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Arrow McLAREN 108th Indianapolis 500 Qualifications Day 1 Report

"That was a bit of a wild qualifying day for the team."

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Qualifying Saturday has its fair share of highs and lows. 

Kyle Larson and Callum Ilott pulled high draws in the qualifying line up, but both met unfortunate fates after their first run. Kyle was forced to retire due to an engine issue, aborting his final qualifying lap. Luckily after team check he was able to get back onto the track and put up an average time that secured him in the Fast 12. 

Callum's first run was disallowed due to a tolerance error on wheel offset. He finished the day P15 and will start the 108th Indianapolis 500 in that position. 

Due to the various issues with the first two running Arrow McLaren Chevrolets, Pato and Alex stayed in the garage for precautionary checks. 

Despite check Pato experienced the same engine issue causing him to start his multiple runs later in the day. The team worked tirelessly to tweak the car to perfection at the No. 5 secured a spot in the Fast 12.

Alexander Rossi was the fastest in track today, with no doubt, secured his P4 position in his two runs.

Alexander, Pato and Kyle will be back at the Speedway tomorrow to qualify for pole at the 108th Running of the Indianapolis 500.

Now, read what the drivers and Team Principal Gavin Ward said after a full day.

Date Sunday, May 17
Round 5 of 17
Total Laps 200 laps
Total Race Distance 500 miles / 804.7 km
Length 2.5 miles / 4.0 km
Number of Turns 4

 

Alexander Rossi
Indianapolis 500 Qualifying Result Day 1 P4 233.069 mph

"I think Arrow McLaren has done a great job this month. We’ve had good cars in really all conditions. Team Chevy's done an unbelievable job in making our lives pretty easy. It’s the job we needed to do today and, and now we focus on tomorrow. This was a crazy day, but three of our four cars advanced to Top 12 Qualifying. This place always presents new variables and challenges, so you have to be adaptable. We knew that despite the performance of qualifying we had last year, we still had to make a step. We're not all the way there yet, obviously. There's three good cars in front of us still, but we're chipping away at it and we're getting there. I have all the confidence in everyone that overnight we’ll have three cars ready to put our best foot forward."

Kyle Larson
Indianapolis 500 Qualifying Result Day 1 P6 232.563 mph

 

"Today went well. Obviously, we had a hiccup during our first run, but I was really happy with the second run we made. I could tell it was fast and balanced, so the No. 17 HendrickCars.com Arrow McLaren Chevrolet felt comfortable. It was a solid day ending up in sixth, and I'm looking forward to Top 12 Qualifying tomorrow."

Pato O'Ward
Indianapolis 500 Qualifying Result Day 1 P10 232.434 mph
 

"I think I might have lost a couple of hairs today, but we made it to Top 12 Qualifying. We'll see what we've got tomorrow. Obviously, we still have some work to do in order to have a shot at the Firestone Fast 6, but it was a great recovery by the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet team considering where we started the day. I’m proud of everybody for moving forward and getting it done. Advancing to tomorrow was the goal today and we achieved it."

Kyle Larson
Indianapolis 500 Qualifying Results Day 1 P15 2232.230 mph

"It was an interesting day. Our first run wasn't bad but unfortunately, the time was disqualified. We learned from that and got the car ready to go back out there. We had a tricky second run, but I think it was a bit of a wake-up call to find some more speed. After that, we put the car in a really fast window. I'm really proud of the No. 6 NTT DATA Arrow McLaren Chevrolet crew for finding that speed because it was looking tough for awhile. Fifteenth is not a bad starting point. I've got the day off tomorrow, and we can work on finding some more pace behind the other cars."

 

Gavin Ward, Team Principal, Arrow McLaren, said:

"That was a bit of a wild qualifying day for the team. We’re very happy to get three out of four cars into Top 12 Qualifying, and Callum starting in 15th is not a bad place, either. I’m just proud of the entire team for keeping cool heads when faced with some adversity today. We had a few little hiccups along the way, but ultimately, I think we got what was in the cards for our pace. I'm pretty excited to see what we can do tomorrow."

Monday, May 20 Indianapolis 500 Practice 1:00 - 3:00 PM ET Peacock
Friday, May 24 Indianapolis 500 Practice 11:00 - 1:00 PM ET Peacock
Sunday, May 26 Indianapolis 500 Tune In 11:00 AM ET NBC, Peacock
Sunday, May 26 Indianapolis 500 Green Flag 12:45 PM ET NBC, Peacock