Some interesting stats and facts emerged after qualifying for the Indianapolis 500 ended this weekend.
The first belongs to IndyCar communications veteran Arni Sribhen, who shared this observation Sunday night after Team Penske swept the front row. (pictured above) for the first time since 1988: in 1988, pole sitter Rick Mears drove a yellow Pennzoil-sponsored car, No. 2 starter Danny Sullivan was a one-time winner of the Indianapolis 500, and No. 3 starter Al Unser was the reigning winner. of the “500”. This year, Scott McLaughlin drives a Pennzoil-sponsored car, No. 2 starter Will Power is a one-time winner of the Indianapolis 500, and No. 3 starter Josef Newgarden is the reigning ‘500’ winner.
Racing statistician Scott Richards went overboard with some fascinating nuggets and shared the following to digest Sunday’s racing:
First row:
– 31 previous departures among starters, 2nd in last 30 years (2020 – 41)
– For the first time since 1991, there are two former winners on the front row, each with at least 12 previous 500 starts (Power, Newgarden)
– Chevrolet sweeps the front row for the 9th time in history, 2nd among engine brands behind Offenhauser (15) and for the first time for Chevrolet since 2019.
Scott McLaughlin (Pole):
– Became the 13th driver to win the pole in his 4th start in the 500m, tied for most experience levels with 2. However, Scott is only the 2nd to do so since 1978 (2000 – Ray, 2005 – Kanaan)
– Won pole after 3 previous starts without ever starting higher than 14th. The only other driver to have such a statistic was Jimmy Snyder in 1939, who won the pole in his 5th start after having 4 starting spots of 14th or lower.
– McLaughlin is the 22nd pole sitter to have never led a lap before in the 500 (excluding rookies), and the most experienced in this category since Scott Sharp in 2001 (he has had 6 previous starts with 0 laps led)
Will (2nd):
– Tied with Harry Hartz and Wilbur Shaw for the most front row starts in 500m history without winning a pole (5)
– 6 races since his last front row start (2018), combined with Newgarden’s 8 year drought, this is the first time in 500 history that two front row droughts of this length have been broken in the same year .
Josef Newgarden (3rd):
– 8 races since his last start on the front row (2016), the longest gap of its kind since Scott Brayton’s 10 races between 1985-1995.
– First time a reigning champion starts on the front row since 2017 (Alexander Rossi)
– Tied with Raul Boesel (2002) for 3rd most experienced since 1993 (12 starts).
Alexandre Rossi (4th): This is his first starting place among the first two rows in 7 races (3rd in 2017). This is the longest drought of this type since the 14-race gap recorded by Gary Bettenhausen between 1973 and 1992.
Kyle Larson’s first qualifying performance matches that of a certain Fernando Alonso. Phillip Abbott/Motorsport Images
Kyle Larson (5th): Best start for a driver in his first IndyCar race since Christian Lundgaard’s 4th place at RC Indianapolis in August 2021, and best for an IndyCar debut on an oval race since Fernando Alonso’s 5th place in the 2017 500.
Santino Ferrucci (6th): The last time an AJ Foyt Racing driver qualified in the top 2 rows in back-to-back 500s was Billy Boat (1998-99).
Rinus VeeKay (7th): Joins Harry Hartz (1922-26), Mario Andretti (1965-69), Parnelli Jones (1961-65), Mark Donohue (1969-73) and Tony Kanaan (2002-06) as the only drivers to start 7th or better. their first 5,500.
Pato O’Ward (8th): Has the 2nd best average starting position over his first five 500s without starting in the first two rows (10.0), behind only Marco Andretti (9.8 – 2006-2010).
Chip Ganassi Race: For only the 4th time in its history (1990, 2013, 2019), the team will have no starter higher than 14th place.
Row 7: Marco Andretti, Helio Castroneves and Scott Dixon:
– Have a total of 62 previous starts in the 500m, 2nd highest in history behind the 1991 front row (Rick Mears, AJ Foyt, Mario Andretti – 71 starts)
– This is the first time in history that there were 3 drivers with at least 16,500 previous starts.
Four-time winner Helio Castroneves had another unforgettable qualifying race. Michael Levitt/Motorsports Images
Hélio Castroneves (20th): After 18 years of qualifying 19th or better, this is the 4th time in 5 years that he has qualified 20th or lower (the only exception was 8th in 2021, when he won).
Scott Dixon (21st): His 21st qualifying place is the lowest of his 22-year career in the 500m. No other driver had started in the Top 20 in each of his first 21 starts at Indianapolis.
Lines 8 and 9: Made up of three veterans (Agustin Canapino, Sting Ray Robb, Romain Grosjean) and 3 rookies (Christian Rasmussen, Tom Blomqvist, Linus Lundqvist) and combined for 4,500 previous starts. This is the fewest consecutive rows in a 500 since rows 9 and 10 in 2008 had a previous start combined with Milka Duno.
Graham Rahal (33rd): Becomes the first driver to start 33rd in two consecutive 500s.
News Source : racer.com
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