1. Simply brilliant from Scott Dixon. 234.046 mph! The second fastest Indianapolis 500 qualifying run ever! What a weekend! This is Dixon's fifth Indianapolis 500 pole position, only Rick Mears is ahead of him, and Mears might want to make some room. Dixon finds a way to impress us again. He was quick in practice, and just made the Fast 12 yesterday, finishing in tenth and he found just shy of two miles per hour between his first run of the weekend and his last run to win pole position.
After the last two years, 2020, a race that was arguably his best, perhaps even better than his 2008 victory, and last year where Dixon was on pole position but stalling after running out of fuel took him out of contention after the first, we have to ask if the third time is the charm?
I am not sure anyone deserves a second Indianapolis 500 victory more than Scott Dixon. This is his fifth pole position. He has led 570 laps in his Indianapolis 500 career, third most all-time. He has led the most laps in five Indianapolis 500s, the most times with the most laps led. It felt like it lined up for Dixon last year. I don't think this will be another wasted year.
2. Álex Palou had an impressive qualifying run, and then Dixon went out and topped him. Who would have thought a 233.499 mph four-lap average could be disappointing?
Palou is sensational. He is going to win this race, and very well could do it this year. He already has a championship under his belt. The guy lives on the podium. Chip Ganassi is going to be a happy man for at least the next 15 years.
After last year's race, Palou is a prime contender. He has already given Dixon fits for the last two years. Dixon has shown his muscle and this race has had many veteran winners the last few years. Palou has been good, but he is young. However, Palou is a fast learner. He can make the adjustments and win this race.
3. The darling of Saturday Rinus VeeKay couldn't quite replicate the speed in the Fast Six, dropping to 233.385 mph. Dixon did jump to a higher level, but third is good for VeeKay. It is another front row start, his second in three years and he has never started worse than fourth.
VeeKay is the perfect fit for Ed Carpenter Racing. He gets everything out of the car at Indianapolis. His races the last two years show he is young. I think he can develop and put together a complete 500-mile race. This could be the year. But the competition will be stout.
4. Ed Carpenter was fourth at 233.080 mph. That sounds about right.
Carpenter has been around long enough that we know he will be in the top nine, but the results don't always match. This will be the seventh time he has started on one of the first two rows in the last ten years. In those previous six races, he has finishes of tenth, 27th, 11th, second, sixth and fifth. The results are getting better but are still not great.
He is smart and knows to bring the car home. Will that be enough for victory? If not now then when?
5. Marcus Ericsson takes fifth on the grid after running 232.764 mph. Ericsson has been in this range since basically the April test. He is solidly in the top ten, never the fastest Ganassi car but never the slowest Ganassi car. Ericsson does have a quiet consistency to him. He has yet to put together a strong Indianapolis 500. Last year was good. He doesn't have many instances of dominating a race. His two victories have fallen in his lap. He has put himself in position for those victories, but he will not get so lucky at Indianapolis.
6. Tony Kanaan was sixth! Bravo to him running 232.372 mph. I want Tony Kanaan to run into his 50s. He is only 47 years old. He would need to make three more Indianapolis 500 starts to be in the race when he is 50. This will be his 21st Indianapolis 500 start. If he holds on for the next three years, he will hit 24, tying him with Johnny Rutherford and Gordon Johncock. He is still the most beloved driver on the grid. Eventually, Kanaan will call it quits, but I hope he hangs in there until he has nothing left. It has been a privilege getting to see him continue for this long.
7. Tough break for Patricio O'Ward and Felix Rosenqvist each not making it after being second and third respectively on Saturday. Both cars went in the wrong direction with their changes. I am surprised both missed considering the weather was better than yesterday. The team got it wrong today. I think both cars will be fine for the race. O'Ward will use this as motivation, and I think he will still be a challenger on race day.
8. Romain Grosjean will round out row three to the outside of the Arrow McLaren SP drivers. This feels right for Grosjean. He hasn't been close to the top throughout practice but making the Fast 12 was within consideration. He is Andretti Autosport's one bright spot and even this is nothing to brag about.
9. The inside of row four will be Takuma Sato, who after the pace we saw all week should be a little disappointed not to be a little better. His time was never going to threaten for the Fast Six and that was clear once Sato was done as the first qualifier in the Fast 12;
10. Will Power is in the middle of row four. Power has 64 career pole positions and zero at the Indianapolis 500. I am sure there are other drivers with zero pole positions at a certain track, but it would be something if Power were to win four more pole positions, get the all-time record all on his own, and never win one for the Indianapolis 500. Meanwhile, the likes of Billy Boat, Greg Ray, Scott Sharp, Alex Tagliani and James Hinchcliffe all have an Indianapolis 500 pole position. Go figure!
11. Jimmie Johnson had a few moments on his qualifying run, most notably on his first lap entering turn one. Johnson did a fantastic job keeping the car out of the barrier. It killed any shot of him advancing to the Fast Six. If that first lap went well, Johnson would have had a shot. I think he would have fallen just short considering all six cars that advanced ran over 233 mph. He isn't quite starting inside a hornet's nest from 12th, but he has to be careful early in this race.
12. One thing I forgot to mention yesterday is I am glad we got through the entire qualifying line yesterday and didn't have rain interrupt the session. If rain had prevented each entry from making an attempt then all the times would have been wiped off the board. If only 30 cars had gotten through the line and the rains came, those 30 times would have been cancelled out and everyone would have to go again.
This is the second consecutive year I am imploring IndyCar not to cancel out runs that happen because after seeing what everyone did yesterday it would be insulting to say a 233-mph four-lap average doesn't count just because of weather. If a driver completes a run, the time should remain on the board unless the team has withdrawn it or it has been removed for an infringement.
And I know it would be unfair to have say ten or 15 or 20 drivers qualify under different conditions on Sunday, but it would also be unfair to make someone run a 233 mph average and say it doesn't count. For years, IndyCar would have qualifying interrupted at Indianapolis and then complete the qualifying line the following day. That shouldn't be any different now. That should be the practice. It is one of those things from the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s that still works today. I hope IndyCar realizes that and smarter heads prevail.
13. As for the new format, I still think the Fast 12 and the Fast Six is overkill. Because the teams were not allowed to make any adjustments to the cars after the Fast 12 run and because all those teams were on the same set of tires for the Fast Six, we saw slower qualifying speeds in the final round. After spending all day Saturday and the first part of Sunday fawning over the speeds, it is a wet blanket to limit the cars to slower speeds.
Credit to Dixon and a few of the Fast Six teams, there were some impressive laps despite the cars not being in ideal conditions, but we mostly saw one big lap and then significant drop off. Few could remain in the ballpark over four laps. I would rather have the Fast Nine and everyone get one final attempt to go for it. If we need to split the difference and have the Fast 12 but the Fast 12 determine pole position then fine, but after seeing the session in action I still think three rounds is one too many.
It wasn't terrible, but not as great as it was before.
14. Looking ahead, there will be a practice session tomorrow and Carb Day on Friday. Last year's race had long green flag runs dictate everything. I am not sure we will have another race like there where there was no margin for error. Scott Dixon and Alexander Rossi innocently ran out of fuel at the end of the first stint and that took both drivers out of it. We haven't seen many incidents in the last week. That doesn't necessarily mean we are in for a clean race, but we haven't heard anyone speak out saying they are uncomfortable on track.
We are not expecting the races we saw in 2012 through 2017. It is not going to be passing happy, and passing will be tough, but with how competitive this field is on paper, no one expects a dud.
