Rinus VeeKay climbs into his car prior to Saturday’s Indianapolis 500 qualifying. VeeKay topped the speed charts with a lap at 233.655 mph around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Photo: Penske Entertainment: Chris Jones
It was a very good time either to be powered by a Chevrolet engine or drive for Chip Ganassi Racing on the first day of qualifying for the 106th Indianapolis 500 on Saturday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Chevrolets propelled the three fastest qualifiers, led by Rinus VeeKay’s four-lap average speed of 233.655 mph in the No. 21 Chevrolet, while all five of Ganassi’s Honda-powered drivers ended up in the top 12 and will advance to the final two rounds of qualifying Sunday, including the Firestone Fast Six that determines the winner of the NTT P1 Award for pole.
“It’s a good start,” VeeKay said. “It shows we have a good car and confidence for tomorrow. We can definitely challenge for pole. I think Ganassi is definitely our biggest rival out there for challenging for pole.”
Positions 13 through 33 in “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” were set during Saturday’s qualifying, which was interrupted twice by rain and lightning for a total of two hours, 14 minutes and cut short by 60 minutes.
The second round of qualifying, for the 12 fastest drivers on Saturday, starts at 4 p.m. (ET) Sunday. The six fastest drivers from that round will advance to the Firestone Fast Six, which starts at 5:10 p.m., and turn another four-lap qualifying run for the NTT P1 Award and its $100,000 prize.
Just under VeeKay on the Scoring Pylon were Arrow McLaren SP teammates Pato O’Ward and Felix Rosenqvist. O’Ward was second at 233.037, followed by Rosenqvist at 232.775.
Alex Palou led a trio of Honda-powered Ganassi drivers in the next three spots. Palou ended up fourth at 232.774, with 2013 race winner Tony Kanaan fifth at 232.625. Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion and Indy 500 rookie Jimmie Johnson was sixth at 232.398.
“It’s pretty awesome, and I’m just so thankful to be part of the group,” Johnson said about the Ganassi team performance. “Watching them prepare literally since they left here last year and continually thinking of this race, and it being a motto to win here before the championship. To be a part of it, to live it, to now be here experiencing it is really cool.”
Three-time Indy 500 pole sitter Ed Carpenter was seventh with a four-lap average at 232.397 after topping the morning practice with a single lap of 234.410, the fastest trip around the 2.5-mile IMS oval since 1996. Marcus Ericsson of Chip Ganassi Racing was eighth at 232.275, with “500” rookie Romain Grosjean leading Andretti Autosport in ninth at 232.201.
A trio of Indianapolis 500 winners rounded out the drivers to advance to the Round of 12 qualifying.
2008 winner Scott Dixon was 10th at 232.151, followed by 2018 winner Will Power in 11th at 231.842.
Two-time Indy 500 winner Takuma Sato ended up 12th at 231.708. Sato was forced to make a second attempt after his first run of 232.196 was disallowed after IndyCar officials penalized Sato for qualifying interference and failure to follow instructions, affecting another competitor. While slowing on his cool down lap after his first attempt, Sato was judged to have impeded the qualifying attempt of the next driver, Marco Andretti.
Rookie David Malukas just missed the cut to advance to Sunday, ending up 13th and just behind Dale Coyne Racing teammate Sato at 231.607.
While Chevy powered the first three drivers on the speed chart after qualifying, Honda struck back with a 7-5 edge among the top 12.
There was a common thread between VeeKay, O’Ward and Rosenqvist besides Bowtie engines. All three drew low numbers in the qualifying order Friday night and made their attempts in the first 15 minutes of qualifying, when the track temperature was just 85 degrees.
The air and track temperature continued to climb until the first rain arrived, dropping grip and speeds. By 12:30 p.m., 90 minutes into qualifying, the oval’s asphalt was 107 degrees.
NTT IndyCar Series
Indianapolis Motor Speedway – Indianapolis, IN
Indianapolis 500 – May 21, 2022
Saturday’s Qualifying Results
1. (21) Rinus VeeKay, Chevrolet, 02:34.0730 (233.655 mph)
2. (5) Pato O’Ward, Chevrolet, 02:34.4820 (233.037)
3. (7) Felix Rosenqvist, Chevrolet, 02:34.6558 (232.775)
4. (10) Alex Palou, Honda, 02:34.6565 (232.774)
5. (1) Tony Kanaan, Honda, 02:34.7555 (232.625)
6. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Honda, 02:34.9070 (232.398)
7. (33) Ed Carpenter, Chevrolet, 02:34.9076 (232.397)
8. (8) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 02:34.9890 (232.275)
9. (28) Romain Grosjean, Honda, 02:35.0378 (232.201)
10. (9) Scott Dixon, Honda, 02:35.0716 (232.151)
11. (12) Will Power, Chevrolet, 02:35.2784 (231.842)
12. (51) Takuma Sato, Honda, 02:35.3679 (231.708)
13. (18) David Malukas, Honda, 02:35.4356 (231.607)
14. (2) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 02:35.4541 (231.580)
15. (23) Santino Ferrucci, Chevrolet, 02:35.5019 (231.508)
16. (60) Simon Pagenaud, Honda, 02:35.6590 (231.275)
17. (11) JR Hildebrand, Chevrolet, 02:35.7684 (231.112)
18. (20) Conor Daly, Chevrolet, 02:35.8451 (230.999)
19. (77) Callum Ilott, Chevrolet, 02:35.8707 (230.961)
20. (27) Alexander Rossi, Honda, 02:35.9713 (230.812)
21. (15) Graham Rahal, Honda, 02:36.0022 (230.766)
22. (24) Sage Karam, Chevrolet, 02:36.2064 (230.464)
23. (98) Marco Andretti, Honda, 02:36.2875 (230.345)
24. (29) Devlin DeFrancesco, Honda, 02:36.3002 (230.326)
25. (26) Colton Herta, Honda, 02:36.3620 (230.235)
26. (3) Scott McLaughlin, Chevrolet, 02:36.4167 (230.154)
27. (06) Helio Castroneves, Honda, 02:36.7741 (229.630)
28. (14) Kyle Kirkwood, Chevrolet, 02:36.9269 (229.406)
29. (4) Dalton Kellett, Chevrolet, 02:37.2628 (228.916)
30. (6) Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet, 02:37.4655 (228.622)
31. (30) Christian Lundgaard, Honda, 02:38.5531 (227.053)
32. (45) Jack Harvey, Honda, 02:38.6944 (226.851)
33. (25) Stefan Wilson, Chevrolet, no time (no speed)
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