Ganassi does it again: Palou powers to front of Indianapolis 500 field

Published 4:14 pm Monday, May 22, 2023

SPEEDWAY, Ind. – When it comes to the pole position for the Indianapolis 500, don’t mess with Chip Ganassi Racing.

For the third straight season, a Ganassi car claimed P1 for the Indy 500. This time, it was Alex Palou who claimed the top spot. His four-lap average of 234.217 mph, the fastest pole-position run in Indy history, put the Spaniard at the front of the field for next Sunday’s race.

“It’s been amazing for the 10 car, honestly. This start of the season, especially the month of May, couldn’t be better with the GMR Grand Prix and obviously the pole today. We knew we had a fast car since the beginning,” Palou said.

Palou lost out to teammate Scott Dixon for the pole in 2022. It’s not a scenario he intended to repeat.

Palou posted a monster first lap of his qualifying run, an eye-popping 235.151 mph speed, the fastest of the month by any driver in any session, and his speed drop-off and tire degradation in the subsequent laps weren’t bad enough to keep him out of the top spot.

“It was really close last year. We lost it against Dixon, which he did an amazing four-lap run,” Palou said. “We went aggressive. It worked this time.”

Palou put Ganassi on the pole again, and he lifted Honda to the top spot on a day where Chevrolet powered eight of the 12 cars still in contention for the first starting position.

Not that Palou had it easy. He had the second-smallest margin in speed in Indy 500 history over the second-fastest qualifier, Ed Carpenter Racing’s Rinus VeeKay. VeeKay was ever so close with a speed of 234.211 mph.

“Not bad. It just has to sink in a bit. Right now, it feels like a loss, but I will enjoy this one. It’s my best start in the Indy 500 so far,” VeeKay said.

It was a whirlwind day for VeeKay, who had a scare in morning practice when an engine header let go. The ominous white smoke that came out turned out to be a repairable problem.

“We had a tough morning, kind of went downhill for a bit, and we still — the team still made it happen,” VeeKay said.

The only 1-2 starters that were closer in speed were Ryan Briscoe and James Hinchcliffe in 2012, when Briscoe won by .03 of a mph.

VeeKay was one of three drivers who had a shot at Palou’s pole speed once it was set. Arrow McLaren’s Felix Rosenqvist, fastest Saturday, was third-best at 234.111 mph.

“I think overall it’s a very good day for us. I think these two found something in the Fast Six that we didn’t find. We felt like we were kind of on top of it going into it,” Rosenqvist said.

Foyt Enterprises’ Santino Ferrucci fell short with 233.661 mph, ultimately the fourth-best speed but the best starting position for a Foyt car since 2001 when Robby Gordon started third.

Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward will start fifth with a speed of 233.158 mph. Ganassi’s Scott Dixon, hoping for an unprecedented third straight pole, settled for sixth at 233.151 mph.

While Palou did claim the fastest pole speed in Indy history, it’s not the fastest overall qualifying speed. Arie Luyendyk cranked out a 236.986 on the second day of qualifying in 1996. This was when second-day qualifiers were ineligible for the pole position.

There were no incidents during the Fast Six qualifying session, continuing a clean month of May that has yet to have a serious accident.

The Fast Six went differently than the earlier top 12 qualifying, which was conducted in warmer and windier conditions.

Ferrucci served notice of his pace in the top 12 qualifying session when he ripped off a speed of 233.911 mph early in the session. It held up as the fastest time until Rosenqvist dislodged Ferrucci on the final run of the top 12 session with 234.081 mph.

There were no incidents during the top 12 qualifying session, though Tony Kanaan came close when he got loose in Turn 1.

Teams will practice for two hours Monday in race trim, and then the track goes dark until Friday’s Carburation Day practices.