Team Penske dominates Indianapolis 500 qualifying

Team Penske dominates on Saturday’s Indianapolis 500 qualifying

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — It was a dominating Saturday for Team Penske, as they had a clean sweep. All three of their drivers finished in the top three of the fastest drivers.

Will Power was the fastest driver of the day, averaging 233.758 miles per hour. Scott McLaughlin and Josef Newgarden were second and third, respectively. McLaughlin and Newgarden are Power’s Team Penske teammates.

“There’s never any guarantees around this track, so I don’t want to get ahead of ourselves, but I think we’re in a good place for the Shell car, and certainly everybody at Team Penske,” Newgarden said.

Kyle Larson qualified sixth on Saturday, putting him in the Fast 12 vying for the pole position on Sunday. Larson qualified for his first Indianapolis 500, and is looking to complete “The Double,” racing in the Indy 500 and the NASCAR Coca-Cola 600 on the same day. He’s the first to try it since Kurt Busch in 2014, and is looking to be the first to successfully complete it since Tony Stewart in 2001.

IndyCar series leader and Sonsio Grand Prix winner Alex Palou failed to make the Fast 12, finishing in 14th on Saturday.

Renus VeeKay crashed during his first qualifying run, but was able to salvage the car. In near buzzer-beater fashion, he jumped from 29th to 11th with under a minute remaining, qualifying for the Fast 12 tomorrow.

News 8 Sports’ driver analyst Graham Rahal had problems with his engine and finished in the bottom four. Rahal was bumped, and will compete again tomorrow to qualify for the race.

On Sunday, the Fast 12 will start their qualifying runs at 3:05 p.m. That pool will be cut down to the Fast 6, who will compete for the pole position starting at 5:25 p.m.

The bottom four drivers will compete for the last three qualifying spots at 4:15 p.m. One driver will fail to qualify.

News 8 Sports’ will have live coverage from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway following the end of qualifications.

The 108th running of the Indianapolis 500 starts Sunday, May 26 at 12:45 p.m.