Shwartzman, PREMA take shock Indy 500 pole; Abel bumped

SPEEDWAY, Ind. — Despite getting off to a slow start earlier in the week at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, PREMA Racing’s Robert Shwartzman shocked the world by winning the pole for the 109th running of the Indianapolis 500.

Shwartzman’s four-lap qualifying average speed of 232.790 mph topped the charts in the Firestone Fast Six as the 25-year-old driver became the first rookie to lead the Indy 500 field to green since Teo Fabi in 1983.

Entering his first full season in the NTT IndyCar Series, Shwartzman has never raced on an oval track after spending the last few years as a Ferrari Academy Driver in Formula 1. The former Scuderia Ferrari F1 Reserve Driver will make his oval debut next Sunday at the historic 2.5-mile oval.

The driver of the No. 83 Chevrolet bested Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Takuma Sato (232.478 mph) and Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward (232.098 mph), who will join Shwartzman on the front row for the iconic 500-mile race.

“My first ever Indy 500 pole as a rookie with the rookie team PREMA Racing,” Shwartzman said. “I mean, overall, I just want to say a big thanks to PREMA and to Chevy for their support and for their work. We’ve done a really good job with progressing the car, and honestly, now I still can’t believe it.

“Mentally, I’m quite exhausted, I just need to digest this whole thing, that I’m going to be starting on pole for the Indy 500. So yeah, just amazing. Big thanks to all the fans for the support and to everybody who was supporting me and believing in me for all these years.”

PREMA entered IndyCar competition with an impressive record of race victories, championships and developing drivers on the Road to F1 ladder system. The Italian team operated by Team Principal Rene Rosin is highly respected across Europe for consistently achieving high levels of success.

However, its maiden IndyCar campaign got off to a slow start with early-season growing pains for Shwartzman and teammate Callum Ilott, who qualified 23rd (230.993 mph) for this year’s Indy 500. Both drivers enter “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” outside the top 20 in points in the only two full-time non-chartered entries on the grid.

During last Tuesday’s opening day of Indy 500 practice, neither of PREMA’s Chevrolet-powered entries was ready to go at the start of the rain-delayed session. The Nos. 83 and 90 cars were back in the garage area, still being assembled, costing Shwartzman and Ilott valuable track time.

Shwartzman completed six laps on Day 1 while Ilott got 16 laps on track as they sat at the very bottom of the speed chart in 33rd and 34th, respectively. This led to concerns that PREMA might be in contention for the Last Chance Qualifying session, but Piers Phillips, CEO of PREMA’s IndyCar program, expressed optimism entering qualifying.

“This is a defining moment for PREMA Racing’s journey in the NTT IndyCar Series,” Phillips said before Saturday’s qualifying session. “It’s where precision, preparation and passion meet the demands of this event. Our entire team and drivers have worked tirelessly to get to this position, and qualifying here is unlike anything else in motorsport. We’re ready to give it everything we’ve got.”

In a remarkable turnaround, PREMA safely locked both cars into the 2025 Indy 500 field and silenced all doubters by taking an unexpected pole position for one of motorsport’s premier Crown Jewel events.

Team Penske Qualifying Drama

Entering Sunday’s Top 12 Qualifying session, all three Team Penske drivers, Josef Newgarden, Scott McLaughlin and Will Power had the opportunity to fight for a spot in the Firestone Fast Six and a shot to win the pole. However, the day started to trend in the wrong direction in pre-qualifying practice earlier in the day.

Scott McLaughlin was on a flying lap until he spun his No. 3 Pennzoil Chevrolet in Turn 2, hitting the outside wall, getting airborne and nearly flipping over before coming to a complete stop. McLaughlin was OK, but this ended his hopes of earning back-to-back Indianapolis 500 poles.

Later on, the Nos. 2 and 12 Chevrolets failed pre-qualifying technical inspection, preventing Newgarden and Power from setting a four-lap average speed in Top 12 Qualifying. According to IndyCar, both Penske cars were not allowed to qualify due to an unapproved body fit on the rear attenuator of the car.

On Monday morning, IndyCar announced that Newgarden and Power would be moved to the back of the grid for the Indy 500 for violating IndyCar Rule 14.7.8.16. Newgarden and Power will start 32nd and 33rd, respectively, from Row 11.

McLaughlin will keep his 10th-place starting position on Row 4 after IndyCar found that the No. 3 team used a legal and unmodified attenuator.

“The integrity of the Indianapolis 500 is paramount, and this violation of the IndyCar rule against modification to this part and using it ‘as supplied’ is clear,” IndyCar President Doug Boles said. “The penalty should be more than simply starting where the cars might have qualified anyway, if given the opportunity. The cars belong in the field as two of the fastest 33; however, starting on the tail of the field is the appropriate penalty in this instance.”

In addition, the Nos. 2 and 12 teams forfeited their pit positions and will select their pit boxes after their competitors. Both teams were also fined $100,000, lost their points from qualifying and the team strategists were also suspended for next Sunday’s Indy 500.

According to motorsports journalist Nathan Brown, the suspended team strategists Tim Cindric (No. 2) and Ron Ruzewski (No. 12) are the same two who were suspended for last year’s Indy 500 after the push-to-pass scandal.

“The positive momentum around the NTT IndyCar Series and the Indianapolis 500 has been on a steep crescendo over the last several months, and we want it to be clear that our intent is to maintain that momentum and discourage teams from putting IndyCar in positions where it calls into the integrity of our officiating and the levelness of the playing field,” Boles added.

“As we look to the remainder of the week and the race this weekend, we will do everything we can to make it clear that this is not only the best racing on the planet but racing where the best win under completely fair conditions.”

Jacob Abel Bumped

Battling for the final three spots in the 109th Indianapolis 500 on Row 11, Marco Andretti, Marcus Armstrong, Rinus VeeKay and Jacob Abel participated in the dreaded Last Chance Qualifying session.

Andretti posted a four-lap average speed of 229.741 mph, putting him 31st on the grid. Armstrong clocked in at 229.091 mph to secure the 32nd starting position.

This set up the fight for the 33rd and final starting spot in this year’s Indy 500 between Dale Coyne Racing teammates VeeKay and Abel. In his first qualifying attempt, VeeKay set a time of 227.740 mph, which was faster than Abel’s initial run of 227.112 mph.

In the closing minutes of Bump Day, VeeKay’s No. 18 team made the surprising decision to withdraw his qualifying time and make a second attempt. The risky move nearly cost the 24-year-old Dutch driver a spot in the field after going slower at 226.913 mph.

VeeKay got lucky as Abel also posted a slower four-lap average speed of 226.394 mph, bumping the driver of the No. 51 Honda from the race.

“It sucks that I had to bump Jacob,” VeeKay said. “He is the nicest guy out there. I’ve never seen anybody come from INDY NXT and know so many people in IndyCar just because he’s always around. He’s such a nice guy, he’s a good friend. Unfortunately, it’s him that’s bumped. I feel relieved to be in the field, but definitely not happy to bump Jacob out. We were by far the two slowest cars and one of us needed to keep it in the field.

“Going for a second run was kind of mostly my call, conditions were getting better and it should have been getting quicker. Because Jacob was last, he was the one that was being bumped at the time. He could do a cool-down lap and he could actually cool the engine down to ideal temperature. So for me, that was a moment where I thought if he’s going to improve, it’s now. For me, I did not get all the hybrid help that I could have had in the first run, so I thought there was more in there.”

For the second consecutive year, a Coyne car ended up missing the Indy 500. In 2024, Nolan Siegel was the only driver to miss the big show after crashing out of Last Chance Qualifying while leaving it all on the line. A year later, history repeated itself with Abel failing to qualify for IndyCar’s biggest race of the year in a DCR Honda.

Coverage of the 109th Indianapolis 500 begins on Sunday, May 25, at 10 a.m. ET, with the green flag set to drop at 12:45 p.m. on FOX.

Starting lineup for the 109th Indianapolis 500

Row 1 — (1) Robert Shwartzman, (2) Takuma Sato, (3) Pato O’Ward

Row 2 — (4) Scott Dixon, (5) Felix Rosenqvist, (6) Alex Palou

Row 3 — (7) David Malukas, (8) Christian Lundgaard, (9) Marcus Ericsson

Row 4 — (10) Scott McLaughlin, (11) Conor Daly, (12) Alexander Rossi

Row 5 — (13) Kyffin Simpson, (14) Ed Carpenter, (15) Santino Ferrucci

Row 6 — (16) Devlin DeFrancesco, (17) Sting Ray Robb, (18) Christian Rasmussen

Row 7 — (19) Kyle Larson, (20) Louis Foster, (21) Callum Ilott

Row 8 — (22) Helio Castroneves, (23) Kyle Kirkwood, (24) Nolan Siegel

Row 9 — (25) Ryan Hunter-Reay, (26) Jack Harvey, (27) Colton Herta

Row 10 — (28) Graham Rahal, (29) Marco Andretti, (30) Marcus Armstrong

Row 11 — (31) Rinus VeeKay, (32) Josef Newgarden, (33) Will Power

DNQ: Jacob Abel