AP

Blistering speeds at fastest Indy 500 qualifying since 1996

May 20, 2022, 10:48 PM | Updated: May 21, 2022, 2:51 pm

Alex Palou, of Spain, climbs into his car during qualifications for the Indianapolis 500 auto race ...

Alex Palou, of Spain, climbs into his car during qualifications for the Indianapolis 500 auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Saturday, May 21, 2022, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

(AP Photo/Darron Cummings)


              Alex Palou, of Spain, climbs into his car during qualifications for the Indianapolis 500 auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Saturday, May 21, 2022, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
            
              Takuma Sato, of Japan, waits to drive during qualifications for the Indianapolis 500 auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Saturday, May 21, 2022, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
            
              Tony Kanaan, of Brazil, stretches during qualifications for the Indianapolis 500 auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Saturday, May 21, 2022, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
            
              Jimmie Johnson, left, talks with Scott Dixon, of New Zealand, and Dario Franchitti during qualifications for the Indianapolis 500 auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Saturday, May 21, 2022, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
            
              Jimmie Johnson takes off his balaclava during qualifications for the Indianapolis 500 auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Saturday, May 21, 2022, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
            
              Romain Grosjean, of France, waits to drive during qualifications for the Indianapolis 500 auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Saturday, May 21, 2022, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
            
              Rinus VeeKay, of The Netherlands, gets a fist bump from a crew member during qualifications for the Indianapolis 500 auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Saturday, May 21, 2022, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
            
              Scott Dixon, of New Zealand, puts on his equipment during qualifications for the Indianapolis 500 auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Saturday, May 21, 2022, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
            
              Helio Castroneves, of Brazil, walk out of the pit area as rain halted qualifications for the Indianapolis 500 auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Saturday, May 21, 2022. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
            
              The crew for Christian Lundgaard, of Denmark, push his car back to Gasoline Alley during a weather delay during qualifications for the Indianapolis 500 auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Saturday, May 21, 2022, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
            
              The crew for Marcus Ericsson, of Sweden, push his car back to Gasoline Alley during a weather delay during qualifications for the Indianapolis 500 auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Saturday, May 21, 2022, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
            
              Pato O'Ward, of Mexico, waits during qualifications for the Indianapolis 500 auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Saturday, May 21, 2022, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
            
              Rinus VeeKay, of The Netherlands, waits during qualifications for the Indianapolis 500 auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Saturday, May 21, 2022, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
            
              The crew for Simon Pagenaud, of France, pulls his car into Gasoline Alley before qualifications for the Indianapolis 500 auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Saturday, May 21, 2022, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
            
              Scott Dixon, of New Zealand, climbs out od his car during practice for the Indianapolis 500 auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Friday, May 20, 2022, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
            
              Jimmie Johnson prepares to climb into his car during practice for the Indianapolis 500 auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Friday, May 20, 2022, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Rain held off long enough on Saturday to complete the first round of qualifying for the Indianapolis 500 on a soupy day that still produced eye-popping speeds not seen in 26 years at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Rinus VeeKay and Pato O’Ward, a pair of young new stars, posted blistering qualifying averages of over 233 mph in a flex of Chevrolet horsepower. NASCAR star Jimmie Johnson qualified for his first Indy 500 and his Chip Ganassi Racing team showed it might be the strongest organization at Indy right now.

Meanwhile, Andretti Autosport had a terrible day. And Team Penske got bit by the weather when it pulled Scott McLaughlin’s qualifying time late Saturday afternoon and sent him back out to try to crack the top 12. McLaughlin was 15th on the board when his time was forfeited; the New Zealander went even slower and dropped to 26th.

“Well this place just kicked (me) in the privates — ah well,” McLaughlin posted on social media.

Penske teammate Josef Newgarden followed McLaughlin out for his own attempt to make the top 12, but his run was halted when lightning flashed. It was the second lightning stoppage of the day, and the rain followed minutes later. IndyCar called it a day about 70 minutes short of the scheduled completion.

Only spots 13 through 33 were locked in Saturday, and the top 12 return Sunday for a shootout for the pole. The fight for the front row will be VeeKay and O’Ward, who posted the third and fifth fastest four-lap qualifying averages in track history, then Felix Rosenqvist as Chevrolet swept the top three spots.

Reigning IndyCar champion Alex Palou was fourth fastest as Ganassi advanced its entire five-car fleet into Sunday’s action. Tony Kanaan was fifth, Johnson was sixth, Marcus Ericsson was eighth and Scott Dixon was 10th for the Honda-powered team.

Ed Carpenter, who on Saturday morning posted the eighth-fastest lap in track history at 234.410 mph, was sixth fastest in qualifying as he and Will Power (11th) completed the Chevrolet group.

Honda advanced seven drivers to Sunday as the Ganassi group was joined by Romain Grosjean, the only Andretti driver to make the top 12, and two-time winner Takuma Sato.

Sato had an rollercoaster session; he was disqualified following his first qualifying attempt for interfering with Marco Andretti’s lap. When he made his second attempt, Sato scrubbed the wall and still made it into the top 12.

Spots seven through 12 for the May 29 race will be determined in another qualifying round, then following a break, a “Fast Six” shootout will set the first two rows of the 106th running of the Indy 500.

VeeKay for Ed Carpenter Racing put his Chevrolet atop the scoring pylon with a four-lap average speed of 233.655 mph that bumped O’Ward of Arrow McLaren SP to second at 233.037.

Arie Luyendyk set the four-lap qualifying record in 1996 at 236.986, and VeeKay’s average was third fastest of all time behind Luyendyk and Scott Brayton’s mark of 233.718. O’Ward’s average was fifth fastest in history, with Tony Stewart fourth in 1996.

“It’s very, very cool to have two Dutch guys in the top-five fastest of all time,” said VeeKay, who like Luyendyk is from The Netherlands.

Johnson once again showed incredible speed and in an early Saturday morning practice turned a lap at 233.961 mph — 14th fastest in track history.

“I think the speed scared my kids,” Johnson said. “When they saw me, the look in their eyes. They’ve been to plenty of races, but they never looked at me like that.”

The seven-time NASCAR champion has steadily become a legitimate contender to win the Indy 500, which would be his fifth victory on the Indianapolis oval; Johnson won four times in NASCAR.

“There were some quiet moments I had before I rolled off, I was able to look around and really take in the moment,” said Johnson, “and what a special moment it was, I am just so happy to here. Things are looking good for now.”

Not long after Johnson’s morning run, teammate Dixon turned the 13th fastest lap in history at 234.093. Carpenter closed the session as the leader with the fastest lap in Indy 500 practice since Luyendyk set the track record of 237.498 mph in 1996.

Andretti Autosport struggled from the get-go as Marco Andretti had to abort his qualifying run when Sato failed to get off the track following his run moments earlier.

Andretti will start 23rd.

“Don’t count the 98 out to win this race,” he said.

As the team was figuring out what to do about Andretti, Colton Herta’s engine seemed to fail during Herta’s run. Winner on the road course just one week ago, Herta was making his qualifying attempt when his Honda engine suddenly shut off.

He aborted his run and returned to the pits, and later confirmed his engine would be changed.

Then 2016 winner Alexander Rossi had a miserable first run: “We added downforce,” said Rossi, who called the decision “horrible.”

His second attempt was worse and Rossi will start 20th. Devlin DeFrancesco, a rookie, was 24th and Herta will start 25th.

The last row of the Indy 500 will be rookie Christian Lungaard, Jack Harvey and Stefan Wilson, the 33rd entrant. Wilson had a gearbox issue Saturday and needed an engine change and never got on track.

___

More AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

AP

Associated Press

Ex-Packer Guion gets 1 year for domestic violence assault

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Former Green Bay Packers defensive tackle Letroy Guion was sentenced to one year in jail after pleading no contest in a domestic violence assault at his home last fall. Brown County Circuit Court Judge Thomas Walsh also ordered Guion on Tuesday to serve three years’ probation and complete a domestic […]

1 year ago

Joe Jarzynka...

Associated Press

Durant eager for Suns debut vs. Hornets after knee injury

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Kevin Durant has been through quite a bit during his 15-year NBA career — but joining a new team midway through the season is a new one for the 13-time All-Star. The 34-year-old Durant doesn’t seem all that worried. Durant makes his highly anticipated Phoenix Suns debut on Wednesday night against […]

1 year ago

FILE - Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores stands on the sideline during the second half of an N...

Associated Press

Judge: NFL coach can press discrimination claims in court

NEW YORK (AP) — NFL Coach Brian Flores can pursue some of his discrimination claims against the league and its teams in court rather than through arbitration, a judge ruled Wednesday. The written decision by Judge Valerie Caproni in Manhattan was issued months after lawyers for the league tried to get the lawsuit moved to […]

1 year ago

Chicago Blackhawks goaltender Alex Stalock cools off in the first period during an NHL hockey game ...

Associated Press

Kane trade reinforces hard reality of Blackhawks rebuild

CHICAGO (AP) — After days of speculation, the harsh reality of the Chicago Blackhawks’ situation was reinforced by one move in a flurry of transactions ahead of the NHL trade deadline. Showtime is over, at least in Chicago, and a seemingly bright future is, well, way off in the distance. The reverberations of Chicago’s decision […]

1 year ago

FILE -  Yves Jean-Bart, president of the Haitian Football Federation, wearing a protective face mas...

Associated Press

Disgraced ex-Haitian soccer president announces he’s back

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Haiti’s former soccer federation president whose lifetime ban from sport over sexual abuse allegations was overturned last month announced Wednesday that he is reclaiming his position. Yves Jean-Bart’s defiant announcement could lead to a standoff with FIFA, which already has appointed an emergency management committee to lead the Haitian Football Association […]

1 year ago

FILE - Green Bay Packers' Aaron Rodgers walks off the field after an NFL football game against the ...

Associated Press

Rodgers says decision on future will come ‘soon enough’

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Aaron Rodgers says he will make a decision on his future “soon enough” as the four-time MVP quarterback ponders whether to play next season and if his future remains with the Green Bay Packers. Rodgers, 39, discussed his future while speaking on an episode of the “Aubrey Marcus Podcast” that […]

1 year ago

Blistering speeds at fastest Indy 500 qualifying since 1996