Rookie Shwartzman stuns with shock Indy 500 pole for Prema

Robert Shwartzman has stunned by taking pole position for this year’s Indianapolis 500, going from the bottom of the timesheets at the start of the week to the very top in the pole shootout.

The 25-year-old is the first rookie to earn pole for IndyCar’s crown jewel event in 42 years, and will share the front row with two-time Indy 500 winner Takuma Sato, plus Pato O’Ward in third.

“No, honestly I can’t believe it,” Shwartzman told IndyCar on FOX. “I was closing my eyes like this is a dream, it can’t be true. Honestly, I don’t know what even to say. The car felt amazing, like honestly, I can’t thank Prema and Chevy [enough]. They did such a good job. It’s unbelievable.

“Coming here for my first oval race, I would never expect myself to be in this position. It’s unbelievable. Big thanks to everybody.”

Scott Dixon heads up the second row in fourth, in front of Felix Rosenqvist and runaway IndyCar championship leader Alex Palou who fill out the second row for the Indy 500.

Sato had taken provisional pole early in the Fast 6 round with a 232.478mph, holding off the Chip Ganassi Racing duo of Dixon and Palou, but it was not meant to be Sato’s first pole in the 500 as a shocking upset emerged from Shwartzman.

In the Fast 12 session, only nine drivers ran following drama for the Team Penske trio. It began with Scott McLaughlin’s airborne crash in morning practice, which completely destroyed his #3 Team Penske Chevrolet car.

The drama continued as the other two Penske cars were abruptly pulled out of the Fast 12 qualifying line. As it turns out, an issue was found in pre-qualifying inspection involving the rear attenuator of Josef Newgarden’s car. The same issue existed on Will Power’s car and Penske attempted to fix it in the pitlane. However, these modifications were not allowed and they were denied a shot at the Indy 500 pole.

As for the drivers that were allowed to go out, the battle for the final transfer spot came down to David Malukas and Palou, but there was little Malukas could do as the championship leader vaulted himself into the Fast 6.

Therefore Malukas will start the Indy 500 in seventh, ahead of Christian Lundgaard and 2022 Indy 500 winner Marcus Ericsson, with McLaughlin 10th, Power 11th, and Newgarden 12th.

Abel fails to qualify for Indy 500 in team-mate battle over last spot

Jacob Abel, Dale Coyne Racing

Photo by: Penske Entertainment

Jacob Abel was the driver who failed to qualify for the Indy 500 in the final row of the grid decider, after losing out to Andretti Global’s Marco Andretti, Meyer Shank Racing’s Marcus Armstrong and Dale Coyne Racing team-mate Rinus VeeKay.

Armstrong was the first of the four Honda drivers to go out, reaching 229.091mph in his four-lap run. Andretti eclipsed him with a 229.741mph.

Alarm bells began to ring for Abel and DCR, as his first run only reached 227.112mph. VeeKay ran a 227.740mph, putting team-mate Abel on the hot seat.

As the time clicked away, VeeKay made the bold decision to throw away his first run and move into the fast lane. He went out on track, but actually ran slower. Panic began to set in as he now nervously held a 226.913mph run.

But on Abel’s final run he was not able to do any better, only reaching 226.394mph over the course of his run, to gift Veekay entry in last place.

“Unfortunately, starting yesterday, kind of been preparing for this a little bit,” Abel told IndyCar on FOX. “Super, super weird situation. We were happy all week long. The car was fast. We were very conservative with everything and we were ready to trim it out. It seems like something just happened overnight, Friday to Saturday, and we just immediately lost speed and it’s just been getting slower and slower every run.

“I thought we had a chance there at the end because our team-mate went slower. It’s not how you want to do it, obviously. I don’t need to tell you guys how good Rinus VeeKay is around here. I think we’re struggling a little bit. It sucks. I thought this was going to be my first Indy 500 but yeah, hopefully that day will come sooner rather than later.”