The field is set for Indianapolis 500 and Elk Grove’s Kyle Larson has secured the fifth place starting position in what will be his first ever start in the grand daddy of auto racing.
Scott McLaughlin set a blistering four-lap average speed of 234.220 mph to lead an all Team Penske front row for the 108th running of the Indianapolis 500. It is the fastest pole speed in the history of the event.
McLaughlin will lead the field alongside teammates Will Power and Josef Newgarden. Team Penske previously held the top three grid spots for the 1988 Indy 500.
Larson qualified his Arrow McLaren Chevrolet fifth with a recorded speed of 232.846. Fellow NorCal native Alexander Rossi qualified fourth and both will start on the second row next Sunday.
“Qualifying went a lot better than I ever could have hoped or anticipated,” said Larson, as he was quickly escorted to a helicopter nearby to travel to the NASCAR All Star Race in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina just after his final qualifying run. “Just a great team, really, and they prepared an awesome race car that stuck to the race track that also has speed.”
Larson is a Sacramento County and Elk Grove native. Before becoming one of NASCAR’s top drivers he spent his childhood and teen years cutting his teeth in auto racing locally, including racing quarter midgets at nearby Praire City State Vehicle Recreation Area, Rio Linda and then sprint cars at Placerville Speedway where he won his first race at just 14 years old.
Next week Larson will compete in both the Indy 500 and then travel to North Carolina to compete in the Coca Cola 600. He will be just the second driver in history to perform the feat, joining former NASCAR champion Tony Stewart in the history books, racing over 1,100 total miles in one day.
Indy 500 starting grid
- Scott McLaughlin
- Will Power
- Josef Newgarden
- Alexander Rossi
- Kyle Larson
- Santino Ferrucci
- Rinus Veekay
- Pato O’Ward
- Felix Rosenqvist
- Takuma Sato
- Kyle Kirkwood
- Ryan Hunter-Reay
- Colton Herta
- Alex Palou
- Callum Ilott
- Marcus Armstrong
- Ed Carpenter
- Kyffin Simpson
- Marco Andretti
- Helio Castroneves
- Scott Dixon
- Agustin Canapino
- Sting Ray Robb
- Christian Rasmussen
- Tom Blomquist
- Romain Grosjean
- Linus Lundqvist
- Christian Lundgaard
- Conor Daly
- Pietro Fittipaldi
- Katherine Legge
- Marcus Ericsson
- Graham Rahal