Oilpressure

Let the drama begin! A day of drama leads to more drama tomorrow. Rumors swirled until early afternoon who might be the replacement for Marcus Armstrong, until he was cleared by mid-afternoon. In the meantime, his crew thrashed a car together that looked more like a Stefan Johansson Alumax car from the 90s with a black sidepod. He made a gallant effort late in the day, but he was not fast enough. He will fight again tomorrow in the Last Row Shootout, or whatever it’s called.

The day started with Marcus Ericsson safely putting his Allegra sponsored Honda into the field and ultimately in the Fast Twelve. That’s noteworthy because after his Thursday crash last year, his month turned sour quickly. He found himself in the Last Row Shootout. He made the race, but got caught up in Tom Blomqvist’s rookie mistake and his day was over before it started. Today went much better for the 2022 winner.

Alex Palou did what he has been doing all season. He went faster than anyone else. He’s not on the pole yet, but everything over the last couple of days is pointing in that direction.

The biggest surprise was rookie Robert Shwartzman putting his PREMA entry safely into the Fast Twelve. He had never driven on an oval at all until this week. His team is completely new to IndyCar. Before the week started, I’d say most considered Shwartzman was most people’s choice to be the 34th driver and the one to miss the race. He proved earlier in the week he was up to the task, but he was still a surprise to do what he did.

At 12:05, Colton Herta took the green flag. His qualifying run lasted exactly one turn. Entering Turn One, the car wiggled and that’s all it took. Herta slapped the wall and the car went over. In a frightening move, the car slapped the wall again hard, with Herta’s head exposed to the wall as it skidded along the short-chute wall. To be candid, I wasn’t sure we would see him emerge from the car. Fortunately, the AMR Safety Team was there quickly and they gave a quick assessment, before turning the car over and allowing him to get out under his own power.

Herta’s Andretti Global team hustled and got his backup out on pit lane ready to run by about 4:45. On his second run, Herta was able to put it in the field, qualifying 29th, and escaping the Last Row Shootout. It wasn’t where he thought he would be when the day started, but he has to be glad to be in.

Santino Ferrucci had been struggling until Fast Friday. He wasn’t great at first, but was able to lock himself in starting in the middle of the sixth row.

Unfortunately, Graham Rahal was once again one of the drivers struggling to stay out of the last row. It wasn’t until the gun went off at 5:50 that Rahal could relax. For the first time since 2022, Rahal will not have to run on Sunday. He is safe in the field, starting 30th.

Marco Andretti was not so lucky. He will join Marcus Armstrong tomorrow, fighting for one of the three remaining spots on the last row. Rinus VeeKay and Jacob Abel, both Dale Coyne entries, will join those two as those four drivers will battle it out for the remaining three spots. Since this format has been in place, this is the toughest group to choose from. Usually there is one driver I’d like to see go home. This time, each driver has a compelling case as to why I want to see them make the race.

I really feel for Dale Coyne. He stands to have one of his drivers miss the race for the second year in a row. That’s tough for a team that has such a low budget to begin with. Marco Andretti is nearing the end of his career. I would sure hate to see it end in a whimper by missing the race. Marcus Armstrong has been fast all week. You hate to see such a hard hit sabotage his race.

Then there’s the run for the pole at the other end of the spectrum. I still maintain that Alex Palolu will end up on pole, but we’ll see how the Fast Twelve plays out.

On a side note, Susan did not finish her article today. That’s my fault. My friend Paul Dalbey was here and I drug her out of the Media Center to go all over the track. I probably wore her out, but she swears she will get it done by sometime tomorrow. She was able to get a few photos through the day. Please check them out below.

Speaking of Paul, we are going to go meet him for dinner at Dawson’s. Please check back tomorrow as we decided the pole, the front four rows and which driver will be going home. It should be interesting.

George Phillips

This entry was posted on May 17, 2025 at 5:35 pm 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.