INDIANAPOLIS – Kyle Larson will start in the first two rows of his Indy 500 debut.
The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion recorded a four-lap average of 372.788 mph around the 2.5-mile oval in the opening round of pole position qualifying Sunday, moving into the Fast Six with the speed.
The battle for pole position in the 108th Indianapolis 500 will come down to: Josef Newgarden, Alexander Rossi and Santino Ferrucci Larson will face off against Scott McLaughlin, who was fastest at 233.492 mph, Will Power (233.483), Josef Newgarden (233.286) . ), Alexander Rossi (233,071) and Santino Ferrucci (232,723).
The Fast Six session starts at 5:25 PM ET and Larson will be the second driver after Ferrucci to attempt it.
How to watch the 2024 Indy 500 pole qualifying Sunday on NBC and Peacock
Schedules, streaming and TV information on how to watch qualifying Saturday and Sunday on Peacock and NBC as the starting lineup is set for the May 26 Indy 500.
Larson must then rush to a helipad outside Turn 2 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where he must take a helicopter to a Hendrick Motorsports plane that will fly him to North Wiklesboro, North Carolina, for Sunday night’s All-Star Race.
After qualifying nine of the top 12 spots on Saturday, Chevy secured an elimination from the first two rows of the 33-car grid by defeating the Fast Six.
Rinus VeeKay (232.610), Pato O’Ward (232.584), Felix Rosenqvist (232.305 as fastest qualifying Honda), Takuma Sato (232.171), Kyle Kirkwood (230.993) and Ryan Hunter-Reay failed to progress from the Fast 12 session. (230.567 km/h).
Follow here for live updates from the second day of Indy 500 qualifying.
Practice, from 12 noon to 2 p.m
Kyle Larson had his first big moment in May at Indianapolis Motor Speedway as he prepared to attempt the Indy 500 pole position as a rookie.
The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion nearly lost control of his No. 17 Dallara Chevrolet after winding through 240 mph between Turns 1 and 2 on the 2.5-mile oval. Larson managed to catch the car before sliding the SAFER barrier on the outside, but he immediately aborted his four-lap qualifying simulation and headed to the pit lane.
“I feel like when I get tight or understeer in these cars and add more steering than I would like, it reaches a point where it finally wants to grab and then break,” Larson told NBC Sports’ Marty Snider. “So that was that moment and then we went back out and put together a complete run.
“I just had a good vibration so I couldn’t see very well that time so that made things a little bit blurry but yeah, good to go through some stuff there and then talk a little bit and see if we can get a get an answer a little faster and more comfortably.”
Larson, who will attempt to become the fifth driver to race in the Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600 on the same day, posted the sixth-fastest lap among the 12 drivers in the second qualifying round that starts at 3:05. pm ET.
If his four-lap qualifying average speed remains in the top half of the Fast 12, Larson will advance to the second round of the Fast Six for the pole position, starting at 5:25 PM ET.
Larson will have to sit in a golf cart headed to a helipad outside Turn 2 shortly after the session ends 30 minutes later. He’ll take a helicopter to Indianapolis International Airport, where he’ll catch a Hendrick Motorsports plane to North Wilkesboro Speedway, where the green flag will fly for Sunday night’s All-Star Race at 8:14 p.m.
During a two-hour practice at Indy, Josef Newgarden turned the fastest lap (234.052 mph), followed by Felix Rosenqvist, Pato O’Ward, Alexander Rossi and Kyle Kirkwood.
Team Penske’s Will Power, who led the first day of qualifying on Saturday over teammates Newgarden and Scott McLaughlin, finished a frustrating 11th on the speed chart after becoming the seventh Chevrolet driver. experiencing a plenum fire during a qualifying run.
Why six Chevy drivers had plenum fires during qualifying for the Indy 500 and how the problem will be fixed
Manufacturer executives do not expect any problems before the race.
“The engine stops, it just dies out no matter how long it takes,” Power said. “It affects your speed. Yes, I don’t know where the speed is now. I feel a strange vibration on the front straight. We will look into it. It will be difficult to get into the top six while we are sitting. “
Power said he thought his No. 12 Dallara Chevrolet had an engine failure because of the vibrations.
“They’ll have to look at the data; maybe it’s a gearbox problem,” Power told Snider. “I don’t know. It might not even be a problem. It could just be something vibrating, an aero part. Yeah, so we have to go through a few things, but we should have done it.” qualifying run) yesterday Honestly we should have run, but we didn’t, and that’s a bad decision in my opinion because we just wasted a run with the wrong aero parts and now we’re struggling with things like this. , so it’s our fault.”
In addition to the two pole qualifying rounds to secure the first four rows for the May 26 race, the Last Chance qualifying session will take place at 4:15 PM ET, with Marcus Ericsson, Katherine Legge, Graham Rahal and Nolan Siegel battling it out for the last three. places in the race.
Coverage begins at 3:00 PM ET on NBC and Peacock and runs until 6:00 PM
