Had someone put $1000 on Swartzman to win the pole at Indy in April, presumably the betting agency would be lawyering up to cancel that bet.
A rookie winning the pole is quite something. That Prema who had been absolutely a mess up to the Indy 500, making it very hard to tell if Swartzman could even race, turning it around and besting every other team, except Penske (who didn't have a car qualify in the Fast 12, despite having three cars in it (McLaughlin crashed out... he could have won it and the two others failed pre-qualifying inspection), by a notable amount is absurdly incredible. I wouldn't put money on Prema in Detroit post-Indy 500, but it would be nice to see them be competitive.
What was surprising was Rosenquist had the power, bumping to 240 mph on the entry into the first turn, but didn't have the trim in the turns. Swartzman had the fastest and best handling car.
Sato, single race seasoning it this year, qualified second in his mission to make it three Indy 500 wins! He races with RLL, but it is confusing just how much better his car is than Graham Rahal's. O'Ward rounds out the first row. Palou, Dixon, and Rosenquist are on the grid in the second row. Penske was all first row last year, this year they'll be all fourth row.
Andretti and Armstrong were able to post fast enough times and let the Dale Coyne cars "battle" each other for the last spot. And I use the word battle very generously. The gerbil powered (presumably) Honda engines running those two cars were embarrassing. Veekay looked better at the end of practice, but upon qualifying he had little front stretch speed which made one think the turn speeds wouldn't bleed out due to down force, but that wasn't the case and finished at about 227.7 mph, nearly 2 mph slower than Andretti and Armstrong, though the hybrid deployment didn't work, so there was hope for a little more speed. Abel went out, and did even worse, about 0.7 mph slower.
Then it was a waiting game. Abel was going to go out, but Veekay dropped his time and went out first to ensure he got at least a better run with the hybrid. And it was even worse, qualifying nearly 1 mph SLOWER! His family and wife now bald after pulling out their hair as to how in the *$()$ that could have just happened. Veekay recorded a slower speed than Abel. Abel just needed to repeat his run, and he was in. But the poor gerbils in his Honda engine were exhausted too, and his first lap was below Veekay's average, and it appeared Abel wasn't going to have any good fortune. Veekay qualifies for the 500, but they need to replace the gerbils with capybaras or maybe some fuel injected pistons or it could be a bad day. They have two practices to improve. Should be difficult to make things worse.
So many people to hope to win. Veekay, because... he is Veekay. Newgarden would be the first three-peat winner, though that would be tainted a bit by his awkward win over Ericson and the fact Vuckovich was likely going to win his third in a row until he was collected in a tragic accident that killed him. Castroneves would be the first five-time winner. O'Ward has come real close twice! Palou is too young to be trying to put the Indy 500 icing on his illustrious career, but Palou is Palou. He came second behind Castroneves when Helio won his fourth, Palou was over his head in that duel. He isn't now and he wants it. The state of Indiana would explode if Carpenter or Daly won, being the locals. NASCAR snobs (yeah... it just sounds wrong) would go bonkers if Larson were to win it and be the first "stock" car driver to win the trophy. It'd be nice to see Herta come from afar and pull off a difficult win by having some good luck for a change.
I'm just hoping Swartzman gets passed the first lap. As a rookie he is in the right position of knowing nothing and possesses all the benefits and liabilities it contains. Hoping not a repeat of 1982, though Cogan wasn't the polesitter, and Swartzman will have the control of the start, unlike when Mears had his flashers on and was driving 7 mph.
View: https://youtu.be/NxXFsI03X9Q?si=6B1AgdmHuY0B36tZ&t=11
Yes, Roberto Guerrero also will come to mind in 1992, but that was a cold cloudy day, coldest on record for the race (58 degrees).
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgEOjxzrR10
