Rain puts Indy 500 qualifying in limbo
Mother nature has put a damper on today’s qualifying activities for the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge.
The rain reached the 2.5-mile superspeedway at 10:35 am local time, just as drivers in the Last Row Shootout were practicing. James Hinchcliffe was quickest at 228.125 mph while Sage Karam was clocked at 228.083 mph while the Carlin Racing teammates Patricio O’Ward and Max Chilton logged laps between 227 and 225 mph.
Mother nature has put a damper on today’s qualifying activities for the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge.
The rain reached the 2.5-mile superspeedway at 10:35 am local time, just as drivers in the Last Row Shootout were practicing. James Hinchcliffe was quickest at 228.125 mph while Sage Karam was clocked at 228.083 mph while the Carlin Racing teammates Patricio O’Ward and Max Chilton logged laps between 227 and 225 mph.
Problems continued for McLaren Racing and Fernando Alonso. His No. 66 McLaren Racing Chevrolet kicked up an excessive amount of sparks in the Speedway’s corners and barely broke the 220 mph barrier. That forced the Spaniard to the pits for adjustments when the skies opened up.
Juncos Racing’s Kyle Kaiser elected not to practice.
Practice for the nine drivers in contention for the pole has been canceled with priority given to running the Last Row Shootout.
The rain has let up in the last hour, and if the track can be dried, the Last Row Shootout will run before the Fast Nine drivers take their runs.
If the rain doesn’t stop, the Fast Nine will line up for next Sunday’s Memorial Day Classic based on their speeds from yesterday. That would net Ed Carpenter Racing’s Spencer Pigot the pole with yesterday’s four-lap average of 230.083 mph.
The Last Row shootout will commence tomorrow if need be.
