Qualifying report
IndyCar Indy 500
Indy 500: VeeKay leads after first qualifying runs
Ed Carpenter Racing’s Rinus VeeKay took full advantage of the favorable temperatures at the start of the day to set the third fastest qualifying run in Indy history, but there was major trouble for several of the stars, including Helio Castroneves, Colton Herta and Marco Andretti.
David Malsher-Lopez
Edited: May 21, 2022, 9:24 PM
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Pato O’Ward made the initial run, at a time when the wind was still, the ambient temperature was 77degF, and the track temperature was 86. The Mexican ace’s Arrow McLaren SP-Chevrolet delivered an average of 233.037mph, but it was eclipsed by the very next runner, Rinus VeeKay. The Ed Carpenter Racing-Chevy driver, who started fourth and third for his first two Indy 500s, delivered an opening lap of 234.702, and although his fourth lap dropped to 232.655mph, his average was a stout 233.655. That was the third fastest qualifying run in Indy 500 history.
Both VeeKay and O’Ward survived Felix Rosenqvist’s run, as the Swede’s car hit the hard-limiter (12,000rpm) down the front straight on his third lap, hurting his speed. Romain Grosjean was the first Honda driver to hit the track, and he was the first driver changing gear between fifth and sixth, and he delivered an average of 232.201mph.
An even higher-profile Indy 500 rookie went next, namely Chip Ganassi Racing-Honda’s Jimmie Johnson. The NASCAR legend ran a 233.165 on his opener, but on Lap 2 he got worryingly high on the exit of Turn 2. But he kept his foot in it and delivered a 232.398 average.
Takuma Sato’s Dale Coyne Racing-Honda with RWR, which turned the fastest lap in race trim on Tuesday and Thursday (with the aid of a tow) and in qualifying trim/turbo boost on Fast Friday, had an unspectacular run to an average of 232.196mph, and his peak lap unusually came on Lap 2.
Marco Andretti, qualifying for his 17th Indy 500 and 250th IndyCar race, was surprised on his out lap to find Sato running slow in Turn 3 instead of the deceleration lane. Sato’s qualifying run was subsequently invalidated by Race Control.
Remarkably, Andretti’s effort would get more frustrating yet, when his engine shut off temporarily on Lap 2, dropping him to 219mph on that lap, before refiring, allowing him to get up to 225mph on his third lap and 229mph on his fourth.
Tony Kanaan became the fastest Honda driver yet and fourth overall with an average of 232.625mph, but another Honda appeared to let go in the back of Colton Herta’s Andretti Autosport entry while he was on his warm-up lap. He suspected it was a dropped cylinder.
Stefan Wilson’s DragonSpeed/Cusick Motorsports-Chevy didn’t make his run in his assigned slot because of a gearing issue that required maintenance, so four-time polesitter Scott Dixon went out 15th. With sun coming out and track temperature now up to 100deg, he produced a 232.151mph average, which looked disappointing when teammate Palou delivered a 232.774mph to go fourth so far.
Four-time and defending Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves had an alarming wobble at Turn 1 on his final lap, backed off, and dropped to last.
The track temp was up to 104 – 18 more than at the start of the session – when Scott McLaughlin became the first Team Penske-Chevrolet to run, and he lost 2.4mph over his run, the car looking very twitchy at Turn 2 as he delivered an average of 231.543mph.
Given the conditions, Ed Carpenter’s three 232s were strong, and he was clocking 241mph through the Turn 3 speedtrap, but a sudden wobble at Turn 3 on his final lap forced him to drop a gear and his final lap was only 231.299, dropping him to seventh so far.
2016 Indy winner Alexander Rossi had a messy Lap 3 – his fourth was faster – and finished outside the Top 12, so he would be hoping to run again, if the weather allowed. But his problems were put into context by a horrible run for Jack Harvey in the second Rahal Letterman Lanigan-Honda, who had to lift at all four corners on his second lap, and Sage Karam who had a big lift at Turn 3 on his third lap that dropped the Dreyer & Reinbold car down to 20th so far.
Josef Newgarden clocked 242mph down the back straight and his run started off very strong with a 233.209, but in 110degF track temp (82 ambient) he was alligator wrestling by Lap 3, and his fourth lap was down to 229.623.
Teammate Will Power, 2018 Indy winner, did a fine job to move into 11th using all the road at Turn 1 in the first two laps and at Turn 2 in his second two laps, and clocked a 231.842mph average, with only a 1.499mph dropoff from Lap 1 to Lap 4, compared with 3.586 for Newgarden.
Juan Pablo Montoya had to run last instead of ninth, due to his #6 AMSP entry failing the pre-qualifying tech check, and he described his car as horrible.
After the opening runs, cars ran again later in the day until rain brought an early end – but not before Sato pushed his way in to the Top 12.
P
No
Name
AVERAGE
QLap1Speed
QLap2Speed
QLap3Speed
QLap4Speed
Engine
Team
1
21
Rinus VeeKay
233.655
234.702
233.921
233.353
232.655
Chevy
Ed Carpenter Racing
2
5
233.037
233.401
233.176
232.804
232.767
Chevy
3
7
Felix Rosenqvist
232.775
233.512
233.131
231.931
232.532
Chevy
Arrow McLaren SP
4
10
232.774
233.588
233.175
232.607
231.734
Honda
5
1
Tony Kanaan
232.625
233.180
232.680
232.362
232.280
Honda
Chip Ganassi Racing
6
48
Jimmie Johnson
232.398
233.135
232.428
232.134
231.897
Honda
Chip Ganassi Racing
7
33
Ed Carpenter
232.397
232.954
232.792
232.549
231.299
Chevy
Ed Carpenter Racing
8
8
232.275
232.728
232.406
231.973
231.993
Honda
Chip Ganassi Racing
9
28
Romain Grosjean
232.201
232.596
232.374
231.955
231.882
Honda
Andretti Autosport
10
9
Scott Dixon
232.151
232.750
232.286
231.980
231.590
Honda
Chip Ganassi Racing
11
12
Will Power
231.842
232.485
232.236
231.665
230.986
Chevy
12
2
Josef Newgarden
231.580
233.209
232.333
231.184
229.623
Chevy
Team Penske
13
3
Scott McLaughlin
231.543
232.831
231.897
231.003
230.458
Chevy
Team Penske
14
23
231.508
232.239
231.729
231.329
230.741
Chevy
Dreyer & Reinbold
15
27
Alexander Rossi
231.341
232.680
232.013
230.271
230.419
Honda
Andretti Autosport
16
60
231.275
232.189
231.726
230.688
230.505
Honda
17
18
231.233
231.601
231.294
231.077
230.962
Honda
Dale Coyne Racing with HMD
18
11
JR Hildebrand
231.112
231.601
231.118
230.926
230.807
Chevy
AJ Foyt Enterprises
19
20
230.999
232.448
231.459
230.822
229.288
Chevy
Ed Carpenter Racing
20
15
230.766
231.083
230.643
230.678
230.662
Honda
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
21
29
230.326
231.511
231.228
230.737
227.865
Honda
Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport
22
77
230.212
230.995
230.966
230.607
228.302
Chevy
Juncos Hollinger Racing
23
24
Sage Karam
229.905
232.555
231.613
227.324
228.211
Chevy
Dreyer & Reinbold
24
14
229.406
230.124
229.728
229.303
228.476
Chevy
AJ Foyt Enterprises
25
4
228.916
229.673
229.403
228.538
228.058
Chevy
AJ Foyt Enterprises
26
6
Juan Pablo Montoya
228.622
229.478
229.381
227.897
227.741
Chevy
Arrow McLaren SP
27
30
227.053
227.597
228.507
226.594
225.537
Honda
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
28
45
Jack Harvey
226.851
230.401
225.447
228.032
223.640
Honda
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
29
98
Marco Andretti
226.108
230.441
219.933
225.025
229.339
Honda
Andretti Herta Autosport w/ Marco & Curb
30
06
Helio Castroneves
225.482
230.607
230.299
229.180
212.863
Honda
Meyer Shank Racing
34
51
Takuma Sato
232.196
232.319
232.558
232.135
231.775
Honda
Dale Coyne Racing w/RWR
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