ward and Alexander Rossi sat out their first runs, meaning Helio Castroneves was the 27th and final driver to set a speed in the guaranteed period, the four-time Indy 500 winner putting the #06 Meyer Shank Racing Honda into 14th.

That meant a top 12 with the first phase of the session done of: Power, McLaughlin, Newgarden, Kirkwood, Felix Rosenqvist (#60 MSR Honda), Ferrucci, Palou, Herta (#26 Andretti w/ Curb-Agajanian Honda), Armstrong, Sato (#75 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda), Ed Carpenter (#20 ECR Chevrolet), and Kyffin Simpson (#4 CGR Honda).

Rossi finally appeared and put the #7 McLaren Chevrolet into fourth with a 232.962mph run, knocking Simpson out of the Fast 12.

O’Ward went two cars later and he reported a plenum fire for his #5 Chevrolet, completing the run but only 29th-fastest of 30 with a time on the board.

Moods improved at McLaren when Larson went next and vaulted into sixth with a 232.563mph which relegated Carpenter to 13th.

Race Control was strict with yellow flags to wave off slower runs, Kirkwood being the first victim but keeping his earlier time as he had started the run from Lane 2.

Dixon put the #9 Honda into 17th and then Ilott registered a legal time to move into 19th, pushing Rahal (#15 RLL Honda) out of the top 30.

After several wave-offs, aborts, or failures to improve in four full laps, Sato elevated himself from 12th to ninth with a committed 232.473mph run.

VeeKay had his next attempt to set a time waved off, before O’Ward got himself into 19th and Legge (#51 Dale Coyne Racing w/ Rick Ware Racing Honda) was out of the top 30.

Ericsson could not improve on his next run and remained on the bubble in 30th, but was out when VeeKay finally registered a 231.166mph to put Car #21 into 29th.

McLaren was running its cars apparently as practice for Day 2 Qualifications, when pole position goes on the line in the afternoon in what should have been similar conditions by then, but O’Ward jumped up nine spots to 10th anyway with a 232.434mph run which relegated Armstrong to 13th.

Ilott came close to joining him in the top 12 but his last lap got away from him and the #6 McLaren took up 13th on a 232.230mph.

Rossi improved his speed but not his position, sticking a solid fourth, and then Herta crept up one spot to 11th to put Palou on the bubble.

Worrying for the Chevrolet teams, plenum fires and/or other engine events were becoming a frequent drama, for not only McLaren, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, and ECR, but later also Juncos Hollinger Racing when Agustin Canapino looked likely to put Car #78 into the Fast 12.

Meanwhile, DRR’s Hunter-Reay had done so with a 233.385mph which had the Indy-only #23 entry in 11th.

Dixon went for a Lane 2 run which he aborted himself while Rahal failed again to crack the top 30 and what would be a guaranteed spot in the show next weekend.

Siegel (#18 DCR Honda), Ericsson (#28 Andretti Global Honda), and Legge all failed in their bids to escape the bottom four, before ECR and VeeKay went bold with a Lane 1 run.

The Dutchman’s time, good enough for 29th, was withdrawn and he laid it on the line with a first lap of 233.448mph, then a 232.614mph, a 231.957mph, and a 231.663mph.

It meant a four-lap average of 232.419mph, good enough for 11th, meaning VeeKay is in the fight for pole tomorrow and Herta is not.

Rahal beat the gun to signal the end of the session by a matter of seconds but reported on his first lap that “it’s not pulling” and aborted as he started his second lap.

He will have to fight for the right to start the race on Day 2 Qualifying for a second year in a row, while his run from Lane 1 prevented Palou from an attempt to get back into the Fast 12 from Lane 2.

Practice 7 starts on Sunday at 12:00 ET/02:00 AEST, followed by Pole Day Qualifications at 15:05 ET/Sunday 05:05 AEST.

Results: Day 1 Qualifications