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Shwartzman takes stunning pole, McLaughlin survives wild ride

Shwartzman on pole

By Thomas Miles

Date posted: 19 May 2025

Team Prema rookie Robert Shwartzman stunned IndyCar by taking pole for the 2025 Indianapolis 500, while Scott McLaughlin emerged unscathed from a scary crash.

Shwartzman became there first rookie pole winner at the famous race since 1984 and Italian Tea Fabi topped the times.

The Team Prema driver made history with a four-lap average of 232.790mph and 2m34.6459s ahead of Takuma Sato and Pato O’Ward, who completed the front row.

He took pole by two tenths with Scott Dixon, Felix Roesnqvist and Alex Palou the others in the top six.

What makes the achievement even more impressive for Shwartzman is this being his first ever oval race.

McLaughlin was denied the chance of chasing back to back poles after a violent crash in pre-qualifying practice.

McLaughlin

The badly damaged “Yellow Submarine” of Scott McLaughlin. Image: Penske

After posting the fastest lap at 223.553mph the Kiwi spun at Turn 2 and hit the outside barrier hard.

The impact saw the “Yellow Submarine” get airborne 90 degrees and land on the left hand side, evoking memories of McLaughlin’s 2019 Gold Coast crash.

But being at much higher speed, the car kept bouncing on its wheels from front to rear before finally landing upright and sliding all the way to the inside apron.

McLaughlin managed to walk away from the wild ride.

“I’m really, really, really, really sorry to everyone at Team Penske, my guys on the 3 car, everyone who builds these fantastic cars,” McLaughlin said. 

“It (car) was talking to me, and I sort of felt it, and I probably should have backed out. But you’re trying to complete a run to see what it feels like.

“Very grateful to INDYCAR, the safety and my team, the SAFER Barriers and all that. Kept me safe. We had a great car, and I just destroyed it.”

There were no Team Penske cars in the fight for pole at all in fact as Australia’s Will Power and defending winner Josef Newgarden were not allowed on track due to alleged modifications made in the pit lane.

Practice 8 will take place on Monday before Friday’s Carb Day offers the last chance to hit the track before the big day.

The 109th Indianapolis 500 will take place from 2am AEST Monday, May 26.

2025 Indianapolis 500 starting grid

1. (83) Robert Shwartzman, Chevrolet, 2:34.6459 (232.790 mph)
2. (75) Takuma Sato, Honda, 2:34.8534 (232.478)
3. (5) Pato O’Ward, Chevrolet, 2:35.1069 (232.098)
4. (9) Scott Dixon, Honda, 2:35.1377 (232.052)
5. (60) Felix Rosenqvist, Honda, 2:35.1809 (231.987)
6. (10) Alex Palou, Honda, 2:35.5894 (231.378)
7. (4) David Malukas, Chevrolet, 2:35.4411 (231.599)
8. (7) Christian Lundgaard, Chevrolet, 2:35.6015 (231.360)
9. (28) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 2:35.8347 (231.014)
10. (3) Scott McLaughlin, Chevrolet, 2:34.4979 (233.013)
11. (2) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 2:34.5036 (233.004)
12. (12) Will Power, Chevrolet, 2:35.0760 (232.144)
13. (76) Conor Daly, Chevrolet, 2:35.3568 (231.725)
14. (20) Alexander Rossi, Chevrolet, 2:35.3725 (231.701)
15. (8) Kyffin Simpson, Honda, 2:35.4127 (231.641)
16. (20) Ed Carpenter, Chevrolet, 2:35.4180 (231.633)
17. (14) Santino Ferrucci, Chevrolet, 2:35.4453 (231.593)
18. (30) Devlin DeFrancesco, Honda, 2:35.4575 (231.575)
19. (77) Sting Ray Robb, Chevrolet, 2:35.5336 (231.461)
20. (21) Christian Rasmussen, Chevrolet, 2:35.5489 (231.438)
21. (17) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 2:35.6242 (231.326)
22. (45) Louis Foster, Honda, 2:35.8049 (231.058)
23. (90) Callum Ilott, Chevrolet, 2:35.8489 (230.993)
24. (06) Helio Castroneves, Honda, 2:35.8592 (230.978)
25. (27) Kyle Kirkwood, Honda, 2:35.8999 (230.917)
26. (6) Nolan Siegel, Chevrolet, 2:36.1342 (230.571)
27. (23) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Chevrolet, 2:36.2752 (230.363)
28. (24) Jack Harvey, Chevrolet, 2:36.2853 (230.348)
29. (26) Colton Herta, Honda, 2:36.3910 (230.192)
30. (15) Graham Rahal, Honda, 2:36.6152 (229.863)
31. (98) Marco Andretti, Honda, 2:36.6979 (229.741)
32. (66) Marcus Armstrong, Honda, 2:37.1426 (229.091)
33. (18) Rinus VeeKay, Chevrolet, 2:38.6514 (226.913)

Photo by Travis Hinkle | IMS Photo

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