INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Marco Andretti made the field for the Indianapolis 500 in last-chance qualifying Sunday, while Rinus Veekay sweated out a last-minute run by Dale Coyne Racing teammate Jacob Abel to earn the final spot on the 33-car starting grid.
Marcus Armstrong, who wrecked during practice a day earlier, also made the May 25 race after Meyer Shank Racing hastily built up a replacement car Saturday. He will start between Andretti and Veekay in the middle of the final row.
“I feel relief but not real happiness,” said Veekay, who has never started worse than seventh in five previous Indy 500s. “We were just very slow, both Jacob and I, and unfortunately it was one of the two that was going to go out.”
Andretti posted a four-lap average of 229.741 mph, and Armstrong was not far off during his qualifying run. But Abel and Veekay were well off the pace, and it quickly became evident that the teammates would be battling it out for the final spot.
Coyne said that he would let his two teams operate independently as they sought to make the field.
Veekay’s first four-lap effort produced an average of 227.740 mph, well ahead of Abel’s run. But with his teammate preparing to go again, Veekay pulled his initial effort and went back to the track with about 8 minutes left in the hour-long window.
That turned out to be a bad idea. Veekay went even slower — just 226.913 mph — and was left to watch nervously from pit lane as Abel went out in the final minutes of the session with a chance to bump him from the field.
“I was really afraid,” Veekay said. “I thought that could be it.”
But with a car still hot from its previous run, Abel also went slower. His speed of 226.394 mph made him the only driver that spent the past two weeks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway who failed to make the starting grid.
“Jacob is not just my teammate. He’s a really good friend,” Veekay said. “I feel bad for him. This was going to be his first; this is my sixth. Of course it feels good to make the field, but it is the definition of bittersweet.”
Abel was at a loss to explain his lack of pace. His car had been good in practice but simply didn’t show up during qualifying.
“Super weird situation,” he said. “We were fast in no-tows. We were very, very conservative. It seemed like something happened overnight Friday to Saturday and we lost speed, and it got slower and slower every run.”
Meanwhile, Andretti was safely in his 20th consecutive Indy 500. The son of Michael Andretti and grandson of 1969 winner Mario Andretti started on the pole in 2020, but now will be starting from the deepest he’s ever been in the field.
“Never thought I’d be happy with 31st but today I am,” Andretti, who finished second in his debut in 2006 and has three third-place finishes, said on social media. “Proud of the 98 group! Now we go try to win the Indy 500!”
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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
