First-time Indianapolis 500 entrant and 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson showed up in form during Saturday’s (May 18) qualifying session, earning himself the opportunity to fight for pole on Sunday with the sixth fastest four-lap average of the day.
The sixth driver to hit the track on the day, Larson was forced to abort his first attempt after his No. 17 Chevrolet experienced a loss of power. Notably, Larson still had his transmission, and theoretically could have finished his run to put a time on the table, but instead opted to bring the car back to the pits for assessment.
“There was some alarm that popped up on the dash and it just cut a bunch of power,” Larson said. “I haven’t talked to anybody so I don’t know what happened. But that sucks. I don’t know how our run was looking but the car felt pretty balanced.”
It was later confirmed that Larson’s sudden loss of power was a ‘plenum event,’ an anomalous occurrence which became less anomalous and more common as the day carried on. Caused by a sudden ignition of fuel in the plenum gasket, most frequently when upshifting or downshifting, such events can cause a sudden loss of power to the engine, which may or may not reset when the throttle is applied once more.
In short, Larson’s first run was undone by an unsuccessful shift from sixth to fifth gear.
Shortly before the halfway point of the session, Larson returned to the track to make his first run of the day in earnest. The Californian’s Arrow McLaren/Rick Hendrick Chevrolet was up for the task and carried its driver to top speeds of 240 mph entering turns 1 and 3 throughout the four-lap attempt.
Larson’s first lap averaged 232.951 mph, 232.796 mph for the second lap. Lap three clocked at 232.395 mph before a final lap of 232.114 mph. Larson’s four-lap average came to 232.563 mph, behind fifth-placed Kyle Kirkwood and ahead of seventh-fastest Felix Rosenqvist.
Larson’s effort advances him to Sunday’s Pole Day qualifying session where the top 12 drivers from Saturday will battle for pole position. The previous best qualifying effort by a driver attempting Double Duty was put up by Robby Gordon, who qualified third for the Indy 500 in 2003. Most recently, Kurt Busch qualified 12th in his 2014 entry in Andretti Global’s fifth car.
“I’ll definitely take that,” Larson said after completing his full run. “Hopefully it’s enough to make the Fast 12 for…
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