Saturday Indianapolis 500 Qualifying Reflections

INDIANAPOLIS — The primary spherical of qualifying on Saturday (Might 21) for the 106th Indianapolis 500 ended with positions 13-33 finalized forward of the ultimate spherical of qualifying on Sunday (Might 22) the place positions 1-12 will probably be decided.

There have been many twists and turns to the primary spherical of qualifying, so let’s get into them.

Earlier than qualifying began, there have been two main points. Juan Pablo Montoya misplaced his ninth place in line after failing pre-qualifying technical inspection for a damaged half, per the group. Throughout the pre-qualifying follow, Stefan Wilson’s No. 25 Chevrolet had a gearbox situation the place second and third gears have been put within the mistaken order, inflicting the engine to momentarily flip 16,000 rpm and vulnerable to imminent failure.

Wilson’s group modified the engine of their automotive, however the automotive by no means made it to the observe the remainder of the day. Nonetheless, Colton Herta had an engine go bitter on him on his warmup lap and the Andretti Autosport crew put everyone they might onto the No. 26 Honda to get it again onto the observe.

Herta accomplished a qualifying run that put him in twenty fifth place, however Wilson’s automotive by no means left the storage. Many various groups got here collectively to assist put the Dragnospeed/Cusick entry collectively, however have been all of these organizations stretched to the purpose that no personnel may very well be spared to offer Wilson a run?

There have been two different main points in qualifying. Marco Andretti had a short lived lack of energy by flip 4 on his second lap, which compromised his try. It later emerged that Andretti needed to get on the brakes fairly considerably coming by flip 3 as he was getting the No. 98 Andretti/Herta Autosport Honda up to the mark.

Andretti needed to sluggish the automotive down as a result of Takuma Sato was nonetheless on observe as an alternative of utilizing the pit street apron on the finish of the backstretch to decelerate. Sato’s first qualifying run was thrown out and the No. 51 Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing Honda needed to qualify once more, Sato placing the automotive in twelfth place and incomes eligibility to qualify in Sunday’s (Might 22) Quick 12 shootout.

Breaking down the Quick 12 qualifying spherical that can happen within the afternoon, there are seven Hondas and 5 Chevrolets within the shootout. What’s extra attention-grabbing is that of these seven Hondas, 5 of them belong to Chip Ganassi Racing. Alex Palou (4th), Tony Kanaan (fifth), Jimmie Johnson (sixth), Marcus Ericsson (eighth) and Scott Dixon (tenth) will compete to offer Chip Ganassi his seventh Indianapolis 500 pole.

The opposite two Hondas belong to Romain Grosjean and Sato. Grosjean was the one Andretti Autosport that had a flawless run, as Alexander Rossi had a superb run early in qualifying however the group withdrew his time in an effort to enhance to the Quick 12. As a substitute, Rossi’s velocity fell and the No. 27 Honda will begin twentieth.

Whereas Michael Andretti’s son Marco will begin twenty third, Devlin DeFrancesco is twenty fourth within the No. 29 Andretti Autosport Honda. Not the very best month for Andretti Autosport, however there may be quite a lot of distinction between qualifying and the race.

Trying extra into the Quick 12, Pato O’Ward and Felix Rosenqvist have been second and third on Saturday. O’Ward was the primary automotive out and Rosenqvist was fourth in line. With temperatures being low and the specter of rain being only some hours away, everyone needed to get their runs in as quickly as doable as a result of in any other case INDYCAR would wipe all qualifying instances from right now and the sphere would have needed to re-qualify the next day.

Saving the quickest for final, Rinus VeeKay posted a four-lap common of 233.655 mph. It was the third-fastest qualifying run in Indianapolis 500 historical past with a gap lap of 234.702 mph.

The one-lap file is 237.498 mph set by Arie Luyendyk in 1996. With new engines coming in 2024, is it doable that we might see a brand new observe file in just a few years’ time?

Time will inform.

The Quick 12 that can compete for the 2022 Indianapolis 500 pole:

Rinus VeeKay

Pato O’Ward

Felix Rosenqvist

Alex Palou

Tony Kanaan

Jimmie Johnson

Ed Carpenter

Marcus Ericsson

Romain Grosjean

Scott Dixon

Will Energy

Takuma Sato

The Quick 12 Shootout will begin Sunday (Might 22) at 4:00 p.m. ET on NBC, with the quickest six from that shootout taking part in yet another spherical to find out the primary two rows of the grid. The 106th Indianapolis 500 is Sunday (Might 29) beginning with an 11:00 a.m. ET broadcast on NBC.

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