Scott McLaughlin, the driver from New Zealand, set a new record for the pole position at the Indy 500, reaching a speed of 234.220 miles per hour. He was the last of the Fast Six drivers to go out, and his first lap speed was an impressive 234.526 miles per hour. This secured him the top spot on the grid, surpassing his teammate Will Power.
McLaughlin was surprised to hear that he had set a new record for the pole position. He praised his team, saying, “The Pennzoil Chevy was unreal.” However, he also acknowledged his past struggles at Indy, admitting, “Indy hasn’t been kind to me, and a lot of it was my doing.”
Will Power, the 2018 Indy 500 champion, also had a strong performance, with an average speed of 233.917 miles per hour. He commented on McLaughlin’s run, saying, “I knew a Penske car was gonna get pole. I just knew it how much work we’ve done.”
Josef Newgarden, another teammate to both McLaughlin and Power, secured the third position on the grid with an average speed of 233.808 miles per hour.
Alexander Rossi, driving for Arrow McLaren, initially held the provisional pole position with an average speed of 233.090 miles per hour before being bumped down by Newgarden.
Kyle Larson, making his debut at the Indy 500, qualified in fifth place with an average speed of 232.848 miles per hour.
Santino Ferrucci, driving for AJ Foyt Racing, rounded out the top six qualifiers with an average speed of 232.692 miles per hour.
The rest of the top 12 qualifiers included Rinus VeeKay, Pato O’Ward, Felix Rosenqvist, Takuma Sato, Kyle Kirkwood, and Ryan Hunter-Reay.
It was an exciting qualifying session with impressive performances from the drivers, setting the stage for an exciting race at the Indy 500.
