Qualifying for the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 was done by taking the average over two laps for each driver, starting with Jack Harvey in the #18 Dale Coyne entry. The Englishman doesn’t come far however, as he has to park his car after his warm-up lap with an issue with the hybrid system.
His team mate Katherine Legge failed the technical inspection and will not be able to qualify. She was already facing a nine place grid penalty for unapproved engine changes, forcing her to focus on the race pace of the #51 Dale Coyne car later today.
Once the car is cleared Conor Daly starts his run in the #78 Juncos Hollinger entry, replacing Agustín Canapino. His attempt yields an average of 177.126 mph (miles per hour) over two laps. Next up is Sting Ray Robb, who is clearly lacking pace as his speed averages as just 172.782 mph.
Oval-only driver Ed Carpenter is next with an average of 174.752, which puts him between Daly and Robb. Kyffin Simpson is the first rookie of the day, slotting in in provisional third with an average of 173.900 mph.
Pietro Fittipaldi clocks an average of 175.656 mph before this morning’s fastest man David Malukas hits the track in the #66 Meyer Shank Racing entry. The American from Lithuanian descent goes straight to the top with a big jump: 179.503 mph on average over the two laps.
Fellow IndyNXT alumnus Linus Lundqvist is next, but manages only fourth for now, with a 175.510 mph average. Nolan Siegel slots in behind him in fifth with an average of 174.854 mph.
Graham Rahal is going third with 175.782 mph, before Romain Grosjean hits the tarmac. The Frenchman shows the Juncos Hollinger team has some decent speed as he goes provisional second with a 178.321 mph average.
A little debris on the front straight brings out the yellow briefly, giving the opportunity to recap the top ten at the moment: Malukas is on top, from the Juncos duo of Grosjean and Daly. Rahal Letterman Lanigan team mates Rahal and Fittipaldi are next, from Lundqvist, Siegel and Carpenters. Simpson and Robb round up the first ten on the leaderboard.
Rinus VeeKay is the first to go out after the yellow is lifted. The Dutchman goes fourth for the moment with 176.661 mph as his two-lap average. Next one on track is the first of the two Kiwi’s driving for Chip Ganassi: Marcus Armstrong. He pips VeeKay for fourth with an average of 176.696 mph.
The second Meyer Shank Racing entry of Felix Rosenqvist is going next and he shows it is business for the team in pink, as he goes to the top with a 179.796 mph average. His countryman Marcus Ericsson goes right after Rosenqvist and manages only fourth with 178.114 mph on average.
Last of the RLL-cars is Christian Lundgaard in the #45 entry, and the Dane only goes second to last as he is struggling with the car, averaging just 173.722 mph.
After Santino Ferrucci manages just tenth with a 175.514 mph average it is the Indy 500 winner on track. Josef Newgarden won four out of his eight starts on Gateway, but has to do a possible fifth trip to victory lane from at least second, with an average of 179.424 mph. His time is good for third at the moment, but Rosenqvist’s engine penalty will promote him to the provisional first row.
Alexander Rossi is back from his injury, but his return isn’t a cinderella story yet as he slots in in ninth with a 175.865 mph average. Kyle Kirkwood goes after him and ends up in fourth for now with 178.417 for this two-lap average.
Last year’s fastest qualifyer Scott McLaughlin is next, and goes to the top again. Last year he couldn’t start on pole following an engine penalty, but this year his 179.972 mph might actually give him the first spot on the grid.
Pato O’Ward cannot challenge for pole and despite being the fastest Arrow McLaren entry he ends up in only eighth for the moment with 177.160 mph on average.
Starting his run with a very quick first lap Colton Herta loses the car in turn 1, hitting the wall head on with the rear of the car. He finishes the run to bring home a 136.880 mph average, but given both Dale Coyne cars have not set a time the Andretti driver will not start in last in tomorrow’s race.
After the debris is cleaned up it is Scott Dixon who took the track. The six-time champion manages just eighth with a 177.905 mph average, which will be a lot lower after his nine-place grid penalty is applied.
Pole position record holder Will Power is the second to last driver to have a shot at the top spot, but he goes to fifth only with a two-lap average of 179.262 mph. This means McLauglin definitely will start first as championship leader Álex Palou will also receive a nine-place penalty. The Catalan driver however does try to go for the top, but manages only seventh with 178.363 mph as his average.
This means that McLauglin wins back-to-back poles and gets to actually start from pole in tomorrows race. Rosenqvist ends up in second from Malukas, Newgarden, Power and Kirkwood, who will all go up one spot because of Rosenqvist’s penalty. Palou ends up in seventh but has a penalty as well, which will promote Grosjean and Ericsson who ended up in eighth and ninth. Dixon rounds up the top ten, but he will as well be dropping on tomorrow’s grid.
