POWER OUTSIDE OF INDY 500 FIELD

It’s been 26 years since Roger Penske watched his cars leave Indianapolis Motor Speedway after failing to make the Indianapolis 500. Penske now owns the place, and yet his team stunningly finds itself again fighting for a spot in the field.

Will Power, one of the greatest qualifiers in Indycar history, failed to seal his spot in the 33-car field on Saturday’s first day of qualifications. The 2018 Indy 500 winner will be one of five drivers vying for the final three spots in the field today when qualifying is completed.

Power’s struggles were the worst of a Team Penske group that has lagged behind the competition all week at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

“We’re slow,” team President Tim Cindric said. “If we knew (why) we wouldn’t be slow. We’re working on it.”

None of the four Penske entries has been that impressive all week at Indy and the struggle to find speed stretched to Simona de Silvestro. She’s back at the Indy 500 for the first time since 2015 with a female-led race team that is backed by Roger Penske in his push for diversity.

De Silvestro beat the clock by a mere eight seconds for a final qualifying attempt but it was not enough to lock her into the top 30. Power and de Silvestro will square off against Charlie Kimball, Sage Karam and rookie R.C. Enerson in a last-row shootout today.

Two drivers will miss the race and the shootout field includes a pair of Penske cars for the first time since 1995 when Al Unser Jr. and Emerson Fittipaldi missed the race.

“You need to be a scientist to work this one out,” said Power, who with 62 poles trails only Mario Andretti’s record of 67 poles on the career list. Power had qualified in the first three rows of the Indy 500 in 11 of the last 12 years.

“We gave it our best shot. I think that if we just do a conservative run (today) we should be OK,” Power said. “But if something goes wrong you are out.”

No one expected a Team Penske struggle but it was clear immediately Saturday that the Chevy-backed powerhouse had nothing for its top rivals. But it wasn’t a Chevrolet issue, even though Honda claimed seven spots in the Fast Nine.

The pole and first three rows for the May 30 race are settled today and the quartet from Chip Ganassi Racing has the edge. Six-time Indycar champion Scott Dixon posted the fastest four-lap average to open qualifying and nobody knocked him from the top stop over the next six hours.

Elsewhere

Kyle Busch turned in a dominating performance to win the NASCAR Xfinity race at the Circuit of the Americas at Austin, Texas, with lessons learned for maybe an even bigger victory later in the weekend. Busch led 36 of 46 laps and finished 11 seconds ahead of

A.J. Allmendinger for his record 98th Xfinity victory and 217th in NASCAR’S top three series.

Todd Gilliland powered through wet conditions early, then grabbed the lead late to pull away for his first NASCAR trucks series victory of the season at the Circuit of the Americas.

Charles Leclerc won the first pole for Ferrari since 2019 despite crashing with 18 seconds remaining to end qualifying at the Monaco Grand Prix.

Funny Car points leader

Bob Tasca III powered to the top spot right before the rain came, taking the No. 1 qualifying position in the NHRA Springnationals at Houston Raceway Park in Baytown, Texas.

Notable

NASCAR is set to race the Circuit of the Americas today at Austin, Texas, for the first time and all eyes are on both Chase Elliott and an unsettling weather forecast of rain that could make the inaugural Texas Grand Prix a wild one.

Elliott, NASCAR’S defending champion and most popular driver, will start as the favorite given his career mastery of road courses. And he needs a win. NASCAR’S season of parity has so far produced 10 winners through 13 races but none from Elliott.

Will Power