McLaughlin leads record Penske front row sweep at IMS
By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio
All Team Penske, all day long.
That’s been the mantra since “Fast Friday” at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where Scott McLaughlin punctuated the organization’s oval-track excellence with a record-setting qualifying run for next Sunday’s 108th Indianapolis 500.
I108th Running of the Indianapolis 500 Front Row Photoshoot – Monday, May 20, 2024
(Photo by James Black | IMS Photo)
McLaughlin won the NTT P1 Award during Firestone Fast Six qualifying, leading only the second sweep of the three-car front row by one team in the history of “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.” Team Penske first achieved that feat in 1988, when pole-sitter Rick Mears was joined by No. 2 qualifier Danny Sullivan and Al Unser in third.
A 30-year-old native of New Zealand, McLaughlin recorded his first career Indy 500 pole by posting the fastest four-lap/10-mile average speed in history _ a blistering 234.220 mph in the No. 3 Pennzoil Team Penske Chevrolet. McLaughlin’s best qualifying position in three previous Indy 500 starts was 14th in 2023.
“Yeah, that was just a gnarly run. It was so cool, man,” said McLaughlin, whose car is the latest iteration of the “Yellow Submarine” made famous by three-time Indy 500 champion Johnny Rutherford of Fort Worth and the No. 4 Pennzoil Chaparral/Cosworth in 1980. “The Pennzoil Chevy was unreal. There’s so much pride in being able to do it. I’m working hard. Indy hasn’t been kind to me, and a lot of it was my doing. I need to work on things. This is the first step.”
McLaughlin secured P1 on Sunday’s final attempt at the expense of teammate Will Power, INDYCAR’s all-time leader in poles with 70 and the 2018 Indy 500 champion. A 43-year-old native of Australia, Power was bumped to second after his run of 233.917 mph in the No. 12 Verizon Business Team Penske Chevrolet. Reigning Indy 500 champ Josef Newgarden completed the front row at 233.808 mph in the No. 2 Shell Powering Progress Team Penske Chevrolet.
McLaughlin began his qualifying run with a warp-speed first lap of 234.5 mph. His reaction in the cockpit? “Holy cow. Just don’t spray it!” McLaughlin said. “Just wanted to make sure I brought it home. Look, we work really hard to get a really good balance in the Fast 12, and I felt like my best run of the weekend was actually the Fast 12. I knew going last was going to be advantage, and we used it.
“To execute the way we have as a team, that’s what’s really cool. You see the time, and then it’s all about just executing. After that, (adjusting) your weight-jacker and figuring out what was the car doing and what do you think the car is going to do the next lap. So, you’re playing with bars and weight-jacker and trying to hold on to it.
“I thought the potential was there, even (Saturday). It was just about getting the right balance. I knew my engineer would nail it, and they did, and when first number came up, I just had to hold on. Got a little bit loose at the end but the Pennzoil Chevy held on. Super-proud to put the ‘Yellow Submarine’ back on the pole and sweep for Team Penske. In this day and age, that’s a proud moment.”
The team founded and owned by 87-year-old Roger Penske notched its record-extending 19th Indianapolis 500 pole on the hottest day of the “Month of May” at the famed 2.5-mile oval, with air temperatures reaching 91 degrees and track temps topping-out at 129 degrees.
“That was a very strong run by Scott,” said Power, Penske’s longest-tenured driver and a two-time NTT IndyCar Series champion. “But I knew a Penske car was going to get the pole. I said so at Long Beach (last month), a Penske car was going to be on-pole because of the amount of work we’ve done. Just happy for all of the engineers. They’re the ones that have put the effort in. This is through extreme hard work the last four or five years and tough qualifying sessions.
“Pretty cool that we have three cars on the front row. But this year, man, once again I’m second in so many qualifying sessions. This one here seems to elude me. We’ve had the quickest car with the quickest team all year, and we’re on the front row and will have a good chance to win the race. The race will be better from where we’re all starting. Big congrats to Scott. That was a great run.”
Chevrolet-powered drivers occupy the top eight spots in the traditional 33-car field for the race on Sunday, May 26. Live broadcast coverage will begin at 11 a.m. (EDT) on NBC, Peacock, Universo and the INDYCAR Radio Network.
“This is sweet,” said Newgarden, a two-time series champion in the final season of his Penske contract. “This is an amazing job by Team Penske to have all three cars on the front row. It’s a testament to the team. That’s what Indianapolis rewards, is the effort by every individual in this group. I’ve said this all month, it takes an entire month to get to this point. We didn’t find this over a week or two.
“I wish the No. 2 car could be up there, but it’s great for the team. The Shell Chevy is fast. The Verizon Chevy is fast, and I’m sure the boss is happy. Us as a group, we’re happy we’re able to work together and try to win this race. This is a great day.”
Among other qualifiers in the Firestone Fast Six were Alexander Rossi, the 2016 Indy 500 champion who will start fourth at 233.090 mph in the No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet; Indy 500 rookie and 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson fifth at 232.846 mph in the No. 17 Hendrickcars.com Arrow McLaren Chevrolet and Santino Ferrucci sixth at 232.692 mph in the No. 14 Homes For Our Troops Chevrolet fielded by Houston native and INDYCAR legend A.J. Foyt Jr., first four-time winner of the race.
“This is just a great team, really,” Larson said of Arrow McLaren before exiting IMS in a helicopter for a flight to North Carolina and Sunday night’s NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway. “They prepared an awesome race car that’s stuck to the racetrack, and also has speed. Qualifying went a lot better than I ever could have hoped or anticipated. I’m just proud of everybody at Arrow McLaren and Hendrick Motorsports that’s been involved in this.”
Larson is attempting to complete “The Double” of racing in the Indy 500 and Cup’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 26.
Ferrucci continued to display his affinity for IMS, the track where the 89-year-old Foyt _ aka “Super Tex” _ launched his iconic INDYCAR career.
“Man, you know, we were kind of missing that little half-mile-an-hour and it’s tough. It’s a tough field, a tough grid,” said Ferrucci, who finished third at IMS last year behind winner Newgarden and runnerup/2022 Indy 500 champ Marcus Ericsson. “The Homes For Our Troops car was really fast. I came out of (Turn) 1 on Lap 3, I got into the apex and it moved and I was like ‘I don’t know’ and then it moved again on the exit and I was scrambling to hit my tools before (Turn) 2. I was still trying to gather the car, but when I turned-in I was able to adjust it going down the backstretch and I was just hoping that my following lap into Turn 1 it was just going to stick.
“It was one of the moments where you don’t lift, and hope and pray.”
Pato O’Ward will start eighth after his four-lap Fast 12 run Sunday of 232.584 mph in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. “We got what we wanted _ a good starting position,” said O’Ward, a native of Mexico who has family ties to San Antonio. “We were a bit disappointed that we didn’t find the speed that the other cars have had all month, but it is what it is. We’re going to make sure the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet is the best as it possibly can be and race our way to the front.”
Sweden’s Felix Rosenqvist was the fastest Honda-powered qualifier, starting ninth after his run of 232.305 mph in the No. 60 AutoNation/SiriusXM Honda fielded by Meyer Shank Racing.
At the other end of the 11-row grid, Katherine Legge, Ericsson and Graham Rahal earned the final three starting spots during Last Chance Qualifying.
Legge, of Great Britain, qualified 31st at 230.092 mph in the No. 51 e.l.f. Cosmetics Honda fielded by Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing. Sweden’s Ericsson qualified 32nd at 230.027 mph in the No. 28 Delaware Life Honda of Andretti Global.
Rahal, meanwhile, avoided being bumped from the field for the second consecutive year by earning the final starting spot at 229.974 mph in the No. 15 United Rentals Honda of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.
“I’ve been there _ last year _ it still stings,” said Rahal, son of team co-owner and 1986 Indy 500 champion Bobby Rahal. “It’s not much better being 33rd, I can tell you that. At least we’re in the field, and we’re going to go racing.”
Rookie Nolan Siegel, an INDY NXT by Firestone standout, was the only driver failing to qualify. Moments after he was bumped by Ericsson during Last Chance Qualifying, Siegel crashed his backup No. 18 Dale Coyne Racing Honda in Turn 1 on the session’s final attempt. He was uninjured.
“I wish we could have shown that we deserve to be in the 500,” said Siegel, a 19-year-old native of Palo Alto, Calif. “But we’ve had a difficult couple of days, and we pulled through it as a team. We did everything we possibly could. I feel like we maximized the runs today. That’s all you can do.”
The 33-car field average speed is 231.943 mph, second-fastest in history. Last year’s record field average was 232.184 mph.
Drivers will return to the track today for a two-hour practice scheduled for 1 p.m., with live coverage on Peacock.
Qualifying results Sunday for the 108th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge NTT IndyCar Series event on the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway, with rank, car number in parentheses, driver, engine, time and speed in parentheses:
1.(3) Scott McLaughlin, Chevrolet, 02:33.7017 (234.220 mph)
2. (12) Will Power, Chevrolet, 02:33.9007 (233.917)
3. (2) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 02:33.9726 (233.808)
4. (7) Alexander Rossi, Chevrolet, 02:34.4469 (233.090)
5. (17) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 02:34.6083 (232.848)
6. (14) Santino Ferrucci, Chevrolet, 02:34.7110 (232.692)
7. (21) Rinus VeeKay, Chevrolet, 02:34.7657 (232.610)
8. (5) Pato O’Ward, Chevrolet, 02:34.7829 (232.584)
9. (60) Felix Rosenqvist, Honda, 02:34.9686 (232.305)
10. (75) Takuma Sato, Honda, 02:35.0578 (232.171)
11. (27) Kyle Kirkwood, Honda, 02:35.8490 (230.993)
12. (23) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Chevrolet, 02:36.1367 (230.567)
13. (26) Colton Herta, Honda, 02:34.9616 (232.316)
14. (10) Alex Palou, Honda, 02:34.9682 (232.306)
15. (6) Callum Ilott, Chevrolet, 02:35.0184 (232.230)
16. (11) Marcus Armstrong, Honda, 02:35.0504 (232.183)
17. (20) Ed Carpenter, Chevrolet, 02:35.1608 (232.017)
18. (4) Kyffin Simpson, Honda, 02:35.2069 (231.948)
19. (98) Marco Andretti, Honda, 02:35.2458 (231.890)
20. (06) Helio Castroneves, Honda, 02:35.2587 (231.871)
21. (9) Scott Dixon, Honda, 02:35.2723 (231.851)
22. (78) Agustin Canapino, Chevrolet, 02:35.2750 (231.847)
23. (41) Sting Ray Robb, Chevrolet, 02:35.2888 (231.826)
24. (33) Christian Rasmussen, Chevrolet, 02:35.3852 (231.682)
25. (66) Tom Blomqvist, Honda, 02:35.4554 (231.578)
26. (77) Romain Grosjean, Chevrolet, 02:35.4982 (231.514)
27. (8) Linus Lundqvist, Honda, 02:35.5034 (231.506)
28. (45) Christian Lundgaard, Honda, 02:35.5308 (231.465)
29. (24) Conor Daly, Chevrolet, 02:35.6803 (231.243)
30. (30) Pietro Fittipaldi, Honda, 02:35.7768 (231.100)
31. (51) Katherine Legge, Honda, 02:36.4590 (230.092)
32. (28) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 02:36.5037 (230.027)
33. (15) Graham Rahal, Honda, 02:36.5396 (229.974)
