The #18 car of Siegel already had a different design due to his big crash earlier in the week. Photo: Kevin Dejewski
The qualifying session for the Indy 500 on Saturday afternoon was incredibly intense, with four drivers competing for three spots in the last row of the starting grid.
Each driver had a chance to complete four laps and set the fastest time possible. The remaining time in the one-hour session was dedicated to drivers attempting additional runs in a desperate effort to avoid being the slowest on the time sheet.
Youthful rookie Nolan Siegel set the initial fastest time by completing his four laps with an average speed of 229.566 MPH.
Although his speed was faster than any of his previous laps during the weekend, it still fell short compared to the other drivers.
Katherine Legge and Graham Rahal set faster times than Siegel, and Marcus Ericsson seemed to be on track to do the same until slowing down on his fourth and final lap.
Ericsson’s early deceleration was the result of him forgetting which lap he was on, causing him to miss a crucial opportunity.
Ericsson brought his car to pit road, where his Andretti team took care of him. They removed the engine cover and tried to cool the engine while he sat in the scorching 90-degree Fahrenheit heat.
With time running out, Ericsson made one last attempt and managed to secure a spot in the race with a speed of 230.027 MPH.
The tension in the Andretti pit was palpable as Ericsson completed his laps. The whole team knew that a mistake on the track could mean an early end to their race weekend.
Unfortunately, Ericsson’s success meant bad luck for Siegel, who found himself on the outside. He had to make a second run of his own when time ran out.
Siegel’s pace was similar to his first run on the first lap, but he ended up hitting the wall on his second lap and stopped with his car damaged from Dale Coyne Racing.
This was the second accident of the weekend for the young driver, and it meant that he would not be able to participate in his first Indy 500 this year.
Despite his disappointment, Siegel remained professional during interviews with the media, acknowledging that they had done their best as a team.
His fellow drivers also spoke highly of him, with Graham Rahal expressing his belief that Siegel will eventually become a champion in the series.
Rahal was the one who benefited the most from Siegel’s late accident, as he was next in line to be eliminated from the grid if his time had not been maintained.
Throughout the weekend, Rahal struggled with pace and his RLL team still needed to identify the cause of the extra drag on his number 15 car.
Siegel will return to the wheel of his Indy NXT car in two weeks for the race in Detroit, as he continues his quest for the championship in the feeder series. He is also scheduled to make another start in the IndyCar at the end of July on the streets of Toronto.
