INDIANAPOLIS – It was back on April 20 at the Acura Grand Prix when Team Penske’s Will Power predicted what would happen in this year’s Indianapolis 500 qualifications.
He had just finished second to Felix Rosenqvist in qualifications for the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, but the 2018 Indianapolis 500 winner was confident that Chevrolet power would lead to even bigger things at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
He was so confident, he predicted a Team Penske driver would win the pole and that he expected a Team Penske sweep of the front row for this year’s 108th Indianapolis 500.
“Because we’ve worked so hard,” Power explained that day at Long Beach. “I don’t think we’ve left anything on the table. I’ve said that for the last five years. I haven’t said we’d be on pole. I’ve said we have a good shot.
“This year, I really feel like we’ve put everything together.
“We’ll see. I feel like one of our cars have a great shot at pole, if not all on the front row.
“I hope so.”
The only time in Indianapolis 500 history the same team swept the front row for the race was in 1988 when Team Penske’s Rick Mears won the pole and went on to win the race. Teammates Danny Sullivan were in the middle of Row 1 and Al Unser started third and finished third.
By the time Sunday’s Fast Six Indianapolis 500 Pole Day qualifications had concluded, Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin won the pole with the fastest Indy 500 pole speed in history at 234.220 miles per hour averaged over a four-lap run in the No. 3 Pennzoil Chevrolet. It was a record 19thIndy 500 pole for Team Penske.
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - MAY 19: Will Power of Australia (12) driving for Team Penske goes into turn one during qualifications for the NTT IndyCar Series Indianapolis 500 Qualifying on May 19 2024 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, IN. (Photo by Jeffrey Brown/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Will Power during Indy 500 Qualifications — Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Power was second with a four-lap average of 233.917 mph in the No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet. Josef Newgarden, last year’s Indy 500 race winner, was third with a four-lap average of 233.808 mph in the No. 2 Shell Chevrolet.
It was Team Penske’s Indy 500-record 19th pole and broke a Team Penske Indy 500 pole drought that dated back to 2019 with Simon Pagenaud, who went on to win the race.
Power issued Penske’s “called shot” and the trio of IndyCar Series drivers delivered in spectacular fashion.
McLaughlin was the last driver to make a qualification attempt out of the six drivers that had advanced into the Fast Six from the Fast 12 an hour earlier.
At the time McLaughlin went on track, teammate Power was on the pole and was attempting to win the first Indy 500 pole of his career. Power’s four-lap average was 233.917 mph in the No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet.
But after McLaughlin’s opening two laps, it was obvious that he had the Chevy power behind him to win the pole.
Newgarden rounded out the all-Penske front row with a four-lap average of 233.808 mph in the Shell Chevrolet.
“It was a great day for the team,” Newgarden said. “This is a huge result. We’ve been working for this for the last three, four years. We’ve certainly not had an easy time in qualifying and trying to regain the speed that we had lost probably since 2019.
“It’s just been a nonstop effort ever since that point. We hadn’t turned the page, and I think today is really the first time we’ve turned the page. We’ve got the speed back, and it’s a testament to the entire group.
“It takes a whole year to find this. You don’t find it in a week. You don’t find it in two weeks. You have to take the whole year to show up with this type of speed.
“Really proud of the team. I’m sure they’re over the moon and excited for the race weekend. It gives us a good shot at going for this race win together. We’re going to be able to work together hopefully and have a clean day.
“But yeah, really, really proud. The Shell car was fast, and we’re in position. Yeah, great day.”
Team owner Roger Penske, who also owns the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the Indianapolis 500 and IndyCar, triumphantly walked into the victory celebration in front of the NTT Performance Pit at the Speedway.
“It was certainly a great day and a great performance by the team,” Penske told NBCSports.com as he exited.
Penske had to feel some redemption and relief from the Indy 500 qualifications because he suspended Team Penske President Tim Cindric and Team Penske Managing Director, IndyCar, Ron Ruzewski, as well as engineers Luke Mason and Robbie Atkinson, for their roles in the push-to-pass scandal at the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.
All four of the key management members are suspended for the Month of May at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and will return to action at the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix in June.
Why was Power so confident back in April that Team Penske would sweep the front row Sunday at the Indianapolis 500?
“I was pretty certain one of our cars would get the Indy 500 pole back at Long Beach,” Power explained Sunday at IMS. “In the offseason, to be honest, I just knew how much work we had done.
“Pretty cool to get a front row lockout. I definitely like second place this year. It’s just every single weekend it’s either second in the race or second in qualifying, so I’ll continue that for the rest of the year. Maybe I’ll get a championship, and that will be a first, so it’s good stuff.”
NBCSports.com asked Power to go into detail about why he chose to make his “called shot” regarding Team Penske and the front row sweep.
“Well, everything we just talked about, the hundreds of little details that add up to speed around this place with this current formula,” Power told NBCSports.com. “For everything.
“The engine was a big upgrade from last year. We certainly struggled last year against Honda, and just all those little things that add up. It’s crazy. It just blows my mind how many things you have to do to be fast here.
“To put it in perspective, if you put a standard Dallara that looks exactly the same as our cars and all the cars on the grid, it would be about 10-mile-an-hour slower than what we run. That’s how ridiculous it is.
“There’s so much work you have to do to get to this speed.”
Team Penske driver Will Power (12) looks at the scoring pylon to see Team Penske driver Scott McLaughlin’s (3) time Sunday, May 19, 2024, during Fast 6 qualifying for the 108th running of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Will Power looks at the scoring pylon during Scott McLaughlin’s qualification effort at Indy 500 — Kristin Enzor/For IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK
Power is IndyCar’s all-time pole winner with a record 70 poles, but he has never won the pole for the Indianapolis 500.
“I just keep getting seconds this year, but I’m not sure I’ll ever get this pole position at Indy,” Power said. “For some weird reasons I just think it’s one of those things, where racing gods go, ‘Yeah, you can have the pole record, but you’re certainly not going to get this one.’
“That’s just the irony of life.
“Like I said yesterday, it’s not the end of the world if I don’t. It’s just a box to tick. It’s a good one.
“Obviously, the race winner is much bigger.”
Any one of the three Team Penske drivers starting on the front row are capable of winning the 108th Indianapolis 500 on May 26.
Pagenaud is the last driver to win from the pole, in 2019. Juan Pablo Montoya is the last driver to win from second starting position, in 2000. Takuma Sato is the last driver to win from third, in 2020.
This year, Chevrolet teams have had the advantage, except for six plenum fires that occurred in Saturday’s first round of qualifications. A plenum fire is basically a backfire in an engine that causes an explosion in the exhaust but does not damage the inner workings of the engine.
Add to that, the stress level of making multiple attempts around the four-corner, 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval, where danger lurks around every turn.
“The two days of qualifying is very stressful,” Power continued. “You put a lot on the line, and it’s really hard to have the quickest car and the quickest team on that year.
“To put all that together, that’s a lot of things that have to align, and that’s very difficult because you see every team.
“There’s one car that just seems to be a little bit quicker for whatever reason, but I have to say that our cars have been the closest they’ve ever been, so it shows the quality control that we have.
“Yeah, second again. I’ll tell you, that’s it.”
Power was the fastest driver at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday except for one – his teammate from Christchurch, New Zealand, who was a three-time Supercars champion and winner of the famed Bathurst 1000 before switching gears to race Indy cars at the end of 2020.
“Very proud of the crew,” McLaughlin said. “I think it’s our first front row sweep since 1988. I think to do it now with these two boys but also in Roger’s house, and I think we’re all really happy for Roger.
“It’s been a tough few years, obviously, at least with the car speed.
“Josef winning last year was fantastic, but a lot of the objective was to bring faster cars, and I think we certainly have, obviously. So proud of the effort.
“That was just a gnarly run. It was so cool, man. Really proud of everyone.”
When McLaughlin went on his qualification attempt and immediately put up two of the fastest laps of the month, Power’s “All-Penske front row” was about to come true.
“I thought, holy cow, just don’t spray it,” McLaughlin said. “I just wanted to make sure I brought it home.
“Look, we work really hard to get a really good balance in the Fast 12, and I felt like my best run of the weekend was actually the Fast 12. I knew going last was going to be advantage, and we used it.
“To execute the way, we have as a team, that’s what’s really cool. You see the time, and then it’s all about just executing.
“After that your weight jacker and figuring out, OK, what was the car doing and what do you think the car is going to do the next lap. So, you are playing with bars and weight jacker and trying to hold on to it.
“Yeah, we all have been really working that this week and understanding it, and I was glad I was able to put it to the test when it mattered the most.”
Power’s prediction came true, and McLaughlin’s confidence that he could make a career switch and race Indy cars with the best of them came true.
“I felt like I could do it,” McLaughlin said. “I felt like I believe in my talent and believe in my team around me.
“I’m very lucky to be able to drive for the captain to give me these opportunities. A big part of me coming to IndyCar was to be a part of this race and to be part of the biggest race in the world.
“I’m glad I came to IndyCar. I’m loving every minute of it, and then to compete it with Team Penske and good cars each time has been a lot.
“It’s been a roller coaster, as everyone knows, my Indy 500 experience. Ultimately, there’s the only way to keep working and keep trying to get up the front, and bit by bit we’ll get there, and this is just the start.”
