The race team seeking to win the Indianapolis 500 displayed four modified McLaren GTs in front of St. Elmo’s Steak House, downtown Indianapolis’s hot place.
The rebuilt, relaunched, and rebounding Arrow McLaren squad is competing with Chip Ganassi Racing, the incumbent Indianapolis 500 champion, who has four great chances to win on Sunday in front of 300,000 spectators.
Ganassi and McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown have the finest IndyCar rivalry. An emotional week before “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” included their long-running feud:
— Graham Rahal, son of 1986 champion Bobby Rahal, missed the race due to sluggish vehicles. Graham Rahal was saved when Katherine Legge, the only woman in the race and his teammate, collided into Stefan Wilson in practice and broke his back. Graham Rahal was hired to replace Wilson in the Chevrolet-powered Dreyer & Reinbold vehicle despite his lengthy affiliation with Honda.
A.J. Foyt visited Indianapolis Motor Speedway after Lucy, his wife of 68 years, died in April. Four-time race champion Santino Ferrucci started fourth on Sunday with two quick cars.
Callum Ilott panicked before qualifying because his vehicle was too hazardous. The British driver qualified when Juncos Hollinger Racing performed an emergency vehicle change. His rookie Argentine colleague Agustin Canapino is lightning quick.
Ganassi and Brown get good when Brown schedules his Friday press conference 15 minutes before Ganassi’s Yard of Bricks appearance. Brown, who stole 2013 Indy 500 champion Tony Kanaan and a sponsor from Ganassi to run a fourth McLaren this Sunday, said his team has responded so well to four cars at Indianapolis that he could run four full-time entries next year.
Who would occupy the fourth car? Ericsson is Brown’s top free agent and he’s surprised he’s available. Brown, who only extended McLaren to three cars this year, will decide by July if McLaren will run four cars next year; Ganassi has exclusive negotiation rights with Ericsson until August.
Brown has said he wants Ericsson too. Ericsson joined Arrow McLaren before joining Ganassi.
Next season, McLaren will sign Ganassi’s 2021 series champion Alex Palou, who begins on pole Sunday. Brown has hired NASCAR star Kyle Larson to compete the 500 next year. Ganassi groomed Larson in stock cars but fired him in 2020 when he used the N-word in an online racing game.
“I don’t think people steal. Losses happen. Brown said, “Marcus has done well.” “Given how strong things are commercially, I’m surprised that his current team doesn’t have the commercial confidence to sell the Indy 500 championship contender and sign him up.
“I’m sure they’re working at it,” he replied. “But I wouldn’t let him go if he was driving for me, and I would have the commercial confidence to get the sponsorship.”
Ganassi, who was plainly irritated last week by queries regarding Ericsson’s contract, was unresponsive after Brown’s comments.
“I’m results-oriented here. We’re my priority. Contracts manage themselves. “It’s not on my radar,” he remarked. I want to win the race now. I can’t convey that to you. I don’t understand your contractual or gossipy topics. It’s not always on my screen.”
“We focus every day on our team and team performance,” he continued. “That’s our job. It’s racing.”
Palou and his Ganassi teammates start in the first four rows. Felix Rosenqvist was the highest McLaren qualifier at third.
Both teams have five Indy 500 winners, so many expect a shootout. The teams? They believe the 33-car field has 15–20 strong contenders.
McLaren driver Pato O’Ward remarked, “I think the Penske’s are going to be there, they are going to have very strong race cars.” Team Penske includes reigning series champion Will Power, Josef Newgarden, and Scott McLaughlin.
Power, the lone Penske driver to qualify for the pole shootout rounds, was outqualified by Foyt, the lowest-ranked IndyCar team.
In race setup, the Penske cars were faster, and Power was third-fastest in Friday’s final practice. The fastest? Takuma Sato and Scott Dixon, three-time Indy 500 winners for Ganassi.
“There’s no rush with 500 miles,” said Newgarden, who starts 17th and is 0 for 11 in the Indy 500. “Just have a good consistent day and march forward. We’re where we are, and we’ve got to make the most of it. I think we’ve got plenty of time to get up there.”
The last two-hour practice demonstrated that Andretti Autosport is stronger in race trim than qualifying, which Marco Andretti deemed humiliating. Colton Herta predicted an Andretti should win at day’s end.
“I think just the car itself just doesn’t have speed, so obviously it gets exposed in qualifying, but during the race it doesn’t really matter,” said Herta, who will start 21st. “It felt good following cars, and from where we’re starting, it might take a little bit to lead, so hopefully we’ll make some good passes and move up.”
Palou, the FanDuel Sportsbook favorite, seeks his first Indy 500 triumph. He won the Indianapolis road course two weeks ago and finished second to Helio Castroneves in 2021.
“Amazing,” Palou exclaimed. “This season’s start, especially May, is perfect.”
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