About one-third of the way through the first qualifying session for the Indianapolis 500, rain hit and forced a stop to the proceedings for multiple hours. Eventually, drivers were able to make it back onto the track, and after the first day of Indy 500 qualifying, the fastest nine drivers are below:
Indy 500 qualifying results 2018: Danica Patrick makes Fast Nine, James Hinchcliffe bumped
It was a wild first day of qualifying for the Indy 500 on Saturday.
Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
1. Helio Castroneves
2. Ed Carpenter
3. Simon Pagenaud
4. Will Power
5. Sebastien Bourdais
6. Spencer Pigot
7. Josef Newgarden
8. Scott Dixon
9. Danica Patrick
Danica Patrick will get a shot for the pole, as will the other eight drivers on that list.
James Hinchcliffe, the 2016 pole-sitter, did not qualify for the race despite being fith in the championship standings. Hinchcliffe’s first time was not enough to put him in the Top 33, and he had to abort his second attempt with 11 minutes to go due to vibration in the car. He was waiting in the queue when time expires. Pippa Mann was also bumped on Saturday.
The Indy 500 qualifying format consists of Bump Day — the action from Saturday that whittled the starting grid down to 33 drivers and also separated out the fastest nine drivers.
Then on Sunday, the “Fast Nine” will compete in a four-lap shootout to determine pole position and positions 2-8 on the starting grid. The remaining drivers who qualified 10-33 on Saturday have their times wipes out, and have to set new ones to determine the grid lineup for those spots. This is often referred to as “Pole Day.
The order of the rest of the field — outside of the Fast Nine — doesn’t matter at this point.
On Sunday, qualifying officially begins at 2:45 p.m. ET for positions 10-33, while the Fast Nine is set for 5 p.m. ABC will have television coverage from 4 p.m. through 6 p.m., or the end of the session.
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