Verizon IndyCar Series Qualifying Report - Pole Day

May 21, 2017


Track:                      Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Race:                       Indianapolis 500
Date:                        May 21, 2017

No. 1 Menards Team Penske Dallara/Chevrolet – Simon Pagenaud

Position:                   23rd
Four-Lap Time:        2:37.8303
Speed:                     228.093 mph

Quote: "The Menards Chevrolet had great balance again but speed is still a little lacking. I'm not really sure what we are missing, if anything. It's a mystery of Indianapolis, I guess. Not every day can be your day. We'll keep our heads down and get it ready to go for the race. It's a long race and if we get a couple of breaks, there's no telling what can happen. This team always answers the bell when it needs to. Despite struggling a little this weekend, I have complete confidence in our ability next Sunday."

No. 2 Hum by Verizon Team Penske Dallara/Chevrolet – Josef Newgarden

Position:                   22nd
Four-Lap Time:        2:37.5488
Speed:                     228.501 mph

Quote: "The Hum by Verizon Chevy crew has done a great job all week. We had some adversity but have been able to overcome everything. I really feel we'll have a great car in the race. We'll get everything dialed in during the couple of practices left and see what happens. Getting the car to drive in traffic is crucial here. I feel good about what we've done here and we'll leave it all out there next week."

No. 3 Shell Fuel Rewards Team Penske Dallara/Chevrolet – Helio Castroneves

Position:                   19th
Time:                       2:36.8528
Four-Lap Speed:     229.515 mph

Quote: "That was disappointing for sure. We just didn't have the speed in our Shell Fuel Rewards Chevrolet that we would have liked and that we thought we would have had. But we knew it going into today that this would be an uphill battle for sure. Our car is really good in race trim however and 500 miles and 200 laps is a lot different from four laps. Of course you always want to start more near the front and you want to say you are on the pole or on the front row, but it means a lot more to say that you are an Indianapolis 500 winner. That is our focus and that is what all of Team Penske is here to do."

No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Dallara/Chevrolet – Will Power

Position:                   9th
Four-Lap Time:        2:36.3859
Speed:                     230.200 mph

Quote: "The Verizon Chevy felt really good again today. We don't have quite enough speed, but that's not the whole equation here. It's a finicky place that always has a surprise or two. I feel good about our reliability and durability for a long race. Those things are part of it, too. To win the race; you have to finish the race. We'll work on some race trim tomorrow and Friday and we'll all find out what's going to happen in a week."

No. 22 Fitzgerald Glider Kits Team Penske Dallara/Chevrolet – Juan Pablo Montoya

Position:                   18th
Four-Lap Time:        2:36.8180
Speed:                     229.565 mph

Quote: "The Fitzgerald Glider Kits Chevy has had good speed all week. We haven't changed a lot. We didn't change anything from yesterday. It was good. The difference for us was we weren't first out. The jet dryers put that little film down but it goes away pretty quick. You can win this race from all kinds of places. We'll work on race trim tomorrow and Friday but I think we have a good race car."

Fast Time:                2:35.0630 (No. 9 Scott Dixon)

Notes: Practice continues for the 101st running of the Indianapolis 500 on Monday, May 22 and is scheduled to get underway at 12:30 p.m. ET and run through 4:00 p.m. Coverage can be found at INDYCAR.com and on the Verizon IndyCar app.