1. I am getting too old for this shit but let's start with the story that Fernando Alonso, Patricio O'Ward, James Hinchcliffe, Sage Karam, Max Chilton and Kyle Kaiser will have to fight to make the Indianapolis 500 tomorrow. Half those teams aren't going to make it.
Alonso is the draw. I think the bright side for him is he is 31st and he will be heading in with some confidence. The team has to put this day behind them and know it just has to repeat what it did today. Alonso made five qualifying attempts today and part of me thinks that is what cost him and McLaren late. One attempt after another and the legs were gone out of that car. It was constantly pushing it. Meanwhile, J.R. Hildebrand gets bumped, hasn't made an attempt for hours and goes out and puts his car 20th. Graham Rahal rolled the dice, had a time that was safe, withdrew it and in a car that had not seen the track for hours, jumped up to 17th.
I don't know if McLaren has run that car so much that it won't have the legs for tomorrow but one night to rest and it just has to beat three cars, it just has to be in the top half and maybe that is Alonso's reasoning for saying he was not stressed. He knows what he has to do tomorrow and feels confident that he can do it.
2. Carlin is likely going to have a car miss the race and it makes you wonder if it bit off more than it could chew in its sophomore attempt in the Indianapolis 500. It had three cars committed back in March with Charlie Kimball, Chilton and the McLaren partnership for Alonso, then it added O'Ward and only Kimball is in the race with three drivers on the outside and only three spots remaining.
Even worse is multiple Carlin cars could miss the race or all three Carlin related cars could miss it. I think at least one will get in but it would be crazy to think Carlin will sweep the final row. It is a rough night when one car is in danger of missing the race, with three cars in danger I think I would be heading to hospital for observation because my heart might call it quits before tomorrow.
3. We have to talk about James Hinchcliffe because Hinchcliffe had an accident and was forced to the back up car. The Canadian has been fighting uphill for speed and for the second consecutive year he might miss the Indianapolis 500. It fitting Hinchcliffe finds himself participating in the session arguably created as a way for IndyCar to cover itself if a big name is outside the top 33 at the end of day one but missing a second consecutive year is a fireable offense and I think Hinchcliffe has to be canned if he is not in the field of 33 after the Last Row Shootout.
Hinchcliffe is a personality but you got to make this race and Schmidt Peterson Motorsports was fortunate Arrow doubled down instead of running away after last year's results. Hinchcliffe cannot survive this if he misses again. If you are SPM and Arrow you buy Hinchcliffe out and find a driver that you do not have to be worried about. Marcus Ericsson qualified 13th and Jack Harvey was 25th and Hinchcliffe may have had an accident but he was flirting with the danger zone all week.
Conor Daly put his car solidly in the field. Carlos Muñoz has completed all 500 miles in all six of his Indianapolis 500 starts and nobody called him this year. Those are two options for SPM if this all goes wrong again. Hinchcliffe may have recovered to win at Iowa last year but sponsors don't live and die on Iowa. Add to it Hinchcliffe's track record of fading late in seasons and never finishing better than eighth in the championship and it may be an easy call to part with the Canadian.
It might be tough to confront it but Hinchcliffe may be the most overrated driver in IndyCar. He might be personable but it might be time for Arrow, Honda and IndyCar to cut its ties and find another driver to market.
4. Sage Karam might be looking at the end of his career and he is only 24 years old. Dreyer & Reinbold Racing has not be spectacular this week but it doesn't take spectacular to make the Indianapolis 500. J.R. Hildebrand was able to find the speed but Karam just doesn't have a handle on it. It would be a shame to see it end like this for Karam. He was brilliant in 2014 as a rookie and his rookie season had strong results mixed with youthful mistakes. Unfortunately, he has not gotten another crack at a full-time ride and he has been doing well with his Indianapolis 500 one-offs, the only problem is he has not been able to complete all 500 miles since that rookie year.
Karam's entire IndyCar career has been adversity but this is another animal, one that might be difficult to stomach and it would be sad to see a career end at such a young an age.
5. The Kyle Kaiser/Juncos Racing story appears to be heading for the disappointing ending. It is not over but Kaiser wasn't really pushing what it took to make the field and we will have to live with wondering what would have happened if Kaiser does not have his accident on Friday? This team was tracking to be in the race. He had been in the middle of the field all week.
The team has one more Hail Mary scheduled for tomorrow afternoon and we have seen teams overcome the same length of long odds but it may not come to fruition.
6. I think we have to cover some of the unlikely names that made the race and that includes Ben Hanley, who ended up 27th when today's session ended. Hanley and DragonSpeed was on the outside for most of the week but the team kept putting up respectable times. Hanley was never miles off and I think Hanley and DragonSpeed played it right. The team didn't make qualifying attempt after qualifying attempt. It made two, was on the outside, waited until the final hour and then put the car in the field.
Bravo to this group. To think Hanley spent nine years out of single-seater racing and in his first Indianapolis 500 attempt with only two road and street courses under his belt he has made this race. DragonSpeed announced it was increasing its focus on IndyCar last night and stepping away from the LMP1 class in the FIA World Endurance Championship after Le Mans in June. I don't know what this team will become but it is making a big first step.
7. Graham Rahal is Pippa Mann's new best friend. Rahal rolled the dice and moved up the starting grid but more importantly he killed the clock and instead of letting Chilton get another qualifying attempt it assured Mann would make the Indianapolis 500.
I am surprised Mann was not one of the teams making multiple qualifying attempts but kudos to Clauson-Marshall Racing because it focused on dialing in the car for qualifying and it paid off.
DragonSpeed and Clauson-Marshall Racing are in the Indianapolis 500. One team comes from sports car racing and the other comes from the dirt tracks of USAC. The Formula One team is still on the outside looking in. This is the Indianapolis 500 for you.
8. Over some of the other drivers that locked themselves into the Indianapolis 500: Jordan King got in and will start 26th, Felix Rosenqvist was close to the bubble but was able to put himself 29th. James Davison put up a solid qualifying run and will start 15th. Charlie Kimball was 20th.
9. It seems wrong to write about the potential pole-sitter in the ninth item but that is just the way the format plays out and Spencer Pigot is on provisional pole position. If it rains tomorrow and prevents the Fast Nine from taking place this will be one of the most overlooked pole-sitters I can recall.
Pigot has been quick all week but teammate Ed Jones has been quicker and Ed Carpenter has won three Indianapolis 500 pole positions including last year. Yes, Pigot had a great car but did we really think he would beat those two? Did we really think he would beat all four Penske entries? I don't think anyone but Pigot thought that would be possible.
And if rain does come and lock up pole position for Pigot he will have done it by the skin of his teeth. The difference between Pigot and Will Power over ten miles was 0.0011 seconds. Not bad.
10. A quick look over the rest of the Fast Nine: Simon Pagenaud was third with Josef Newgarden in fourth. Colton Herta's first qualifying attempt had him eighth. He went out and jumped up to fifth and was the top Honda. Ed Jones and Ed Carpenter followed Herta with Alexander Rossi and Sébastien Bourdais rounding out the Fast Nine.
It definitely appears to be another pole position heading to Chevrolet. Hertra was nearly 6/10ths of a mile per hour off Pigot, Rossi was about 8/10ths of a mile per hour off and Bourdais was nearly 1.2 mile per hour back.
No one would be surprised if a Penske entry jumped up and stole the prize from Pigot, no one would be surprised if Carpenter did it again and if a Honda takes pole position it will turn some heads.
11. Marco Andretti, Conor Daly and Hélio Castroneves will be row four. Andretti has been good all week and I think tenth is a suitable result. Daly should be ecstatic with 11th as this is his first great Indianapolis 500 entry. Castroneves has been the fourth of four Penske cars all week and he really didn't seem to be pushing to Fast Nine all week.
12. Let's see what tomorrow brings. Rain? Clear conditions, the Last Row Shootout and the Fast Nine session? Just the Last Row Shootout? Either way, I am getting a good night of sleep because today was draining.
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