With the qualification changes, I am not sure what to call today. It isn't pole day and it isn't necessarily bump day, one because there are only 33 cars entered and bumping could happen tomorrow. Today is points day. Thirty-three points are on the line for fastest qualifier with each slower qualifier receiving one less point all the way down to 33rd.
Chevrolet has dominated Indianapolis 500 qualifying the last two years having won pole each year while taking seventeen of eighteen Fast Nine spots, including a clean sweep of the Fast Nine last year. Honda has responded with Andretti Autosport and the Schmidt Peterson Hamilton Motorsports' Simon Pagenaud being up at the top of the time sheets. The last Honda to make the Fast Nine was Josef Newgarden in 2012.
Team Penske has constantly put their three cars at the top of the time sheet all week while Ed Carpenter and his teammate JR Hildebrand have also been at the top. Scott Dixon has been the lone Ganassi driver constantly toward the top of the time sheets. Ganassi has failed to put a car in the Fast Nine the last two seasons with the fuel mishaps that cost Dixon and then-teammate Dario Franchitti both shots at pole in 2011 still fresh on the mind.
I have been vocal about the qualifying changes. Another positive from this is we potentially are looking at two days of cars going at the limit. A lot of talk this year has been amount hitting a 230 MPH four-lap average. If it doesn't happen to today, there is always tomorrow which is something we haven't had the chance of seeing for sometime now. Granted tomorrow, when the Fast Nine goes at 2:00 p.m. isn't the prime time to see the fastest time of the month but the weather forecast looks favorable for both today and tomorrow.
The rules about making another qualifying attempt and withdrawing times is a little confusing. For nearly a century the rule has been if you make another qualifying attempt, the previous time must be withdrawn. This year a team does not have to withdraw a time should they like to make another qualifying attempt. However, if a team chooses to withdraw their time then they go to the front of the qualifying line. It will be interesting to see what times choose to do and it could possibly lead to a cat-and-mouse game of someone withdrawing a time, going to the head of the line and possibly forcing another handful of cars to withdrawn their times to jump the line and get another crack at it.
Yesterday I said I had no idea what was going to happen and I am still not sure. I will make some vague predictions. I think Penske gets two cars in the Fast Nine, Andretti puts two, maybe three in the Fast Nine. Carpenter, Pagenaud and Dixon make it.
There is always one surprise in the Fast Nine and sometimes more than one. In the inaugural Fast Nine in 2010, Alex Tagliani driving for a new team, Hideki Mutoh driving for a new team and Graham Rahal and Ed Carpenter in one-offs made the Fast Nine. The following year saw one-offs Townsend Bell, Dan Wheldon and Buddy Rice make the Fast Nine with Tagliani on pole. Josef Newgarden was the surprise in 2012 making the Fast Nine as a rookie and being the top Honda qualifier over Ganassi Racing and last year was Ed Carpenter's thrashing of the Goliaths 5-car Andretti Autosport and 3-car Team Penske.
If were looking for a surprise, keep an eye on JR Hildebrand, Townsend Bell, Sébastien Bourdais, Sage Karam, Kurt Busch and Mikhail Aleshin.
Qualifying begins at 11:00 a.m. ET and will be streamed on ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app. ABC's coverage begins at 4:00 p.m. ET.
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