CHEVROLET INDYCAR AT INDIANAPOLIS: Team Chevy Saturday Qualifying Report

Showing speed from start to finish, Chevrolet qualified nine in the Fast 12 during Saturday’s first day of PPG Armed Forces Qualifying weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Additionally, all 16 Chevrolet entries for the 108th Running of the Indianapolis 500 qualified 30th or above, ensuring all drivers and teams representing the Bowtie brand are locked into the field.
In the 2.2-liter twin turbo V6 era since 2012, Chevrolet has 65 appearances in either the Fast Nine or Fast 12.
In today’s qualifying session at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, all three Team Penske cars, Will Power (first), Scott McLaughlin (second), and Josef Newgarden (third), turned their fastest four-lap average each of their NTT INDYCAR SERIES career, qualifying for the Indianapolis 500.
Santino Ferrucci, driver of the Homes For Our Troops Chevrolet with AJ Foyt Racing, qualified his way to a repeat Fast 12 battle with his four-lap average of 232.496 mph.
Rinus VeeKay, driver of the No. 21 ask ROI Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet, stunned with his late Saturday attempt and clocked a four-lap average of 232.419 mph to make the Fast 12 on Sunday.
Additionally, Ryan Hunter-Reay, driver of the No. 23 VenshureHR 6666 Ranch Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Chevrolet with Cusick Motorsports, in the Fast 12 with their four-lap average of 232.385 mph.
Three Arrow McLaren Chevrolet-powered drivers, Alexander Rossi (fourth), Kyle Larson (sixth), and Pato O’Ward (10th) qualified within the Fast 12 Saturday at Indianapolis.
This year’s Saturday qualifying saw 74 attempts made by the NTT INDYCAR SERIES field working to make the field for the 108th Running of the Indianapolis 500.
Sunday sees the conclusion of PPG Armed Forces Qualifying weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway with Pole Day live on NBC at 3 p.m. ET, finalizing the field for the 108th Running of the Indianapolis 500 on May 26, 2024.

TEAM CHEVY TOP-12 QUALIFYING RESULT:

Pos. Driver

1st Will Power (233.758 mph)

2nd Scott McLaughlin (233.332 mph)

3rd Josef Newgarden (233.293 mph)

4th Alexander Rossi (233.069 mph)

6th Kyle Larson (232.563 mph)

8th Santino Ferrucci (232.496 mph)

10th Pato O’Ward (232.434 mph)

11th Rinus VeeKay (232.419 mph)

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING (QUOTES):

Santino Ferrucci, No. 14 AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet:

Four-Lap Average: 232.496 mph

“We were pretty good. Chevrolet power is obviously the motor to be on it looks like today. Very thankful for that, for them, and for Homes For Our Troops. We’ll see where we’re at when it’s over.”

Sting Ray Robb, No. 41 AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet:

Four-Lap Average: 231.826 mph

“Big improvement from run one and run two. Happy with the things we found back at the garage. Still disappointed with the result. I think that we can be further up. Just based off of Santino (Ferrucci), I feel like we were same speed if not a little bit quicker yesterday. I think that if we get a chance, we’d like to get one more run, but at the moment, I can be proud of the guys. We’re in the show, and we’ll find out on Monday what kind of Goodheart Chevy we have.”

AJ Foyt, owner of AJ Foyt Racing, on driver Santino Ferrucci:

“He’s a good race driver and he’s a super guy along with it, and that’s what I like about him.”

Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet:

Four Lap-Average: 232.434 mph

“I think I might have lost a couple of hairs today, but we made it to Top 12 Qualifying. We’ll see what we’ve got tomorrow. Obviously, we still have some work to do in order to have a shot at the Firestone Fast 6, but it was a great recovery by the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet team considering where we started the day. I’m proud of everybody for moving forward and getting it done. Advancing to tomorrow was the goal today and we achieved it.”

Callum Ilott, No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet:

Four-Lap Average: 232.230 mph

“It was an interesting day. Our first run wasn’t bad but unfortunately, the time was disqualified. We learned from that and got the car ready to go back out there. We had a tricky second run, but I think it was a bit of a wake-up call to find some more speed. After that, we put the car in a really fast window. I’m really proud of the No. 6 NTT DATA Arrow McLaren Chevrolet crew for finding that speed because it was looking tough for awhile. Fifteenth is not a bad starting point. I’ve got the day off tomorrow, and we can work on finding some more pace behind the other cars.”

Alexander Rossi, No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet:

Four-Lap Average: 233.069 mph

“I think Arrow McLaren has done a great job this month. We’ve had good cars in really all conditions. Team Chevy’s done an unbelievable job in making our lives pretty easy. It’s the job we needed to do today and, and now we focus on tomorrow. This was a crazy day, but three of our four cars advanced to Top 12 Qualifying. This place always presents new variables and challenges, so you have to be adaptable. We knew that despite the performance of qualifying we had last year, we still had to make a step. We’re not all the way there yet, obviously. There’s three good cars in front of us still, but we’re chipping away at it and we’re getting there. I have all the confidence in everyone that overnight we’ll have three cars ready to put our best foot forward.”

Kyle Larson, No. 17 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet:

Four-Lap Average: 232.563 mph

“Happy with the balance of the car and proud of the team. Great to be in the show, and a huge thank you to Arrow McLaren, everybody at Hendrick Motorsports, especially Rick Hendrick. I know he’s watching probably back at home. Just an awesome opportunity and having a blast so far too. Staying in tune with things with things happening at North Wilkesboro as well. It’s been fun watching from a distance. Happy to get to get a good run in there. Honestly, I feel like the nerves were a lot less going the second time, even when not completing the first run. I just felt less nervous. It was good to get a run in. I don’t ever get to qualify like that where you get multiple shots at it, at least where that one-lap matters. You can forfeit a run. Getting that run in earlier and not completing it was fine. I felt so much more comfortable there.”

“It was great. Good to get in and be sixth. I’m happy with that. Hopefully that’s enough to make the Fast 12. A really cool day, a really cool experience this whole time and this whole week, especially with qualifying. Looking around the crowd is (big). Pretty awesome experience and fun to go that fast. Obviously, we would have liked to complete that run, but I wasn’t upset, or frustrated or stressed out because you get to run again. If you’ve got one opportunity and that’s it, then yeah. That’s obviously disappointing, but this format is prestigious and getting to run from 11 a.m. to 5:50 p.m. gives you the multiple opportunities. I feel like we would be able to go out there and hope the conditions… I was just more nervous about the track conditions, but I think we went faster than we would have earlier.”

“Today went well. Obviously, we had a hiccup during our first run, but I was really happy with the second run we made. I could tell it was fast and balanced, so the No. 17 HendrickCars.com Arrow McLaren Chevrolet felt comfortable. It was a solid day ending up in sixth, and I’m looking forward to Top 12 Qualifying tomorrow.”

Gavin Ward, Team Principal at Arrow McLaren:

“It’s been special. I love the atmosphere with our team. This is the best day in motor racing, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Saturday qualifying at Indy 500 is better than anything else I’ve ever done. This was an eventful one. I think we made hard work out of four fast cars, but I think we got probably where we deserve to be in the end. Definitely some sighs of relief.”

You’ve been around a lot of talented drivers. What can you say about working with Kyle Larson so far?

“Kyle (Larson) is one of the best drivers I’ve ever worked with, for sure. Without a doubt. I cannot believe how well he has done here. I know I’m over the moon, Arrow McLaren is over the moon, and Hendrick Motorsports is certainly over the moon with how things are going so far. We’ll just keep trying to execute from here. I think some people thought he wouldn’t be quite as far as that. I thought he had the chance to be about where he is. Happy to see it come to fruition.”

Ryan Hunter-Reay, No. 23 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Chevrolet:

Four-Lap Average: 232.385 mph

“I’m surprised just by the speed alone by the first lap alone. The projected speed on the dash was off by a bit. Earlier I was a little bit bummed by the lack of speed, but now I was pleasantly surprised by the speed. This place is strange like that. WE definitely did some changes to free the car. We put more it more on the nose, and those last two laps were pretty free coming off of turns one and two especially. I think we made the right decisions. I’m really pleased for this team. To bring it up from 22nd or 23rd and put it into the Fast 12. That’s pretty awesome. I’m happy. The car is pretty full of sponsors, VensureHR, 6666 Ranch, and the support from Chevy is just awesome.”

Conor Daly, No. 24 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Chevrolet with Cusick Motorsports:

Four-Lap Average: 231.243 mph

“Obviously, we’ve seen everyone push the limits and Chevrolet has been awesome with us. They’re such a great partner to the team. I guess it’s just bad luck. It was a good run for us after what we’d gone through for three-and-a-half laps. It’s brutal. I want to thank Polkadot, Chevrolet, and Dreyer & Reinbold for doing this. I think we’re going to start further back than we deserve. That one stung. I’m going to remember that one for a while. We deserve to be higher. The team gave me a car that should be higher. We know we can race forward. It’s a tough one to take.”

Ed Carpenter, No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet:

Four-Lap Average: 232.017 mph

“What a day! It started out rough with Rinus (VeeKay) having that accident and ended with what felt like a victory. I went from feeling bad about my own run and not being any better than 17th to celebrating with this team. Indy is such a place and to know that you are blessed to be starting the race, especially when there are still four cars that don’t know if they will be in or not. I am so proud of this team for putting their heads down to rebound like we did today. Not every team can put together a car in the amount of time they had today and have it out in a condition to be in the Fast 12. Thank you Todd (Ault), AskROI, GuyCare, Indiana for the Bold, One Stop to Start and to everyone who helps give us a shot at this. Thank you to Chevrolet for bringing the ultimate speed this weekend and hopefully Rinus will be able to keep his front row streak intact.”

Rinus VeeKay, No. 21 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet:

Four-Lap Average: 232.419 mph

“Today has been filled with the highs and lows, as far as you can imagine. A rollercoaster times three. We started the day out with the biggest heartbreak there is. The team got us back out and we were in, but on the edge of the last row. This moment is magic. The car felt awesome out there. It is incredible. First of all, the crew had the car ready to go in 2.5 hours to get back out for our second attempt. To go out there, go all in and beat our time. What a job by the crew. This is as much of a comeback as I could ever imagine.”

Christian Rasmussen, No. 33 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet:

Four-Lap Average: 231.682 mph

“We should have had more today. We deserved more. At the end, we were on for a very good run and then something out of my control occurred when we were trending inside the Fast 12. We made the race and it will be a long 500 miles, but it would have been nice to be further up the grid where we deserved to be.”

Tim Broyles, President, Ed Carpenter Racing:

“This was a total team effort to get the No. 21 car into the Fast 12. When you look at the work that went in to get that car on the race track and all the different color shirts working on the car, that is a testament to our whole team. These guys deserve to see that car in the Fast 12 and I am really proud of that. I am proud of this whole team and it is a team victory.”

Josef Newgarden, No. 2 Team Penske Chevrolet:

Four-Lap Average: 233.293 mph

“It was an okay run. I was wanting a little bit more, but I think all three of our cars are really solid to start the day, which is great to see. The team has been working really hard. Excited to be here in the Shell car as always, just like last year. I hope we don’t have to go too many more times, but I think we’re in a pretty good spot. We’ll see where it trends and what we can do tomorrow.”

“It was a good first run for us, hopefully enough for us not to have to go too many more times today. I think the team has done a great job as evidence by our first three runs with our cars, and really proud of everybody. Proud of the partnership with Shell this weekend and just excited to be here, as always.”

Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 Team Penske Chevrolet:

Four-Lap Average: 233.332 mph

“I thought it’d be different, but I happen to know each year is different, and I think it almost put more stress on you. Because you’ve got a really good chance to put a big number up. It’s going to be.. it gets tougher. That puts a bit of pressure on yourself, but I’m just really proud of the effort. I think we’ve got to come here with three strong cars, and who knows how that’s going to stand up, I think it’s only going to get hotter now, but the car was solid, into the track, and the Chevy engine was strong.”

Will Power, No. 12 Team Penske Chevrolet:

Four-Lap Average: 233.758 mph

“It’s never easy, those four laps, especially Turn 3 today. It’s quite loose off. Turn 1 and 2 were comfortable, which is good, but Turn 3 and 4 is tough. I wouldn’t have trimmed anymore than that. To me, that was on the limit. I feel like we shouldn’t have to run again, that’s what we wanted to do, so we could sit and focus on the car. Maybe my engineer will want me to run in the heat of the day for tomorrow, but solid. Stoked.”

“It was very good. The guys did a great job, to the cars in the offseason. It’s all the hard work. That’s why I feel like we’ll be 1-2-3. Pretty comfortable run for the most part. Probably couldn’t have trimmed anymore to be honest. Solid run. I don’t think we’ll risk a good car, so we’ll sit on it. Maybe my engineer will want to run in the heat for tomorrow, but so far, it’s not bad.”

WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, and ALEXANDER ROSSI, NO. 7 ARROW MCLAREN CHEVROLET – End of Day Press Conference:

THE MODERATOR: Great to be joined by the driver fourth quick in qualifying today, driver of the No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, qualifying for his ninth Indianapolis 500. The question now is where will he start for the 108th running a week from tomorrow. Alexander Rossi. Your thoughts on the day and getting into the top 12? Also joined by the driver of the No. 12 Verizon business Team Penske Chevrolet, Will Power, who’s qualified for his 17th Indy 500, a four-lap average of 233.758 miles an hour.

Alex, your thoughts on getting in the top 12 for tomorrow?

ALEXANDER ROSSI: Yeah, it was a pretty wild day for us. It started with the draw last night, thanks to 34th. It was pretty tough. Obviously it was a little chaotic for the whole organization in the beginning.

But we knew we had fast cars, and it was a lot of just teamwork to kind of stay calm with the unpredictable stuff that started to happen.

I think Arrow McLaren did a great job so far this month. We’ve had good cars in really all conditions. Chevy has done an unbelievable job in making our lives pretty easy.

It’s the job we needed to do today, and now we focus on tomorrow.

Q. Three of the four advance to the top 12, so a lot to hang your hat on for the team, right?

ALEXANDER ROSSI: Yeah, 100 percent. I think this place always presents new variables and new challenges, but you have to be able to be adaptable, and we knew that despite the performance in qualifying we had last year that we still had to make a step, and I still don’t think we’re all the way there yet. Obviously there’s three good cars in front of us still.

But we’re chipping away at it, we’re getting there, and I have all the confidence in everyone that overnight we’ll be able to bring three cars and put our best foot forward.

Q. Will Power leads the way again, 233.7 four-lap average, Will qualifying for your 17th Indy 500. Your thoughts on P1 today and can you do it tomorrow?

WILL POWER: Yeah, it was a good smooth run. Obviously got an early draw, which helps. Would like to have run in the heat, but Roger didn’t want us to go out. We’ll do the practice tomorrow.

I think Rossi is the one that could break up an all-Penske front row, but I think one of us will get the pole, I hope. We put a lot of work in. All the cars are about the same speed, and it’ll be about the run.

Q. Will, you’re the all-time INDYCAR pole winner, yet the Indy 500 pole is one you haven’t been able to get yet. How impressive would that be to add to your list of accomplishments, and how important do you think it would be for you to get it to get a second Indy 500 win?

WILL POWER: I don’t think it really matters where you start. I think you win this race from anywhere. It would just be a nice box to tick. I haven’t had many shots at getting a pole here, so to be in the game is really nice. We’ll see tomorrow.

I’ll do everything I can.

Q. The last couple of weeks have been some dark times for Team Penske, but it’s like, you guys are certainly putting that behind you. How important is that? Not only are you up on the front row right now but the rest of your team.

WILL POWER: Yeah, we’ve got good people, a very well-run team, and we just — that was a mistake that happened, and we moved forward pretty quickly. We just focus on performance, and we’re definitely all in the game right now for a pole here and for a race win.

Q. In 1988, Team Penske swept the front row. How important would that be to duplicate that achievement this year?

WILL POWER: I think I would be extremely happy for the engineers and the guys who have done all this work because it’s been pretty painful the last five years.

Yeah, I think I’d be most happy for them. We’re the lucky ones that get to drive the cars. I really hope that happens.

Q. For Alex and Will, there were at least six plenum fires for Chevys today. It affected two of your teammates. Did you guys get any explanation or is there any sense of what’s going on there?

ALEXANDER ROSSI: 20 minutes. We have our meeting in 20 minutes. Not yet, but yeah, it’s certainly an area for concern. But I don’t have an answer.

WILL POWER: Yeah, that will ruin your run. That’s a very important meeting in 20 minutes for you and probably quite a few other teams.

Q. Is it something that can happen from pushing the envelope with the engine? It feels like the last time this happened was Pato at St. Pete in the season opener last year and it doesn’t seem like it’s happened since then as much.

ALEXANDER ROSSI: I’m not equipped enough from an engineering standpoint to answer it, but I know it’s a fairly random event. There’s no rhyme or reason why it happens, and when it happens, yeah, it runs over. It’s kind of something we need to figure out for sure.

Q. Alex, Gavin Ward said today that he thinks Kyle Larson is without a doubt one of the best drivers he’s ever worked with. What’s it been like working with Kyle Larson this week?

ALEXANDER ROSSI: It’s been great, man. I’ve known Kyle for a lot of years now, both being from northern California, and I expected exactly this, quite honestly. Coming in as a rookie is a lot easier when you have really good equipment and good people around you. I had that benefit in 2016, so it makes that transition a lot easier.

With his pedigree and everything he’s done across various disciplines, it’s not a surprise at all. In terms of working with him, it’s pretty straightforward because everything for him is just good. It’s like — it’s kind of weird. It’s like, is anything ever bad? He’s like, not yet. It’s like, okay, sweet. But it’s awesome for Arrow McLaren to be a part of him attempting to do the double and everything that goes along with that, and just the association has been a very cool thing for all of us, and it’s an honor and a privilege to be his teammate.

Q. Alex, I believe your team did not push you out to the qualifying line originally. Were you trying to avoid the heat or were there other adjustments you were trying to make to the car to go a little bit faster?

ALEXANDER ROSSI: Well, when you draw last, the only advantage you have is you can pick whenever you want. We were just waiting for a window that we liked.

Q. Will, y’all saw the last 15 minutes play out from outside the car. What was it like for y’all to be spectators and see everything take place the way it did?

WILL POWER: Yeah, I was anxious obviously all day. I wish I could have run again. But yeah, watching that, I’ll tell you, VeeKay’s run was very impressive because he had a moment that was just unexpected. Like that’s very tough to get back in the car. Very good, man. Very good.

RINUS VEEKAY, NO. 21 ASK ROI ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET – End of Day Press Conference:

THE MODERATOR: Joined obviously by Rinus VeeKay, driver of the No. 21 Ask ROI Chevrolet for Ed Carpenter Racing, who has officially qualified for his fifth Indianapolis 500. We’ll see where he starts tomorrow. Then Graeme Rahal also joins us, driver of the No. 15 United Rentals Honda for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, going after his 17th Indianapolis 500 start, going through last-chance qualifying tomorrow.

Rinus, let’s start with you. Quite a day. How did you do it?

RINUS VEEKAY: Well, yeah, what a day. Like I said earlier, it would be a really cool story, but I like boring stories more.

Yeah, what a day indeed. Just such a roller coaster. I mean, such a heartbreak to start the day. Crew got the car back together in under three hours, which is incredible to start with. Then to get a banker run in, get the car cooled down, go back out again at the end and do that — I’ve never lost hope, but I mean, I never expected us to do that. It’s such a great story, such a great job by the guys.

I think they are the real winners here today. I just had to stay flat for four laps today and hang on to the thing. They made it possible for me. Yeah, just really, really, really good job.

Q. Rinus, do you know exactly what all had to be replaced on the car so they could get everything right in the last three hours before you got out again?

RINUS VEEKAY: Well, I know what not had to be replaced and it was basically the tub and the engine. Everything else kind of had to get swapped out. It was all spare parts, which it’s not ideal, but we made it happen, and it’s pretty awesome.

That’s just the way it goes sometimes.

Q. For Rinus, we saw you after you exited your crash, you were limping a little bit. Did you just shake that off a little bit or are you still feeling that a little bit?

RINUS VEEKAY: Yeah, it was a pretty hard hit, and my right knee hurts a little bit after, but 20 minutes later it was gone. It was more the shock of the incident. Physically had harder hits at recess. You kind of get over that.

Yeah, that’s not my worries. It’s more the car really.

Q. What were the next few hours like? You said you were going to spend time with the guys and lift their spirits?

RINUS VEEKAY: Yeah, it was tough. Of course I went to the engineering office first and looked over some stuff and talked to my teammates a little and went to the crew, and we had barely time to talk because they were all moving. They were working really hard.

I went to go have some lunch, and I came back, and the car was already pieced back together, and that’s an hour later. They did a really good job on getting it done early.

We had two runs after the incident which usually you don’t expect the car to go out on the same day again, so that’s — great job by them.

I know this team works quickly. They’ve done it several times. But to actually get the speed out of there was unexpected for most.

Q. Rinus, I was talking to Ed, your team owner out there. He was lavishing praise on the team as much as he was you. Can you describe their attitude as they basically put your car back together?

RINUS VEEKAY: I mean, it doesn’t matter what happens. We’re here to get pole position and to win the race. We’re not here for anything less.

We know we have that car. We’ve had it at every — I’ve had it in every previous year.

But this is just a day where you cannot really be assured of anything. Yeah, we made something really good happen.

I mean, you may not expect it, but also Ed was still full of praise to my crew chief, my engineers, mechanics. Everybody still said, you’re a badass driver, let’s get it out. That’s exactly what I did. I just drove like I always do. The team did what they always do around this place, and they gave me a really fast car. I was a bit surprised by the first lap speed. Well, surprised in a good way.

GM PR