Photo credit: Penske Entertainment | Lisa Hurley
Graham Rahal wound up as the odd person out in the last-chance qualifying session to make up the final three spots on the grid for next Sunday’s 2023 Indianapolis 500, as teammate Jack Harvey bumped his way in by the narrowest of margins on the timesheet and at the absolute last minute. He will be joined on the final row by teammate Christian Lundgaard and Dale Coyne Racing rookie Sting Ray Robb.
Lundgaard’s first run set the fastest speed of the four drivers fighting to make their way into the field, and his 229.649 mph run held for the remainder of the hour-long session. Robb slotted in close behind with a four-lap average of 229.549 mph, but Harvey’s run was woefully slow, with only his first lap breaking 229 mph, and his four-lap average run only managed 228.477 mph. Rahal then successfully bumped Harvey with a speed of 229.159 mph despite a nonfunctional weight jacker.
After a cool-down run to get some high-speed air into his car in time to make one more run, Harvey went out to try and bump his way back in with ten minutes left, and was not able to improve his speed enough to bump his teammate, but almost immediately made his way back for his crew to tweak the downforce for one more run with two minutes left in the session, and managed to summon just enough consistency to put together a four lap average just 0.007 mph quick enough to get into the field.
The Rahal bump is another mark in a rough season for Rahal Letterman Lanigan, and an exceptionally rough week in which all four team cars were at or near the bottom of the time sheets, and their fastest qualifier–Katherine Legge, in an Indy-only special–only managed the 30th best speed on Saturday. For Harvey, it was a Hail Mary throw for a season that has seemingly been on the brink of collapse on a race-by-race basis, and one that has landed him in the field at Indianapolis on May 28.
