IndyCar: Rookie Shwartzman wins the Pole for 109th Indy 500

Rookie Robert Shwartzman, who never saw an oval track before this week, was the fastest in the Firestone Fast Six this evening to take the pole for the 109th running of the Indy 500 with a four-lap average of 232.790 mph.

Quite a feat for his first experience on an oval and with Prema Racing, a brand-new Italian team based in Italy, to IndyCar this season. The rookie team and its rookie driver could not believe it.

Robert Shwartzman Photo courtesy of Penske Entertainment/John Cote

Teo Fabi was the last rookie to earn the pole back in 1983 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

On a day when the powerful Penske team saw one car destroyed into the wall when Scott McLaughlin lost control, and their two other cars disqualified from qualifying for an illegal car, the run for pole was thrown wide open.

48-year-old Japanese driver, a two-time winner of the Indy 500, Takuma Sato, will start in the middle of Row 1 after a four-lap average of 232.098 mph.

Takuma Sato Photo courtesy of Penske Entertainment/John Cote

Arrow McLaren driver Pato O’Ward will start outside Row 1 after a four-lap average of 232.098 mph.

Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon will start fourth on the grid after his four-lap average of 232.052 mph.

Meyer Shank Racing’s Felix Rosenqvist will start fifth after a four-lap average of 231.987 mph.

NTT IndyCar Series point leader Alex Palou will start sixth after putting down a four-lap average of 231.378 mph.

Jacob Abel

For the second year in a row, Dale Coyne Racing has a car that will not make the Indy 500. Rookie Jacob Abel was not able to get enough speed today in the Last Chance Qualifying. We will not be seeing the 1985 Miller Lite livery that was to celebrate Danny Sullivan’s 1985 Spin to Win for this year’s race.

Starting Lineup for the 2025 Indy 500

Rank	Car	Driver Name	Engine	Lap 1	Lap 2	Lap 3	Lap 4	Speed(mph)
1	83	Shwartzman, Robert	Chevy	38.5991s	38.6380s	38.7465s	38.6623s	232.790
2	75	Sato, Takuma	Honda	38.6226s	38.7417s	38.7010s	38.7881s	232.478
3	5	O’Ward, Pato	Chevy	38.7113s	38.7830s	38.8017s	38.8109s	232.098
4	9	Dixon, Scott	Honda	38.7036s	38.7778s	38.8481s	38.8082s	232.052
5	60	Rosenqvist, Felix	Honda	38.7088s	38.7768s	38.8721s	38.8232s	231.987
6	10	Palou, Alex	Honda	38.8022s	38.8064s	38.9369s	39.0439s	231.378
7	4	Malukas, David	Chevy	38.8060s	38.8342s	38.8859s	38.9150s	231.599
8	7	Lundgaard, Christian	Chevy	38.8648s	38.8601s	38.9319s	38.9447s	231.360
9	28	Ericsson, Marcus	Honda	38.9560s	38.9762s	38.9756s	38.9269s	231.014
10	3	McLaughlin, Scott	Chevy	38.6043s	38.7107s	38.5799s	38.6030s	233.013
11	2	Newgarden, Josef	Chevy	38.6151s	38.6252s	38.6271s	38.6362s	233.004
12	12	Power, Will	Chevy	38.7638s	38.7848s	38.7879s	38.7395s	232.144
13	76	Daly, Conor	Chevy	38.8318s	38.8140s	38.8147s	38.8963s	231.725
14	20	Rossi, Alexander	Chevy	38.6710s	38.8792s	38.8304s	38.9919s	231.701
15	8	Simpson, Kyffin	Honda	38.7937s	38.8439s	38.9210s	38.8541s	231.641
16	33	Carpenter, Ed	Chevy	38.7904s	38.8833s	38.8448s	38.8995s	231.633
17	14	Ferrucci, Santino	Chevy	38.8371s	38.8373s	38.8351s	38.9358s	231.593
18	30	DeFrancesco, Devlin	Honda	38.7468s	38.8389s	38.8811s	38.9907s	231.575
19	77	Robb, Sting Ray	Chevy	38.7773s	38.8971s	38.9527s	38.9065s	231.461
20	21	Rasmussen, Christian	Chevy	38.7646s	38.9281s	38.9435s	38.9127s	231.438
21	17	Larson, Kyle	Chevy	38.8021s	38.8883s	38.9354s	38.9984s	231.326
22	45	Foster, Louis	Honda	38.8669s	38.9154s	39.0120s	39.0106s	231.058
23	90	Ilott, Callum	Chevy	38.9142s	38.9637s	38.9931s	38.9779s	230.993
24	06	Castroneves, Helio	Honda	38.9097s	38.9394s	39.0034s	39.0067s	230.978
25	27	Kirkwood, Kyle	Honda	38.8022s	38.9161s	38.9177s	39.2639s	230.917
26	6	Siegel, Nolan	Chevy	38.9652s	38.9952s	39.0642s	39.1096s	230.571
27	23	Hunter-Reay, Ryan	Chevy	39.0208s	39.0438s	39.1288s	39.0818s	230.363
28	24	Harvey, Jack	Chevy	38.9101s	39.0487s	39.2036s	39.1229s	230.348
29	26	Herta, Colton	Honda	39.1173s	39.0871s	39.0924s	39.0942s	230.192
30	15	Rahal, Graham	Honda	39.0302s	39.1385s	39.2382s	39.2083s	229.863
31	98	Andretti, Marco	Honda	39.1358s	39.1687s	39.2024s	39.1910s	229.741
32	66	Armstrong, Marcus	Honda	39.2333s	39.2323s	39.3453s	39.3317s	229.091
33	18	Veekay, Rinus	Honda	39.6066s	39.6028s	39.7054s	39.7366s	226.913

Lucille Dust reporting live from Indianapolis