The ecstasy and the agony of 2023 Indy 500 qualifying

Saturday’s Last Chance qualifiers were a dark time for Bobby Rahal. After a miserable weekend, his team - the Rahal Letterman Lanigan organization - found all three of their full-time drivers fighting to avoid last place in a four-way battle.

Rahal knew the feeling; he was bumped from the 77th running of the Indy 500. Now, 30 years later, all of his full-time drivers were faced with the same fate, and to make matters worse, one driver was his own son, Graham.

Graham Rahal has been a staple of the Indy 500, making every race since 2008. With less than a minute left in qualifying, he found himself in third place among the four drivers, seemingly safe to continue his streak. Below him was teammate Jack Harvey, and after two failed qualifying runs, it appeared Harvey’s fate was sealed.

With less than a minute left though, he chose not to give up and attempted one last qualifying run. While he ripped around the racetrack at 229.166mph, his teammate sat in his car, despondently watching the proceedings on an iPad. When Harvey crossed the finish line of his final lap, Rahal slumped into his seat; he had been beaten by 0.01mph.

The weight of the situation was not lost on Harvey. Barely escaping the throngs of defeat would be enough to send most drivers over the moon, but he was sombre as he addressed the media.  

"It's an amazing feeling and an awful feeling at the same time," Harvey said.

"It's no secret it's been a struggle, even the first two runs in qualifying. The hope was all three of our cars could make it... The stress of Sunday is absolutely real, but it doesn't change my love for this place. It's bittersweet.”

Rahal was able to hide his emotion for most of his interview, but not throughout.

“You have to be humble and gracious in victory and defeat,” he said with his voice cracking. "I knew from the start we were in trouble," was the last sentence he was able to get out before he began to break down. His wife and daughter were there to comfort him as he sat with his head in his hands.

The battle for pole position ended in elation for Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou, who beat out five other drivers by setting a record pace of 234.217mph. 

Even so, it was barely enough to get the job done with second-place finisher Rinus Veekay just 0.006mph slower, clocking in a speed of 234.211.

As he exited his car, Palou could only scream and hug his team. After regaining his composure and addressing the media, he described how much the feat meant to him.

“It means the world to me, we knew it was going to be tight, they gave the fastest car to me,” he said. “Watching (the other drivers) was tougher than doing the four laps.”

Indianapolis has been good to Palou as of late. Just last week he won the Indianapolis Grand Prix, a road race on the same compound. Now, he hopes to carry his momentum to next week and win his first-ever Indy 500, etching his name into the history books.