Palou and a pair of Penskes set the pace in first stage of Indy 500 qualifying
Palou, winner of four of the first five races this season, qualified at 233.043 mph in a Honda-powered entry to top the Team Penske drivers of Scott McLaughlin and two-time defending Indy 500 winner Josef Newgarden.
McLaughlin went 233.013 and Newgarden was third at 233.004. A year ago, all three Penske cars swept the front row at Indianapolis 500 and Newgarden used a last-lap pass to put himself in position to become the first driver to win 'The Greatest Spectacle in Racing' three consecutive years in next Sunday's race.
Qualifying on Saturday decides the fast 12 that will run again Sunday to set the first four rows and the pole. Drivers that qualify in spots 13 through 30 lock in their positions, but the slowest four cars or those unable to post a time Saturday go into a last-chance shootout Sunday to determine the final three spots on the 33-car grid.
One driver will not make the field.
It's a crapshoot who the bottom four will be midway through Saturday's qualifying session. While Palou, McLaughlin and Newgarden are likely done for the day, Team Penske had Will Power back in line to make another run and he approved his position into the top-12 at 10th.
But the track conditions have been the worst of the week with heavy wind gusts that have affected handling on the cars and played into two frightening crashes: Marcus Armstrong wrecked in morning practice and his backup was not ready when it was his turn to make his qualifying attempt. Eventually cleared by the IndyCar medical staff to compete, he's hopeful to get a qualifying run in Saturday and not be relegated to Sunday's shootout.
Same for Colton Herta, who crashed in nearly the same spot as Armstrong in a much scarier wreck during his qualifying attempt. Herta's car actually flipped on its side and he was stuck riding the wall, cockpit side facing the concrete. His team desperately tried to reach him on the radio to check on him but the car was so mangled, Herta could not reach the button to answer Andretti Global.
Also struggling were Graham Rahal, who failed to qualify for the race in 2023 and can't get a handle of his car so far.
Not qualified so far are Rahal, Jacob Abel, Armstrong and Herta.
Kyle Larson, who is attempting to run both the Indy 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 on the same day, is locked into the Indy field but not in position to run the fast 12. Arrow McLaren sent him back out Saturday and he improved from 27th to 16th.
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