INDIANAPOLIS — Graham Rahal, who was the only driver bumped out of the starting lineup for this year’s Indianapolis 500, achieved redemption Friday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway by winning his first pole in six years.
He will lead the field to the green flag during Saturday’s Gallagher Grand Prix NTT IndyCar Series race.
It may not have come on the famed 2.5-mile oval — rather on the 14-turn, 2.439-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course — but it was redemption, nonetheless. Instead of the tears of sorrow he shed back in May, Rahal let out a wild cheer to his crew member over the team’s radio.
“It means a lot,” Rahal said. “Everybody has seen it. We had to work ridiculously hard to get back. It feels nice to be competitive. Certainly, I’m pleased to make it happen. It feels really sweet. At the end of the year, this feels pretty good. This entire organization, it means the world. Last year, we were good in May and struggled in August.
“For me, to win a pole, it means a lot. I’m very optimistic for the race. On longer runs, we were very solid. I just hope it’s a great day tomorrow.”
Rahal knocked teammate Christian Lundgaard off the pole with a fast time of 1:10.1132 in the No. 15 Honda for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. Lundgaard’s time was 1:10.2286 in the No. 45 Hy-Vee Honda.
Last year’s Gallagher Grand Prix winner, Alexander Rossi, was third at 1:10.2932 in the No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. His teammate, Pato O’Ward, was fourth at 1:10.3453 in the No. 5 Chevrolet.
Devlin DeFrancesco of Andretti Autosport had his best career qualification effort and will start fifth after running 1:10.3938.
Romain Grosjean of Andretti Autosport rounded out the Fast Six at 1:10.4021 in the No. 28 DHL Honda.
It was one of the most surprising qualifying sessions of the season in the NTT IndyCar Series as there were no drivers from Team Penske and Chip Ganassi Racing were in the “Fast Six.” It was two drivers from Andretti Autosport, two from Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing and two from Arrow McLaren.
Josef Newgarden, who entered the weekend 84 points behind Alex Palou with four races in the battle for the NTT IndyCar championship, did not advance out of the first group of the first session. He qualified 10th in that group and will start Saturday’s race 19th.
Palou starts ninth.
DeFrancesco of Andretti Autosport was the fastest in the first group of the first segment at 1:10.2805 in the No. 29 Andretti Steinbrenner Honda.
Jack Harvey of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing was second at 1:10.3420 in the No. 20 Honda followed by Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward at 1:10.3423 in the No. 5 Chevrolet, Scott McLaughlin of Team Penske at 1:10.3855 in the No. 3 Chevrolet, Alexander Rossi at 1:10.4055 in the No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet and Felix Rosenqvist at 1:10.4119 in the No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet.
Those drivers all advanced into Segment Two.
Missing the cut were Colton Herta (1:10.4398), last week’s winner Kyle Kirkwood (1:10.4869), Will Power, Newgarden, Santino Ferrucci, David Malukas and Sting Ray Robb.
The second group also had some surprises, but not at the top as Lundgaard, who won the pole here in May for the GMR Grand Prix, as the fastest at 1:10.0031 in the No. 45 Hy-Vee Honda for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.
Teammate Graham Rahal was second at 1:10.2093 in the No. 15 Honda for RLL. Andretti’s Romain Grosjean was third at 1:10.3121 in the No. 28 DHL Honda followed by Helio Castroneves of Meyer Shank Racing in the No. 06 SiriusXM/AutoNation Honda at 1:10.3196.
Points leader Palou was fourth at 1:10.3658 in the No. 10 Honda at Chip Ganassi Racing and teammate Marcus Armstrong rounded out the top six at 1:10.3697. Missing the cut were Linus Lundqvist (1:10.4570), Scott Dixon, Marcus Ericsson, Rinus VeeKay, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Augustin Canapino, Callum Ilott and Benjamin Pedersen.
As time wound down in the second segment, the action was intense. Rossi was on top qt 1:10.0124 in the final 30 seconds, but just a few seconds after the checkered, Lundgaard, and then Rahal grabbed the top spot.
In the end, it was Rahal the fastest at 1:09.9837 followed by Lundgaard’s 1:10.0077, Rossi’s 1:10.0124, Grosjean’s 1:10.1486, O’Ward’s 1:10.1503 and DeFrancesco’s 1:10.2098. The six that missed included Armstrong (1:10.2106), Harvey, Palou, Rosenqvist, McLaughlin and Castroneves.
“We have a great car, but just missed a little bit of speed,” Palou said. “Confident for tomorrow. It’s not a bad starting position. We can do a lot from there and hopefully we can make up some positions.”