INDIANAPOLIS -- The heat will be on for many drivers as temperatures rise and make handling much worse for cars that are later in the Indy 500 qualifying order Saturday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
The 2.5-mile oval has proven to be extremely temperatures sensitive during four practice sessions this week, and it’s expected to be 81 degrees for the noon ET start to qualifying and rising over the rest of the afternoon.
That resultant spike in ambient track temperature concerns Pato O’Ward, who had the fastest Chevrolet in Fast Friday practice but will go out 20th in the qualifying draw.
QUALIFYING FORMAT: A breakdown of how the Indy 500 field will be set this weekend
FAST FRIDAY: Recap of the first day with turbo boost
O’Ward said “the difference of car balance is insane” with an increase of just 15 degrees in track temperature.
"(Saturday) a big tell is going to be just how hot it’s going to be,” O’Ward said. “And from the third guy out to the 25th guy out, there probably will be a difference of 15 to 20 degrees. That’s going to be huge.”
After turning the fastest lap in Friday practice for the second time in three days, Scott Dixon pulled the first spot in the qualifying draw that randomly was determined Friday night after practice.
Positions 10 through 30 will be locked into starting spots Saturday after nearly six hours of qualifying for the 105th Indy 500.
The top nine cars will square off Saturday for the Fast Nine session that determines the pole position. With 35 cars vying for 33 spots, the slowest five cars will compete Saturday in the Last Row Shootout for the last three spots in the race. Click here for the full qualifying format.
Here is the NTT IndyCar Series qualifying order for the 105th Indy 500:
1. #9 Scott Dixon
2. #98 Marco Andretti
3. #28 Ryan Hunter‐Reay
4. #06 Helio Castroneves
5. #18 Ed Jones
6. #29 James Hinchcliffe
7. #25 Stefan Wilson
8. #48 Tony Kanaan
9. #2 Josef Newgarden
10. #21 Rinus VeeKay
11. #3 Scott McLaughlin
12. #30 Takuma Sato
13. #45 Santino Ferrucci
14. #24 Sage Karam
15. #51 Pietro Fittipaldi
16. #86 Juan Pablo Montoya
17. #1 JR Hildebrand
18. #12 Will Power
19. #20 Ed Carpenter
20. #5 Pato O’Ward
21. #7 Felix Rosenqvist
22. #59 Max Chilton
23. #4 Dalton Kellett
24. #47 Conor Daly
25. #15 Graham Rahal
26. #60 Jack Harvey
27. #75 RC Enerson
28. #10 Alex Palou
29. #22 Simon Pagenaud
30. #26 Colton Herta
31. #27 Alexander Rossi
32. #8 Marcus Ericsson
33. #16 Simona De Silvestro
34. #11 Charlie Kimball
35. #14 Sebastien Bourdais