By Zorba Rose – Bloomingtonian Motorsports Correspondent
Fast 12 Morning Practice
Let’s start in the morning. The fast 12 practice session on Sunday morning was fast, incredibly fast, blindingly fast with three cars running over 235 mph, with Marcus Ericsson having the fastest lap speed of 235.692 without a tow in the No. 8, Chip Ganassi Racing, Honda. Alex Palou and rookie Benjamin Pederson were the other two drivers running over 235 mph.
“Yeah, the thing is fast. Our fastest was 235 with no tow. It’s moving”, Pederson said. The conditions are super fast today. Next goal is to get in the fast six. Then to fight for the pole.”
Rinus VeeKay practice turned bad after he posted a 234.801 in his No. 21, Ed Carpenter Racing, Chevrolet. There was some smoke and the car returned to the pits.
“The car just started slowing down. Which it wasn’t supposed to do,” said VeeKay. “We take a look in the garage and see what happens.”
The No. 21 car returned to Gasoline Alley, and the mechanics replaced the engine and returned to qualifying.
One surprise was that Tony Kanaan did not participate in morning practice.
Fast 12 Round Up
Picture perfect conditions and the track was bathed in blue skies for the fast 12. The Track temperature is 121 ℉; Air Temperature 74 ℉; Humidity at 36% and wind speed of 1 mph.
The weather doesn’t necessarily mean a fast track, because the lack of clouds means the sun will bake the track. Hot track means hot on the tires that will not last for the 4 laps it takes to qualify.
Will the speeds from morning practice continue through in the fast 12.
This year the qualifying format happens in two rounds. The first round is the Fast 12. During this round each car and driver will get one qualifying run to make it in the Top 6 Shootout for pole position. The drives will run in opposite order from how they qualified
Fast 12 Qualifying Results
1st – Felix Rosenqvist – No. 6, Arrow McLaren, Chevrolet
1st – 234.534, 2nd – 234.220, 3rd – 233.950, 4th- 233.623
Average: 234.08
The second fastest 4 lap average during qualifying.
2nd Santino Ferrucci – No. 14, A.J. Foyt Enterprises, Chevrolet
1st – 234.581, 2nd – 234.229, 3rd – 233.681, 4th- 233.154
Average: 233.911
“It was a long 4 laps – a fast 4 laps. We want to break that pole record, we want to make history.”
3rd Rinus VeeKay – No. 21, Ed Carpenter Racing, Chevrolet
1st – 234.505, 2nd – 234.012, 3rd – 233.544, 4th- 233.147
Average: 233.801
“That was a good run – very consistent,” VeeKay said. “We had a tough morning. Everyone stayed calm, everyone worked hard and we’re through to the fast six.”
4th Alex Palou – No. 10, Chip Ganassi Racing, Honda
1st – 234.472, 2nd – 234.134, 3rd – 233.264, 4th- 232.916
Average: 233.779
“It’s pretty crazy. We’re just trying to beat each other and triming so much,” Paulo said. “The first lap is great and then it gets tougher and tougher, and you get to the last lap and it is just endless.”
5th Scott Dixon – No. 9, Chip Ganassi Racing, Honda
1st – 234.342, 2nd – 233.887, 3rd – 232.814, 4th- 232.687
Average: 233.430
“It was good. I think we went pretty aggressive. It was on the limit,” Dixon said. “It was pretty loose on the last two laps.”
6th Pato O’Ward – No. 5, Arrow McLaren, Chevrolet
1st – 234.340, 2nd – 233.612, 3rd – 232.813, 4th- 232.162
Average: 233.229
“It was getting a little wiggly. I think we missed the balance slightly.” O’Ward said. “I think it was the hottest conditions we’ve ran this week.”
7th Alexander Rossi – No. 7, Arrow McLaren, Chevrolet
1st – 234.041, 2nd – 233.559, 3rd – 233.013, 4th- 231.840
Average: 233.110
Place: 7
Bumped out his teammate Tako Sato
“We didn’t get the balance quite where we need it,” said Rossi. “We’ve two cars fighting for the pole. That’s a great accomplishment for the team. I’m inside of row 3 and that’s plenty good qualifying for the race.”
8th Takuma Sato – No. 11, Chip Ganassi Racing, Honda
1st – 233.907, 2nd – 233.411, 3rd – 232.817, 4th- 232.262
Average: 233.098
Place: 8
9th Tony Kanaan – No. 66, Arrow McLaren, Chevrolet
1st – 234.001, 2nd – 233.543, 3rd – 232.967, 4th- 232.967
Average: 233.076
Place: 9
“It was kinda sketchy,” said Kanaan. “We tried it today and it didn’t work like yesterday… It is what it is.”
10th Marcus Ericsson – No. 8, Chip Ganassi Racing, Honda
1st – 233.825, 2nd – 233.272, 3rd – 232.529, 4th- 231.940
Average: 232.889
Place: 10
“We’ve been struggling all weekend to get a strong 4 lap run,” Ericsson said. “I think we have a little too much deck today.”
11th Benjamin Pedersen driving the No. 55, A.J. Foyt Enterprises, Chevrolet
1st – 233.137, 2nd – 232.869, 3rd – 232.657, 4th- 232.026
Average: 232.671
Place: 11
“It’s pretty hot, we’re trying to learn as much as possible,” Pederson said.
12th Will Power driving the No. 12, Team Penske, Chevrolet
1st – 233.297, 2nd – 232.598, 3rd – 232.640. 4th- 232.089
Average – 232.635
“It felt pretty good,” Power said, “ I Think we were right on downforce. Maybe a little off on gear.”
Fast 6 Round up
Now it is time for the main attraction is the fast 6 going for pole position. The format is the quickest 6 cars and drivers get one more qualifying attempt. The fastest four lap average of this bunch, determines who is on pole position for the 107th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge.
Fast 6 Qualifying results
Pole position – Alex Palou – No. 10, Chip Ganassi Racing, Honda
1st – 235.131, 2nd – 234.399, 3rd – 233.930, 4th – 233.415
Average: 234.217 – Second Fastest qualifying run ever.
“It was awesome. I had so much fun. It was sketchy, but we knew it would be.” Palou said. “It’s great to have the pole. Honda gave us all the power we wanted, and starting on the pole is just awesome.”
2nd Rinus VeeKay – No. 21, Ed Carpenter Racing, Chevrolet
1st – 235.019, 2nd – 234.403, 3rd – 233.982, 4th – 233.444
Average: 234.211
3rd Felix Rosenqvist – No. 6, Arrow McLaren, Chevrolet
1st – 234.602, 2nd – 234.233, 3rd – 233.930, 4th – 233.693
Average: 234.114
4th Santino Ferrucci – No. 14, A.J. Foyt Enterprises, Chevrolet
1st – 234.332, 2nd – 233.778, 3rd – 233.288, 4th – 233.249
Average: 233.661
5th Pato O’Ward – No. 5, Arrow McLaren, Chevrolet
1st – 233.756, 2nd – 233.490, 3rd – 232.962, 4th – 232.430
Average: 233.158
6th Scott Dixon – No. 9, Chip Ganassi Racing, Honda
1st – 234.184, 2nd – 233.135, 3rd – 232.808, 4th – 232.483
Average: 233.151
2023 107th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbride starting Grid
1st Row
1st – Alex Palou – No. 10, Chip Ganassi Racing, Honda
2nd – Rinus VeeKay – No. 21, Ed Carpenter Racing, Chevrolet
3rd – Felix Rosenqvist – No. 6, Arrow McLaren, Chevrolet
2nd Row
4th – Santino Ferrucci – No. 14, A.J. Foyt Enterprises, Chevrolet
5th – Pato O’Ward – No. 5, Arrow McLaren, Chevrolet
6th – Scott Dixon – No. 9, Chip Ganassi Racing, Honda
3rd Row
7th – Alexander Rossi – No. 7, Arrow McLaren, Chevrolet
8th – Takuma Sato – No. 11, Chip Ganassi Racing, Honda
9th – Tony Kanaan – No. 66, Arrow McLaren, Chevrolet
4th Row
10th – Marcus Ericsson – No. 8, Chip Ganassi Racing, Honda
11th – Benjamin Pedersen – No. 55, A.J. Foyt Enterprises, Chevrolet
12th – Will Power – No. 12, Team Penske, Chevrolet
5th Row
13th – Ed Carpenter – No. 33, Ed Carpenter Racing, Chevrolet
14th – Scott McLaughlin – No. 3, Team Penske, Chevrolet
15th – Kyle Kirkwood – No. 27, Andretti Autosport, Honda
6th Row
16th – Conor Daily – No. 20, Ed Carpenter Racing, Chevrolet
17th – Josef Newgarden – No. 2, Team Penske, Chevrolet
18th – Ryan Hunter-Reay – No. 23, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, Chevrolet
7th Row
19th – Romain Grosjean – No. 28, Andretti Autosport, Honda
20th – Helio Castroneves – No. 06, Meyer Shank Racing, Honda
21st – Colton Herta – No. 26, Andretti Autosport with Curb-Agajanian, Honda
8th Row
22nd – Simon Pagenaud – No. 60, Meyer Shank Racing, Honda
23rd – David Malukas – No. 18, Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Motorsports, Honda
24th – Marco Andretti – No. 98, Andretti Herta Autosport w/Marco and Curb-Agajanian
9th Row
25th – Stefan Wilson – No. 24, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing/Cusick Motorsports, Chevrolet
26th – Devlin DeFrancesco – No. 29, Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport, Honda
27th – Agustin Canapino – No. 78, Juncos Hollinger Racing, Chevrolet
10th Row
28th – Callum Ilott – No. 77, Juncos Hollinger Racing, Chevrolet
29th – R.C. Enerson – No. 50, Abel Motorsports, Chevrolet
30th – Katherine Legge – No. 44 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, Honda
11th Row
31st Christian Lundgaard, No. 45, Rahal Letterman Lanigan, Honda
32nd Sting Ray Robb No 51, Dale Coyne Racing, Honda
33rd Graham Rahal, No 15, Rahal Letterman Lanigan, Honda
