McLaughlin qualifies on pole for Indy 500 with record-breaking effort

Scott MacLaughlin will start on pole for next weekend’s 108th Running of the Indianapolis 500.

The Kiwi set a new pole record to claim the top spot. His four-lap average speed of 234.220 mph (376.941kmh) in the Firestone Fast Six shootout bettered Alex Palou’s 2023 record of 234.217 mph.

Having topped the top 12 shootout earlier, McLaughlin was the last to run in the Fast Six. He needed to overcome teammate Will Power’s 234.004 mph effort.

And he would do just that, with Power to start second and Josef Newgarden third for Penske. They locked out the three-wide front row for the second time in history, having first accomplished the feat in 1988.

Arrow McLaren’s Alexander Rossi will start the race from fourth, next to impressive rookie Kyle Larson. The latter is running the double of the Indianapolis 500 and NASCAR’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on the same day.

AJ Foyt Racing’s Santino Ferrucci was the other driver in the top six and was the first to run. His 232.692 mph effort earned him sixth place on the grid.

Rinus VeeKay, who qualified for the Top 12 with a last-gasp effort after crashing on his initial run, was seventh. He narrowly missed out on the Fast Six, ahead of Pato O’Ward, Felix Rosenqvist, Takuma Sato, Kyle Kirkwood and Ryan Hunter-Reay, respectively.

Marcus Armstrong, Scott Dixon and Tom Blomqvist failed to progress to Day 2 of qualifying, with their Saturday efforts not enough for the top 12.

Armstrong will start 16th, Dixon 21st and Blomqvist 25th.

Indy NXT series leader Nolan Siegel was the unlucky driver eliminated from the bottom four, which determined the 33-car grid from 34 entries.

Siegel’s first run of the elimination shootout turned out to be the slowed of the shootout. He would crash out as he attempted to better it late in the run, clipping the Turn 1 wall and spinning into the Turn 2 barriers. He was unhurt.

Marcus Ericsson had a close call and misjudged what lap he was on, lifting after his third of four efforts. He waived this time and went on to improve to a 230.027 mph effort to ensure safety.

Coverage of the 108th Running of the Indianapolis 500 begins at 3.00 am on Monday, May 27, on Sky Sport.

Header Image: John Cote (Penske Entertainment)