Team Penske increased its qualifying pace from Saturday with a sweep of the front row on Sunday.
Scott McLaughlin went out last on Sunday, posting the fastest four-lap run of the weekend to win the pole for the 2024 Indianapolis 500. His speed outpaced his Team Penske teammates Will Power and Josef Newgarden, the defending Indy 500 -champion.
McLaughlin’s average speed of 234.220 MPH over his four laps is the fastest pole run in the history of the Indianapolis 500. McLaughlin went out last after setting the fastest speed earlier in the day and having the advantage of slightly more shade on a track that cooled as the shadows lengthened.
Kyle Larson qualified fifth for the 500 before heading to North Carolina for the NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Race later Sunday night. Larson will be the fifth driver next weekend to compete in both the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 on the same day.
Larson had an early problem with his car during Saturday’s qualifying session, but was able to complete a run that easily advanced him to the second round of qualifying on Sunday. The best twelve drivers from Saturday’s qualifying session raced for pole position on Sunday.
Penske’s dominant speed
The six cars going for the pole position late Sunday afternoon were all powered by Chevrolet engines, and the Team Penske cars are clearly the fastest of the Chevy bunch.
The Indy 500 has always been the most important race for Roger Penske, and Team Penske’s front row finish comes after a significant punishment for the team earlier this season. Newgarden and McLaughlin were disqualified from the season-opening race in St. Petersburg, while Power was penalized because the team had software on the engines that allowed the drivers to use more push-to-pass boost than allowed.
The DQs led to suspensions for Penske personnel for the 500 and a lot of chatter among the series’ other competitors. Penske is the owner of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the IndyCar Series.
His team is clearly the one to beat in a week’s time as it looks to back up his historic success at IMS. Newgarden’s 2023 win marked the 19th Indy 500 win for Team Penske. No other team has more than six wins in the Indianapolis 500.
Nolan Siegel misses
Siegel pushed as hard as he could on his final run on Sunday and found himself getting a little too close to the edge.
Siegel finished 34th out of 34 drivers after Marcus Ericsson pushed his way into the field with less than five minutes to go in the last row qualifying session. Siegel’s first lap of his four-lap qualifying attempt was not good enough to make the field and he then hit the wall on his second lap before his car crashed.
It was the 19-year-old’s second crash of the week after making a mistake in training earlier this week.
Siegel’s DNQ means that Graham Rahal got the 33rd and final spot in the field. Rahal missed last year’s race, but ended up driving the No. 24 car during the 500 due to Stefan Wilson’s practice crash.
The drama of Marcus Ericsson
Ericsson also crashed in practice this week and failed to make the field in Saturday’s qualifying session, which guaranteed starting places for the fastest 30 drivers in the 33-car field.
Ericsson was sufficiently fast on his first qualifying attempt, but retired after his third lap due to an apparent miscommunication over the number of laps he had completed. If Ericsson had continued on his fourth and final lap, he would not have needed a second qualifying run.
Instead, he had to go again and did just enough to get in. Ericsson’s second run knocked Siegel off the field.
Indianapolis 500 starting lineup
1. Scott McLaughlin
2. Willpower
3. Joseph Newgarden
4. Alexander Rossi
5. Kyle Larson
6. Santino Ferrucci
7. Rinus VeeKay
8. Pato O’Ward
9. Felix Rosenqvist
10. Takuma Sato
11. Kyle Kirkwood
12. Ryan Hunter Reay
13. Colton Herta
14. Alex Palou
15. Callum Ilott
16.Marcus Armstrong
17. Ed Timmerman
18. Kyffin Simpson
19. Marco Andretti
20. Helio Castroneves
21. Scott Dixon
22. Augustine Canapino
23. Stingray Robb
24. Christian Rasmussen
25. Tom Blomqvist
26. Romain Grosjean
27. Linus Lundqvist
28. Christian Lundgaard
29. Conor Daly
30. Pietro Fittipaldi
31. Katherine Legge
32.Marcus Ericsson
33. Graham Rahal
DNQ: Nolan Siegel
