INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The first day of Indianapolis 500 qualifying was rained out, race organizers announced Saturday.
It’s the first time since 2008 a full day of qualifying was lost because of weather. The decision prompted some significant schedule changes for Sunday.
A short practice, held in two groups, will begin at 9:30 a.m. local time for each driver trying to make the traditional 33-car starting grid. The four-lap qualifying runs will begin at noon.
But the plan to hold a series of elimination rounds between the 15 fastest cars has been scrapped and organizers will now revert back to the 12-car format used in recent years, starting at 4 p.m. The top six cars advance to the final round, which determines the pole winner for the May 24 race.
That will likely force teams to continue holding strategy sessions overnight, something that almost undoubtedly began during a nearly six-hour wait to see if they could get cars onto the Brickyard’s 2.5-mile oval.
The fastest drivers in this week’s practices have been 2024 Indy pole winner Scott McLaughlin and his Team Penske teammates — two-time Indy winner Josef Newgarden and last year’s 500 runner-up David Malukas; defending race winner Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing; Felix Rosenqvist of Meyer Shank Racing, who hopes to join Palou as a two-time pole winner this season; 2016 Indianapolis 500 winner Alexander Rossi, who drives for owner-driver Ed Carpenter, a three-time Indy pole winner; and Conor Daly, the stepson of speedway president Doug Boles who is making his IndyCar season debut with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing.
Rosenqvist posted the fastest lap, 233.372 mph, and the fastest four-lap average, 232.828 mph, in practice Friday when series officials gave each car a power boost of about 100 horsepower. McLaughlin turned the fastest no-tow lap, 232.674 mph, and had the second-fastest four-lap average, 232.572 mph.
But with no clear favorite to win the pole, Sunday’s weather could change the equation dramatically.
Temperatures are expected to climb into the mid-80s, potentially increasing the track temperature to 120 degrees or more in the afternoon, vastly different from this week’s more ideal cooler conditions.
Plus, the heavy rain that moved in Saturday morning and again in the afternoon has washed much of the built-up rubber on the track away, creating less grip. The short practice session should help add some grip to the track.
Palou, the Spaniard who has won four series titles and is the points leader again this season, is the defending Indianapolis 500 champion and is trying to become the seventh back-to-back winner in race history. Helio Castroneves, the Brazilian with Meyer Shank, is one of four four-time race winners and is again attempting to become the first five-time winner.
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