The air at Indianapolis Motor Speedway was dense and relatively still this morning, vastly different from yesterday’s hot and gusty conditions, and the speeds reflected this as drivers attempted four-lap qualifying simulation runs.
In Group 1, Jimmie Johnson turned the fastest lap with the aid of a tow, a 233.961mph, and turned a 233.7 four-lap average. However, in the no-tow speed charts, Ed Carpenter Racing-Chevrolet’s Rinus VeeKay produced a 233.206 and Santino Ferrucci’s Dreyer & Reinbold Racing-Chevy turned a 232.781.
Two of the Andretti Autosport-Hondas, those of Colton Herta and Marco Andretti, looked too well planted, suggesting too much drag, although Herta was still able to produce third fastest lap in the Group with a 231.911 effort.
When Group 2 headed out there, three-time Indy polesitter Ed Carpenter produced a 234.410 lap but it was with the aid of a tow. How misleading a lap with a tow can be was illustrated in Group 1 by the Juncos Hollinger Racing-Chevy of Callum Ilott, who turned a 233.308 with the aid of a draft but a still-impressive 231.505mph without it.
Both Scott Dixon and Alex Palou looked strong, the former turning a 234.093mph (with a tow) and the latter producing 232.415 without assistance.
Then Alexander Rossi ran a 233.295, 232.685, 232.464 and 231.616, all without a tow. That first lap was the fastest no-tow lap of the session… until Dixon went for a second run. His 233.340mph opener started a strong four-lap average of 232.875mph, the best without the aid of a tow.
Graham Rahal twice had to abort his runs with vibration issues.
The Team Penske-Chevrolet trio were among those who didn’t bother coming out, since they are low down the qualifying order, so current track conditions were unrepresentative of what they will encounter.
Qualifying runs start at 11.00 local (Eastern) time.
| P | No | Name | FTime | Diff | FSpeed | Engine | Team |
| 1 | 33 | Ed Carpenter | 38.3943 | 38.3943 | 234.410 | Chevy | Ed Carpenter Racing |
| 2 | 9 | Scott Dixon | 38.4463 | 0.0520 | 234.093 | Honda | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| 3 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | 38.4680 | 0.0737 | 233.961 | Honda | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| 4 | 10 | Alex Palou | 38.5053 | 0.1110 | 233.734 | Honda | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| 5 | 77 | Callum Ilott | 38.5756 | 0.1813 | 233.308 | Chevy | Juncos Hollinger Racing |
| 6 | 27 | Alexander Rossi | 38.5778 | 0.1835 | 233.295 | Honda | Andretti Autosport |
| 7 | 98 | Marco Andretti | 38.5833 | 0.1890 | 233.262 | Honda | Andretti Herta Autosport w/ Marco & Curb |
| 8 | 21 | Rinus VeeKay | 38.5925 | 0.1982 | 233.206 | Chevy | Ed Carpenter Racing |
| 9 | 8 | Marcus Ericsson | 38.6291 | 0.2348 | 232.985 | Honda | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| 10 | 28 | Romain Grosjean | 38.6623 | 0.2680 | 232.785 | Honda | Andretti Autosport |
| 11 | 23 | Santino Ferrucci | 38.6662 | 0.2719 | 232.761 | Chevy | Dreyer & Reinbold |
| 12 | 20 | Conor Daly | 38.6792 | 0.2849 | 232.683 | Chevy | Ed Carpenter Racing |
| 13 | 11 | JR Hildebrand | 38.7095 | 0.3152 | 232.501 | Chevy | AJ Foyt Enterprises |
| 14 | 26 | Colton Herta | 38.7590 | 0.3647 | 232.204 | Honda | Andretti Autosport |
| 15 | 30 | Christian Lundgaard | 38.8514 | 0.4571 | 231.652 | Honda | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing |
| 16 | 60 | Simon Pagenaud | 38.9068 | 0.5125 | 231.322 | Honda | Meyer Shank Racing |
| 17 | 45 | Jack Harvey | 38.9260 | 0.5317 | 231.208 | Honda | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing |
| 18 | 29 | Devlin DeFrancesco | 38.9289 | 0.5346 | 231.191 | Honda | Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport |
| 19 | 06 | Helio Castroneves | 38.9321 | 0.5378 | 231.172 | Honda | Meyer Shank Racing |
| 20 | 15 | Graham Rahal | 38.9477 | 0.5534 | 231.079 | Honda | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing |
| 21 | 4 | Dalton Kellett | 38.9625 | 0.5682 | 230.991 | Chevy | AJ Foyt Enterprises |
| 22 | 14 | Kyle Kirkwood | 39.0206 | 0.6263 | 230.647 | Chevy | AJ Foyt Enterprises |
| 23 | 25 | Stefan Wilson | 39.1636 | 0.7693 | 229.805 | Chevy | DragonSpeed/Cusick Motorsports |
Qualifying order for initial runs, Day 1
| Q | Driver | Car name | Team-Engine |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pato O'Ward | Arrow McLaren SP | Arrow McLaren SP-Chevrolet |
| 2 | Rinus VeeKay | Bitcoin Racing Team with BitNile | Ed Carpenter Racing-Chevrolet |
| 3 | Callum Ilott | Juncos Hollinger Racing | Juncos Hollinger Racing-Chevrolet |
| 4 | Felix Rosenqvist | Vuse Arrow McLaren SP | Arrow McLaren SP-Chevrolet |
| 5 | Romain Grosjean | DHL | Andretti Autosport-Honda |
| 6 | Jimmie Johnson | Carvana Chip Ganassi Racing | Chip Ganassi Racing-Honda |
| 7 | Devlin DeFrancesco | PowerTap | Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport-Honda |
| 8 | JR Hildebrand | Homes For Our Troops / AJ Foyt Racing | AJ Foyt Enterprises-Chevrolet |
| 9 | Juan Pablo Montoya | Arrow McLaren SP | Arrow McLaren SP-Chevrolet |
| 10 | Takuma Sato | Nurtec ODT | Dale Coyne Racing with RWR-Honda |
| 11 | Marco Andretti | KULR Technology / Curb | Andretti Herta Autosport w/ Marco & Curb |
| 12 | Graham Rahal | United Rentals | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing-Honda |
| 13 | Tony Kanaan | The American Legion Chip Ganassi Racing | Chip Ganassi Racing-Honda |
| 14 | David Malukas | HMD | Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Motorsports-Honda |
| 15 | Santino Ferrucci | Palermo's DRR | Dreyer & Reinbold Racing-Chevrolet |
| 16 | Colton Herta | Gainbridge | Andretti Autosport w/Curb Agajanian-Honda |
| 17 | Stefan Wilson | DragonSpeed / Cusick Motorsports | DragonSpeed / Cusick Motorsports-Chevrolet |
| 18 | Scott Dixon | PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing | Chip Ganassi Racing-Honda |
| 19 | Alex Palou | NTT Data Chip Ganassi Racing | Chip Ganassi Racing-Honda |
| 20 | Conor Daly | BitNile | Ed Carpenter Racing-Chevrolet |
| 21 | Helio Castroneves | AutoNation / SiriusXM | Meyer Shank Racing-Honda |
| 22 | Scott McLaughlin | Pennzoil Team Penske | Team Penske-Chevrolet |
| 23 | Ed Carpenter | Alzamend Neuro | Ed Carpenter Racing-Chevrolet |
| 24 | Alexander Rossi | NAPA Auto Parts / AutoNation | Andretti Autosport-Honda |
| 25 | Marcus Ericsson | Huski Chocolate Chip Ganassi Racing | Chip Ganassi Racing-Honda |
| 26 | Jack Harvey | AutoNation / SiriusXM | Meyer Shank Racing-Honda |
| 27 | Sage Karam | AES Indiana DRR | Dreyer & Reinbold Racing-Chevrolet |
| 28 | Josef Newgarden | Shell Team Penske | Team Penske-Chevrolet |
| 29 | Christian Lundgaard | Shield Cleansers | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing-Honda |
| 30 | Simon Pagenaud | AutoNation / SiriusXM | Meyer Shank Racing-Honda |
| 31 | Kyle Kirkwood | ROKiT / AJ Foyt Racing | A.J. Foyt Enterprises-Chevrolet |
| 32 | Will Power | Verizon Team Penske | Team Penske-Chevrolet |
| 33 | Dalton Kellett | K-Line / AJ Foyt Racing | A.J. Foyt Enterprises-Chevrolet |
