Arrow McLaren will have all the momentum rolling into day two of Indy 500 Qualifying on Sunday after Rosenqvist led the times.
Today was a great day to be in papaya orange. First, it was 2016 Indianapolis 500 winner Alexander Rossi in his No. 7 Chevrolet who rolled out onto the 2.5-mile oval and laid down a four-lap average speed of 233.947 MPH, which vaulted him to P1 for the majority of the day. After some tweaks to his machine, Arrow McLaren teammate Felix Rosenqvist wasn’t going to be outdone by Rossi.
With less than an hour left in the qualifying session, Rosenqvist put down the third fastest qualifying run in Indianapolis 500 history with an average speed just shy of 234 MPH at 233.947 MPH, which stood for the remainder of the 1st day of qualifying to claim the top spot, while knocking teammate Rossi to P2.
'@FRosenqvist to the top!
One of the fastest 4-lap runs in #Indy500 qualifying HISTORY: 233.947 mph!
📺 : @peacock pic.twitter.com/x0Foz41Ef3
— INDYCAR on NBC (@IndyCaronNBC) May 20, 2023
“Yeah, just a fun time to be in Arrow McLaren right now. Everything kind of resets for tomorrow, but we’re definitely feeling good right now.”
The Rest of the Pack
Following the pair of Arrow McLaren teammates was 2021 IndyCar Series Champion and current points leader Alex Palou in his No. 10 Honda, whose looking for the sweep at Indianapolis (GMR Grand Prix and the 500) put down a four-lap average speed of 233.398 MPH putting him P3, Ed Carpenter Racing’s Rinus VeeKay finished P4 at 233.395 MPH and six-time NTT IndyCar Series Champion Scott Dixon rounded out the top 5 at 233.375 MPH.
Rosenqvist and Rossi aren’t the only Arrow McLaren drivers to have success. 2013 Indianapolis 500 winner Tony Kanaan, who is driving in his last Indianapolis 500, flexed some more Arrow McLaren muscle in his No. 66 Chevrolet finishing P6 with a run of 233.347 giving Arrow McLaren four cars in the top eight after day one.
Katherine Legge, the only female driver in the field this year, made history with her qualifying run, turning the fastest single qualifying lap and four-lap qualifying average by a female driver in Indy 500 history.
“You know, you sit there and you wait and you wait and you roll up alittle bit and there’s many people and then there’s people and your watching the screen.” Legge said. “You’re watching everybody else stay flat and its just so much, but there’s nothing like it in the world.”
While positions 13-30 were locked today, qualifying continues tomorrow along with the Firestone Fast Six to determine which driver wins the NTT P1 Award and the pressure of making the 33-car field in Last Chance Qualifying.
Last Chance Qualifying will feature RLL drivers Christian Lundgaard in his No. 45 Honda, Jack Harvey in his No. 30 Honda, Graham Rahal in his No. 15 Honda, and rookie Sting Ray Robb in his No. 51 Honda.
History was made today as there were 84 qualifying attempts made by 34 cars, which shattered the original mark of 73 set in 2019.
UP NEXT: Top 12 & Last Chance Practice 11:30 a.m ET
