Andretti qualifies 10th
Alonso, Karam must run ‘Last Row Shootout’ to make this year’s field
INDIANAPOLIS — It was a tale of day of success and disappointment for Nazareth natives Marco Andretti and Sage Karam on the first day of qualifying Saturday for the 103rd Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Day 1 of qualifications at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway decided positions 10-30 for the May 26 race. It also determined who will qualify in the Fast Nine Shootout and the Last Row Shootout Sunday, which will determine the top nine and last three spots in the 33-car field, respectively.
Andretti drew an early spot in the qualifying draw and went out seventh Saturday morning. Track conditions were still cool, which allowed him to run a four-lap average of 228.756 mph in the No. 98 U.S. Concrete/Curb Honda fielded by Andretti Herta with Marco & Curb-Agajanian sister team to Andretti Autosport. That speed was good enough to keep him in the Fast Nine for the first half of the day.
“The car wasn’t bad,” Andretti said. “The balance was good, but the opposition seems pretty fast right now. We kind of wrung it out what we had. We didn’t leave much on the table.”
Later in the day, rookie Colton Herta bumped Andretti from the Fast Nine. Andretti’s No. 98 team made a second attempt to get back, but the team waved off the qualifying attempt after two laps when it became clear Andretti would not produce a four-lap average fast enough to make the field. In his third attempt of the day, he was waved off by the race director after three laps.
That final run sealed Andretti’s fate. He will not qualify Sunday, and he will take the green flag on May 26 in 10th position, a slight improvement from his 12th-place qualifying effort last year.
On the other end of the spectrum, Karam struggled all day in his No. 24 DRR WIX Filters Chevrolet on the 2.5-mile oval and is left wondering if he will make his sixth career start in the Indianapolis 500.
On his first attempt of the day, when he went out 21st in the qualifying order, Karam backed out after two laps when he brushed the wall off Turn 2. Karam finished the attempt at a slow pace, clocking in a four-lap average speed of 215.723 mph.
Karam struggled all week long. During Friday’s practice session, Karam’s Dreyer & Reinbold Racing teammate JR Hildebrand hopped in his ride to shake out any issues. Karam said he had a setup in the car identical to Hildebrand. That gave him a boost of confidence heading into qualifying, but he said the weather put his team behind.
“We thought we had a pretty good package coming into today, but I guess we just underestimated the wind,” Karam said. “It really threw a curveball at everything.”
Karam made a second attempt to secure his starting position, but the race director waved off the attempt because it was not fast enough. Karam made three more attempts to get into the top-30, but the speed was not there in each of his runs.
Karam will take part in the Last Row Shootout starting at 12:15 p.m. (ET, live on NBC) Sunday. He will be one of six drivers vying for final three spots, but he admitted his confidence for making the race is low.
“I don’t know what’s wrong,” he said. “I was flat for four laps. It just won’t go quicker. It’s just slow; we don’t really know. It’s not that much different from our teammate (Hildebrand), who just got it in the show. I don’t know. It’s not looking good for us right now.”