In one of the most celebrated days on the racing calendar, 34 cars took to the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Saturday for the first day of qualifying for the May 25 Indianapolis 500.
Reigning NASCAR Cup Series championship points leader Kyle Larson turned in a solid performance with a pair of four-lap qualifying attempts earning him the 21st starting position on the 33-car grid with a four-lap average of 231.326 mph.
While that showing doesn’t advance Larson’s No. 17 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet into Sunday’s Top 12 qualifying session to determine the polesitter and the first four rows of the race, it does ensure the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion will have a chance at making history for the second consecutive year.
A week from Sunday, the 32-year-old Californian will compete in the Indianapolis 500 then fly immediately to Charlotte Motor Speedway where he will race in the NASCAR Cup Series’ Coca-Cola 600 — only the fifth driver ever to run racing’s celebrated Memorial Day “Double.”
The late John Andretti, Robby Gordon, three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Tony Stewart and former series champ Kurt Busch join Larson on that short list. Stewart’s 2001 finishes of sixth at Indy and third at Charlotte were best among them all.
Larson and his Arrow McLaren team have certainly put in the work toward success this week. He spun out and had contact with the wall during “Fast Friday” practice in anticipation of qualifying. Larson was OK physically and the team was able to make repairs to his car in time for him to return to track as the session ended for a shake-down.
He went out early in Saturday’s day-long qualifying session, but it was his second attempt mid-afternoon that boosted his position and safely secured his presence on the grid. He went from 27th in speed on his first qualifying run to 16th best with three hours remaining in opening day qualifying — ultimately that speed bettered in the remaining time by five cars.
“We’re P21 so we’re in the race,” said a smiling Larson, who started fifth in last year’s Indy 500. “After the first run, I was a little nervous we’d be one of the guys battling for the final spots. Obviously, we would have loved to have been in the Fast 12 again but, overall, a good day; we got two runs in.
“It was fairly comfortable, just slightly less comfortable than what I felt last year in qualifying. I just got a little bit of a free moment into (Turn) 2 on the last lap, but other than that I felt pretty balanced. I was happy with that. Obviously, with the balance it comes with a little bit lack of speed, but I didn’t crash and that was a plus.”
Larson, who now heads back to North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speedway for Sunday night’s NASCAR All-Star Race in his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, certainly didn’t seem overly concerned with this seventh-row position on the grid for this year’s 500.
“I’m sure it will be a bit crazy as the race typically is back there,” he said. “I had a bad restart early last year and fell back to near that position and we were able to fight our way back forward. Just execute some good laps and hopefully we’ll have a good result.”
Reigning championship leader Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou — who ran the fastest single lap of the week — set the fastest four-lap average speed of the opening day of qualifying a mark of 233.043 mph in the No. 10 CGR Honda. The effort was only a slight tick better than Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin (233.013 mph), last year’s Indy 500 polesitter.
Also advancing to second round of qualifying were two-time defending Indy 500 winner, McLaughlin’s Penske teammate Josef Newgarden; Larson’s Arrow McLaren teammate Pato O’Ward; and the 2008 race-winner, CGR’s Scott Dixon. Prema Racing’s Robert Shwartzman was sixth-fastest on the day and is the only rookie to advance to the Round of 12.
Meyer Shank Racing’s Felix Rosenqvist; two-time Indy winner, Rahal Letterman Lanigan’s Takuma Sato; and A.J. Foyt Racing’s David Malukas also advanced with a pair of former Indy 500 winners in Penske’s Will Power and Andretti’s Marcus Ericsson along with Arrow McLaren’s Christian Lundgaard rounding out the top-12.
These dozen drivers will run again Sunday with the top six advancing to Firestone Fast Six to determine the most famous pole position of the season.
The importance of the achievement was evident in qualifying. The action started nearly immediately Saturday with Meyer Shank Racing’s Marcus Armstrong in a big crash during the morning practice followed shortly by another incident involving a perennial championship contender Andretti Global’s Colton Herta, who hit the wall and flipped his car during an early qualifying attempt.
Both teams were able to make repairs throughout the day, and Armstrong and Herta each made qualifying attempts in the closing hour.
Herta, a former front-row Indy 500 starter, rallied to a 29th-place qualifying effort with a remarkable run — ironically bumping his teammate, former Indy 500 polesitter Marco Andretti, into the Last Chance Qualifier on Sunday.
Four cars — Andretti, Armstrong, Rinus Veekay and Jacob Abel — will vie for the final three positions on the last row of the grid at 5:15 p.m. ET.
Sunday’s Top 12 qualifying and Last Chance Qualifying will be broadcast on FOX Sports (4-6 p.m. ET).
–Holy Cain, NASCAR Wire Service. Special to Field Level Media
