Indy 500 Qualifying

May 19, 2019





Oriol Servia



Fernando Alonso

Indy 500 Qualifying

For many teams and drivers, qualifying for the Indianapolis 500 is far more tense and nerve wracking than the actual race. With 36 car and driver combinations on hand to make attempts and only 33 spots in the field, there was a certainty that three teams and drivers would not be making the field, which simply ratcheted up the pressure, especially on those teams who were having difficulties in getting up to speed, who had the misfortune of experiencing a crash or sometimes both.







Danica Patrick

The new qualifying format meant that the fastest 30 cars would be locked into the starting field after the first Saturday of qualifying. That meant that six cars would be battling for the final row during bumping on Sunday and in addition the fastest nine cars would qualify again on Sunday to determine the order of the first three rows and who would be sitting on the pole.



Josef Newgarden



Helio Castroneves

Unlike past years, cars had unlimited attempts to post a speed in the top thirty before the gun sounded at 5:50 PM on Saturday to end the qualifying meaning that there were pretty much cars on track all day attempting to better their speeds or to avoid being one of the slowest six who would have to try again on Sunday.









Of course the action at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway draws out all sorts of fans and interested parties and throughout the week, I ran into many friends who were on hand to watch the festivities. Also included in the crowds attending qualifying were a couple of interesting groups. The first was the complete rookie class of the 2019 Indianapolis Colts. These guys, many of them huge and imposing, were on hand to take a tour of the garage area and the pits and to watch some of the action and meet a few drivers.

Rebekah, KayLynn and Michael



Colts rookies with Colton Herta







They were not the only Indy sports team on hand as the entire Indy Eleven soccer team was taking a similar tour and meeting with drivers, watching the action and enjoying the day. In a rare twist, I actually saw driver Jack Harvey getting autographs from the Indy Eleven players, the first time I have ever seen a driver getting autographs.









I also got to witness the return at least for the day of what was once an Indy 500 tradition, the making and serving of Mom Unser’s famous chili. While she was alive, Mom Unser, the mother of Indy 500 legends Bobby and Al Unser would make huge batches of her famous chili during the month of May and feed most of the crews, drivers, officials and about anyone else. It was a beloved tradition that passed into history with her passing yet was revived this year with the help of Bobby Unser and Al Unser Jr. in Gasoline Alley in the Harding Racing garage. For long time Indy attendees like myself, it was a cool throwback to a simpler time.



Al Unser Jr., Bobby Unser and Mike Harding



Owen Snyder and Al Unser, Jr.

Saturday qualifying was an eventful and exciting time, though not for all of the drivers. Poor James Hinchcliffe was once again caught by Indy demons and crashed his primary car, destroying it and his chances at qualifying on the first day. His crew did a massive effort to get the backup car back out on track but he could not break into the top 30, thus was relegated to return to try again on Sunday, along with Sage Karam, Fernado Alonso, Max Chilton, Pato O’Ward, and Kyle Kaiser.

Jordan King





On the other end of the spectrum was the fastest driver of Saturday, Spencer Pigot who locked in a position in the top nine with Ed Carpenter, Simon Pagenaud, Will Power, Josef Newgarden, Colton Herta, Ed Jones, Alexander Rossi and Sebastian Bourdais. Sunday was tension filled as it rained pretty much throughout the day, keeping cars off the track, making it seem unlikely to get any qualifying in, but then it cleared and both the bumping and fast nine were on and the drama was unleashed.

Colton Herta







The powerful and rich McClaren team was bumped from the field in a dramatic last ditch effort by the tiny underfunded Juncos Motorsports team and driver Kyle Kaiser in what was the most shocking result of the day. Sage Karam and James Hinchcliffe snuck into the field leaving Chilton, O’Ward and Alonso all on the outside. The pole qualifying was just about as exciting as Simon Pagenaud snared the pole just beating out Ed Carpenter and Spencer Pigot who completed the front row.







The Friday evening prior to qualifying, one of my favorite annual traditions was held when I had an amazing meal with some of my best and lifelong friends, Jody, Amanda and Kristi. We have been meeting for dinner one night a year in May for a long time and I always look forward to catching up with these wonderful women. A few of the usual attendees could not make it this year, but thankfully our core group was there and we had a really great time at Matteo's Ristorante in Noblesville.

Jody, Kristi, Michael and Amanda

Ted