Indy 500 qualifying results: How Pole Day works and who will get bumped?

Saturday’s qualifying session was a barnstormer, with Team Penske sweeping the top of the speed charts, Arrow McLaren battling back from some issues and Rinus VeeKay providing a heroic final run to make the crucial top-12 spots after a big crash early on.

At the other end of the charts, there was more Indy 500 qualifying pain for Graham Rahal, who faces another agonizing day of simply making the field.

Indy 500 qualifying results after the opening day

Cla	Nº	Driver	Car / Engine	Time	Delay	Laps
			Top-12 cars eligible for pole
1	12	Will Power	Dallara/Chevrolet	2'34.0053		4
2	3	Scott McLaughlin	Dallara/Chevrolet	2'34.2863	0.2810	4
3	2	Josef Newgarden	Dallara/Chevrolet	2'34.3124	0.3071	4
4	7	Alexander Rossi	Dallara/Chevrolet	2'34.4609	0.4556	4
5	27	Kyle Kirkwood	Dallara/Honda	2'34.6634	0.6581	4
6	17	Kyle Larson	Dallara/Chevrolet	2'34.7965	0.7912	4
7	60	Felix Rosenqvist	Dallara/Honda	2'34.8074	0.8021	4
8	14	Santino Ferrucci	Dallara/Chevrolet	2'34.8415	0.8362	4
9	75	Takuma Sato	Dallara/Honda	2'34.8566	0.8513	4
10	5	Patricio O'Ward	Dallara/Chevrolet	2'34.8826	0.8773	4
11	21	R.van Kalmthout	Dallara/Chevrolet	2'34.8930	0.8877	4
12	23	Ryan Hunter-Reay	Dallara/Chevrolet	2'34.9153	0.9100	4
			Spots 13-30 now locked-in
13	26	Colton Herta	Dallara/Honda	2'34.9616	0.9563	4
14	10	Alex Palou	Dallara/Honda	2'34.9682	0.9629	4
15	6	Callum Ilott	Dallara/Chevrolet	2'35.0184	1.0131	4
16	11	Marcus Armstrong	Dallara/Honda	2'35.0504	1.0451	4
17	20	Ed Carpenter	Dallara/Chevrolet	2'35.1608	1.1555	4
18	4	Kyffin Simpson	Dallara/Honda	2'35.2069	1.2016	4
19	98	Marco Andretti	Dallara/Honda	2'35.2458	1.2405	4
20	06	H.Castroneves	Dallara/Honda	2'35.2587	1.2534	4
21	9	Scott Dixon	Dallara/Honda	2'35.2723	1.2670	4
22	78	Agustín Canapino	Dallara/Chevrolet	2'35.2750	1.2697	4
23	41	Sting Ray Robb	Dallara/Chevrolet	2'35.2888	1.2835	4
24	33	C.Rasmussen	Dallara/Honda	2'35.3852	1.3799	4
25	66	Tom Blomqvist	Dallara/Honda	2'35.4554	1.4501	4
26	77	Romain Grosjean	Dallara/Chevrolet	2'35.4982	1.4929	4
27	8	Linus Lundqvist	Dallara/Honda	2'35.5034	1.4981	4
28	45	C.Lundgaard	Dallara/Honda	2'35.5308	1.5255	4
29	24	Conor Daly	Dallara/Chevrolet	2'35.6803	1.6750	4
30	30	P.Fittipaldi	Dallara/Honda	2'35.7768	1.7715	4
			Bottom 4 cars in last-chance qualifying
31	51	Katherine Legge	Dallara/Honda	2'35.9587	1.9534	4
32	28	Marcus Ericsson	Dallara/Honda	2'36.0031	1.9978	4
33	15	Graham Rahal	Dallara/Honda	2'36.0569	2.0516	4
34	18	Nolan Siegel	Dallara/Honda	2'37.7038	3.6985	4

The fastest 12 drivers will first contest a session that will define who goes through to the Fast Six, with starting positions seven to 12 being decided. Their running order is based on Saturday times, slowest to fastest, and each car is guaranteed one attempt.

The Fast Six will conclude the front two rows, and the quickest driver over the four-lap average will be the pole winner for the 108^th Indy 500.

Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda (Photo by: Josh Tons / Motorsport Images)

At 4:15pm ET, four drivers will then squabble over three slots on the last row – and one of them – out of Katherine Legge, Marcus Ericsson, Graham Rahal and Nolan Siegel – will be going home.

As well as the qualifying sessions themselves, which start at 3:05pm ET, from midday the dozen drivers still in the fight for pole will get a one-hour practice session to fine-tune their cars.

This will be immediately followed by an hour’s practice for the desperate quartet due to battle over the last row to do likewise.

The top 12 drivers on the starting grid will receive IndyCar Series points, with the P1 Award winner earning 12, the second fastest 11, down to one point for the 12th-placed starter.