Amazing Unsers: The Family That Made Indianapolis History | Heroes Of The 500

At the Indianapolis 500, some winners become legends.

The Unsers became a dynasty.

Their family story at Indy began in 1958, when Jerry Unser became the first of the clan to qualify for the 500.

Alexander Rossi underwent procedures on his right ankle and a finger on his left hand following a crash during Monday’s Indianapolis 500 practice at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Ed Carpenter Racing announced Monday night.

Rossi, who is slated to start second in Sunday’s Indy 500, crashed into the wall in Turn 2 at practice after losing control of his No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet. After slamming into the wall, Rossi’s car made contact with Pato O’Ward’s No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet and Dale Coyne Racing’s Romain Grosjean crashed while trying to avoid the incident. O’Ward and Grosjean were released from the IMS infield medical center. Conor Daly’s car also suffered damage in the crash.

After spending more than 90 minutes inside the medical center, Rossi was transported to a local hospital for further evaluation, eventually leading to the procedures. Per ECR, Rossi will be evaluated throughout the week with “the full intent of participating in the final practice on Friday, May 22 and the 110th running of the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday, May 24.

ECR will move to a backup car for Rossi’s entry, which will not cost the entry its spot on the starting grid. If Rossi is unable to drive the car Sunday, the entry will move to 31st on the grid, starting ahead of Caio Collet and Jack Harvey, whose cars failed post-qualifying technical inspections for illegal Energy Management System (EMS) covers.

If Rossi doesn’t recover in time for the race, ECR must find an IndyCar-approved replacement. ECR’s reserve driver is Hunter McElrea, who has only driven in one IndyCar race, on the streets of Toronto in 2024. McElrea would be an Indy 500 rookie who hasn’t gone through the Rookie Orientation Program (ROP), which the four Indy 500 rookies in this year’s field completed at the Indy 500 open test in late April. Rule 4.3.2.9.8 would require McElrea to go through an ROP but IndyCar could allow him to do one this week. It seems unlikely, however, that IndyCar would approve a rookie who hasn’t been on an oval in an Indy car if Rossi were not available.

ECR could turn to veterans who have been in the Indy 500 recently but don’t have a seat this year if Rossi doesn’t recover. Notable drivers from last year’s Indy 500 who aren’t in this year’s race include Devlin DeFrancesco, Robert Shwartzman, Callum Ilott and Marco Andretti. Per IndyCar Rule 4.3.2.9.7, Andretti — who retired after last year’s race — would need to complete a refresher test, but the other three drivers wouldn’t because they have driven on an IndyCar oval since last year’s Indy 500. Ilott has been at IMS throughout the month, including Monday, however a source tells IndyStar that Ilott’s team, Prema Racing, would need to grant him permission to drive for another team while Prema’s IndyCar program is on pause.

Rossi will look to heal in the next six days and be on track for the Indy 500. Rossi is a decade removed from winning the Indy 500 as a rookie in 2016, and should he drive and start on the front row, he could be in contention for his second victory.

Zion Brown is IndyStar’s motorsports reporter. Follow him at @z10nbr0wn. Get IndyStar’s motor sports coverage sent directly to your inbox with our Motor Sports newsletter. Subscribe to the YouTube channel IndyStar TV: IndyCar for a behind-the-scenes look at IndyCar and expert analysis.

Indianapolis 500 Qualifying is generally an entire weekend affair. If teams are lucky, they run both Saturday and Sunday. If unlucky, they will wait to run again in later practice sessions, tethered to their positions behind the first 4 rows.

This year, however, after changing the qualifying format the first time, Saturday ended before it even began. The first day of qualifying was rained out, leaving the 33-car grid to run 3 sessions to set the grid on Sunday. The new Top 15 qualifying format – scrapped.

The new Indy 500 Qualifying Format resembled that of a road or street course track on the IndyCar calendar. All 33 drivers ran one at a time, banking their 4-lap average. This was followed by the Top 12 and Fast 6.

Ultimately, Alex Palou achieved his second Indianapolis 500 Pole Position alongside former Indy 500 winner, Alexander Rossi and Penske’s David Malukas.

First Session Qualifying Results

The first session saw all 33 cars race for the fastest 4-lap average speed – a session that went without incident on a very hot, sunny day in Indianapolis. This session set grid positions 13-33 prior to the two sessions that will set the front of the grid.

There were a few interesting trends coming out of the first session of the day. First, and most notably, is that no other car on the grid could hold a candle to the average speed of Meyer Shank Racing’s Felix Rosenqvist, who set a 232.599 average.

On the other side of the coin, Penske’s Josef Newgarden (two-time winner), and all three Andretti cars – Kyle Kirkwood (2nd in 2026 Championship), Marcus Ericsson (former winner), and Will Power (former winner) – all did not make the Top 12. Both of Newgarden’s teammates made the Top 12, with Newgarden over 1mph off their pace.

Top 12 Qualifying Results

During one of the hottest parts of the day, the Top 12 drivers went out with one question in mind – could any driver touch the speeds that Felix Rosenqvist put in earlier today? And could Felix Rosenqvist replicate his results?

The answer in this session was a ‘yes’ and ‘no’. Rosenqvist again topped the session with significant performance drop offs plaguing drivers like Veekay over the course of their 4-lap averages.

Daly and McLaughlin, both favorites for pole, fell at this hurdle and will start together on Row 3. They are still ones to watch next weekend during the race.

Fast 6 Qualifying Results

Straight out of the gates, ECR’s Rossi – a former Indianapolis 500 winner exactly one decade ago – set the fastest 4-lap average significantly faster than his speed in the prior two sessions.

However, the biggest disappointment of the session was Felix Rosenqvist, who was significantly faster in the prior two sessions, coming in 4th, approximately one mph slower than the full grid and Top 12 sessions.

When the ‘floodgates’ opened for Palou, he put out one of the fastest laps of the day, followed by precise consistency that he is known for. The pole-to-win conversion rate is currently ~20%, so the odds are stacked against Palou. As the reigning Indianapolis 500 champion, the only question on people’s minds is if Palou can two-peat… and Palou thinks he can.

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