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And just like that, it’s already Fast Friday. It’s always amazing how quickly this week passes. I will admit to watching some of practice from work on Tuesday and Wednesday. Then we were able to get here shortly after the start of practice yesterday. It seems like practice just started and qualifying is tomorrow.

We arrived yesterday around 1:00 pm EDT and enjoyed almost a full day of practice. We had a nice visit with longtime reader and commentator “Big Mac”. He came up to the Tower Terrace stands where we were taking in practice with our good friend Paul Dalbey. Susan went back into the Media Center to take advantage of their air-conditioning, while we headed for the garage area.

Today is the day they jack up the boost. Back before the naturally aspirated engines became the rule of law in 1997, the normal engines that ran in CART for the rest of the year were allowed 40-inches of boost, before they lowered it at some time to 35-inches. Nowadays, when they quote the boost, it is in millibars. Normal boost is 1300 mbar, but for Fast Friday and Qualifying they pump it up to 1500. I had always wondered how that compared to the inches in mercury they quoted in the 90s. I saw a conversion table on social media the other night that showed the equivalency, but I didn’t save it. As it turns out, what they will be running this weekend is the equivalent to 44.3-inches of boost. Finally…something I can understand.

Altogether this weekend’s boost gives the cars about 45-50 horsepower. If they use the hybrid unit to the maximum, the combination between the two could be significant.

When they turned up the boost the second morning of the Open Test back in April, two cars crashed within the first hour or so. Kyle Larson crashed in Turn One, but it was later revealed he had forgotten to readjust the weight-jacker in his car before heading into the turn. Not long after Larson’s cleanup, Takuma Sato turned the second fastest lap of the day. Shortly after that, Sato stuffed it into the wall in close to the same spot Larson had crashed. It was a massive hit that destroyed the tub. Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing had to purchase a whole new tub and prepare a new car for this week.

I have no idea who will be on the pole, but it will be the usual suspects that will make up the Firestone Fast Twelve. I don’t expect more than one or two non-Big Four (Penske, Ganassi, Andretti, McLaren) team drivers to break into the Fast Twelve.

I’ll admit, I’ve been paying more attention to the lower end of the speed charts. I’m surprised that for the third straight year, we are seeing Graham Rahal at or near the bottom. The bigger surprise is Santino Ferrucci. His top speed has decreased each day. Based on what we’ve seen for the past three days, it looks like the final spot on Sunday’s Bump Day will be decided between Rahal and Ferrucci. Of course a lot can happen over the next three days before we get to that. Both drivers may find something today. A driver that may have had some success throughout the week could wad up a car this afternoon, and put his team behind the proverbial eight-ball. Or it could be that things fall into place as everyone predicted before the week started – the inexperience of team and driver will probably work against Robert Shwartzman to make him the odd man out when the gun goes off on Sunday.

I’m still not a fan of this current format, but I don’t think it is going anywhere anytime soon. I am old-school and still prefer Pole Day on Saturday and Bump Day on Sunday. I am also not a fan of Sunday’s schedule this year. Except for practice, nothing of note begins until 4:05 pm EDT. That’s when the Top Twelve is whittled down to the Firestone Fast Six. Then the Last Chance (Bump) Qualifying takes place at 5:15 pm EDT, when they determine who will be going home. Then at 6:25 pm EDT, the Firestone Fast Six will determine the front two rows, as well as the pole sitter – with everything wrapping up at 6:55 pm EDT.

That may be great for TV viewers, but it is not great for those of us on-site that will need to write and then drive home. For us, that will put us back home in Nashville well after midnight. I won’t generate a lot of sympathy, since it is such a privilege to be here – especially with media credentials. But I will be awfully sleepy on Monday morning.

We will continue to post throughout the qualifying weekend, so please check back today and through the weekend.

Who is my choice for the pole? It’s easy – go with the driver with the hot hand (foot). Alex Palou will be your pole-sitter for the 109th Running of the Indianapolis 500. We’ll see.

George Phillips

This entry was posted on May 16, 2025 at 4:04 am and is filed under Indianapolis 500. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.