After two chaotic days of qualifying for the 109th Indianapolis 500, we have our 33 drivers who will compete for 500 miles next weekend. Rookie Robert Schwartzman and PREMA Racing win the pole in their first season in IndyCar, the first rookie to do it in 43 years.
Robert Shwartzman Becomes First Rookie Indy 500 Pole Sitter in 43 Years, Indy 500 Qualifying Recap:
The grid has finally been set for the 109th running of the Indianapolis 500. After two days of qualifying, the starting grid is established and ready to go next Sunday during the greatest spectacle in racing.
Indy 500 Qualifying Day One Results
Row 4: Scott McLaughlin 10th, Josef Newgarden 11th, Will Power 12th
Row 5: Conor Daly 13th, Alexander Rossi 14th, Kyffin Simpson 15th
Row 6: Ed Carpenter 16th, Santino Ferrucci 17th, Devlin DeFrancesco 18th
Row 7: Sting Ray Robb 19th, Christian Rasmussen 20th, Kyle Larson 21st
Row 8: Louis Foster 22nd, Callum Ilott 23rd, Helio Castroneves 24th
Row 9: Kyle Kirkwood 25th, Nolan Siegel 26th, Ryan Hunter-Reay 27th
Row 10: Jack Harvey 28th, Colton Herta 29th, Graham Rahal 30th
Indy 500 Qualifying Day Two
All three Team Penske drivers will occupy places 10-12. Following a crash during this morning’s practice, Scott McLaughlin’s car suffered extensive damage. As a result, he wasn’t able to participate in qualifying and is set to start from P12.
The other two Penske cars of Josef Newgarden and Will Power were disqualified after failing to pass inspection.
Robert Schwartzman, second fastest – Indy 500 debut
Top 12 Qualifying
With the disqualification of Team Penske, only nine drivers participated to move on to the Firestone Fast Six.
Rookie driver Robert Shwartzman set an average speed of 232.008 mph. He was the third fastest overall, making his first appearance at the Indy 500 a memorable one.
Alex Palou went fifth fastest during the top 12 to knock David Malukas down to P7.
Last Chance Qualifying
Marco Andretti, Marcus Armstrong, Rinus Veekay, and Jacob Abel were the four competitors for the final three available on the grid.
Armstrong didn’t record an average speed during qualifying day one, after suffering a crash during yesterday morning’s practice. He wasn’t cleared to drive during the first round of qualifying, which resulted in him fighting for a spot during Last Chance.
Dale Coyne Racing chose to send out teammates Veekay and Abel to decide who would be driving for the team at the 500.
Veekay recorded a speed of 226.913 mph during his second attempt, and Abel recorded a speed of 226.
Row 11: Marco Andretti 31st, Marcus Armstrong 32nd, Rinus Veekay 33rd.
READ MORE: Introducing Jacob Abel: IndyCar’s Newest Addition to the Grid
Firestone Fast Six
The Fast Six for Indy 500 qualifying consisted of Takuma Sato, Alex Palou, Scott Dixon, Robert Shwartzman, Pato O’Ward, and Felix Rosenqvist.
Sato set a benchmark time of 232.478 mph.
Palou has been the fastest driver throughout the weekend but recorded a time of 231.378 mph. His teammate Scott Dixon finished ahead of him with a speed of 232.052 mph.
Shwartzman completed a stellar set of laps to record a speed of 232.790 mph. This is his first time not only racing at the Indy 500, but also on an oval. He’s the first rookie in over 40 years to be a pole sitter at the 500.
Pato O’Ward slotted himself nicely into the top six, just narrowly beating Dixon to start from third.
Rosenqvist pushed but unfortunately wasn’t able to beat Shwartzman and will start from fifth.
Row 2: Scott Dixon 4th, Felix Rosenqvist 5th, Alex Palou 6th
Row 1: Robert Shwartzman 1st, Takuma Sato 2nd, Pato O’Ward 3rd
READ NEXT: Shwartzman completes Prema lineup
Follow along with LWOS all week long as we cover all the action leading up to Sunday, as well as coverage of the Indy 500 on May 25th.
Main Photo: Joe Skibinski, Penske Entertainment
Recording Date: 5/18/2025
