Marco Andretti makes Indy 500 field in last-chance qualifying. Rinus Veekay survives over Jacob Abel
Marco Andretti drives through the first turn during practice for the Indianapolis 500 auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Marco Andretti made the field for the Indianapolis 500 in last-chance qualifying Sunday, while Rinus Veekay sweated out a last-minute run by Dale Coyne Racing teammate Jacob Abel to earn the final spot on the 33-car starting grid.
Marcus Armstrong, who wrecked during practice a day earlier, also made the May 25 race after Meyer Shank Racing hastily built up a replacement car Saturday. He will start between Andretti and Veekay in the middle of the final row.
Advertisement
'I feel relief but not real happiness,' said Veekay, who has never started worse than seventh in five previous Indy 500s. 'We were just very slow, both Jacob and I, and unfortunately it was one of the two that was going to go out.'
Andretti posted a four-lap average of 229.741 mph, and Armstrong was not far off during his qualifying run. But Abel and Veekay were well off the pace, and it quickly became evident that the teammates would be battling it out for the final spot.
Coyne said that he would let his two teams operate independently as they sought to make the field.
Veekay's first four-lap effort produced an average of 227.740 mph, well ahead of Abel's run. But with his teammate preparing to go again, Veekay pulled his initial effort and went back to the track with about 8 minutes left in the hour-long window.
Advertisement
That turned out to be a bad idea. Veekay went even slower — just 226.913 mph — and was left to watch nervously from pit lane as Abel went out in the final minutes of the session with a chance to bump him from the field.
'I was really afraid,' Veekay said. 'I thought that could be it.'
But with a car still hot from its previous run, Abel also went slower. His speed of 226.394 mph made him the only driver that spent the past two weeks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway who failed to make the starting grid.
'Jacob is not just my teammate. He's a really good friend,' Veekay said. 'I feel bad for him. This was going to be his first; this is my sixth. Of course it feels good to make the field, but it is the definition of bittersweet.'
Advertisement
Abel was at a loss to explain his lack of pace. His car had been good in practice but simply didn't show up during qualifying.
'Super weird situation,' he said. 'We were fast in no-tows. We were very, very conservative. It seemed like something happened overnight Friday to Saturday and we lost speed, and it got slower and slower every run.'
Meanwhile, Andretti was safely in his 20th consecutive Indy 500. The son of Michael Andretti and grandson of 1969 winner Mario Andretti started on the pole in 2020, but now will be starting from the deepest he's ever been in the field.
'Never thought I'd be happy with 31st but today I am,' Andretti, who finished second in his debut in 2006 and has three third-place finishes, said on social media. 'Proud of the 98 group! Now we go try to win the Indy 500!'
___
AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CBS News
16 minutes ago
- CBS News
Nick Gonzales' sacrifice fly lifts Pirates to win over Phillies
Adam Frazier had three hits and scored the winning run on Nick Gonzales's sacrifice fly in the ninth inning, helping the Pittsburgh Pirates rally for a 5-4 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday night. David Bednar (1-4) struck out the side in the ninth for the Pirates. Frazier and Jared Triolo started the ninth with singles off Jordan Romano (0-3). Isiah Kiner-Falefa loaded the bases with a bunt before Oneil Cruz struck out looking. Gonzales then lifted a 2-2 slider to the warning track, allowing Frazier to score. Trea Turner gave Philadelphia an early lead, getting on with a single for his first of three hits and taking third on a double steal in the first before scoring on a grounder from Nick Castellanos. The Pirates' Bryan Reynolds hit an RBI single the next inning. Turner hit a double to right and Alec Bohm brought him in with a single to left, putting the Phillies back ahead 2-1 in the third. Reynolds tied it again with his eighth home run of the season into the left-field bleachers. Turner drove in two with a two-out single for a 4-2 lead in the fourth. Henry Davis answered with a two-run homer the same inning. Matt Strahm struck out the side for the Phillies in the eighth. Bednar immediately matched him in the ninth, capped by getting Turner to whiff on a curveball in the dirt. Pirates starter Bailey Falter allowed four runs on five hits in 3 2/3 innings. Chase Shugart, Caleb Ferguson, Dennis Santana and Bednar combined to give up two hits and one walk with eight strikeouts the rest of the way. Endy Rodríguez left due to right elbow discomfort and continues to be evaluated, the Pirates said. LHP Ranger Suárez (4-0, 2.72 ERA) will take the mound for the Phillies on Saturday opposite Pirates LHP Andrew Heaney (3-4, 3.39).
Wall Street Journal
28 minutes ago
- Wall Street Journal
How the Cybertruck Came to Embody Tesla's Problems
The bromance between Elon Musk and President Trump is ending at a difficult time for Tesla TSLA 3.67%increase; green up pointing triangle. The electric-vehicle maker lost roughly $150 billion of market value Thursday—its biggest ever drop—after the Tesla CEO and Trump traded insults. Sales of Teslas have slumped this year. Tariffs could disrupt the supply of key components. The sprawling Republican tax-and-spending bill would end tax credits for EV buyers. And Tesla's Cybertruck has been a disappointment. Musk set high expectations for the Cybertruck, telling investors it would be Tesla's 'best product ever.' The angular, stainless steel pickup was supposed to generate buzz for Tesla by showcasing new technology and unlocking the lucrative truck market. Instead, it has become synonymous with Musk's polarizing stint in politics, exposing some owners to graffiti or middle fingers from other drivers. And its reputation has been tarnished among Tesla fans because of a spate of recalls and manufacturing issues that have resulted in cycles of repairs. In the U.S., the company sold fewer than 40,000 Cybertrucks in 2024—well below Musk's ultimate goal of 250,000 a year. In the first quarter of 2025, Tesla sold around 7,100 Cybertrucks in the U.S., according to registration data from S&P Global Mobility. Ford's F-150 Lightning pickup outsold it. In an effort to boost sales, Tesla has rolled out lower-price versions of the truck and started offering buyers incentives such as 0% financing and free upgrades. Almost as soon as the $100,000 Cybertruck hit the road, quality problems began to multiply. Reports on social media cited cracked windshields and spotting from so-called rail dust, orange discoloration similar to rust. In its first year, Tesla recalled the truck seven times to fix dangerous defects. In March, with large metal panels falling off the trucks, the tally rose to eight. Some of the quality problems were known and documented internally before the truck went on sale, including issues with the accelerator pad and windshield wiper that later triggered recalls, said former employees who worked on the Cybertruck. But there was pressure inside Tesla to get the truck to market quickly, according to these employees. Tesla didn't respond to requests for comment. 'Elon Musk will tell you the biggest professional mistake was the falcon doors on the Model X,' said David Fick, a longtime Tesla owner who got his Cybertruck in March. He referred to the complex door design that opens upward and hinges at the roof. 'I believe that the Cybertruck is going to go down as an even bigger corporate stumble.' The retired banker in Boynton Beach, Fla., chose to wait more than a year to buy his Cybertruck, hopeful that many of the biggest issues would be identified before he drove his off the lot. 'They do a lot of bleeding-edge stuff where they rush to the market and then you're a beta tester as an owner,' Fick said. He paid about $72,000 for the car, plus $7,300 for window tinting and a custom wrap for exterior trim panels known as cant rails, covering his new car in a metallic maroon color. Soon after, Tesla recalled cant rails because they could become unglued. 'I've had tons of recalls on my Teslas over the years,' said Fick, who added that the cars are worth the hassle. 'Eighty percent were fixed by [software] updates, but these are physical things we are dealing with now.' Musk unveiled the prototype for the Cybertruck in 2019. At the time, he said it would cost $39,900, with a battery range of up to 500 miles—an ambitious combination that would be a stretch for any EV maker. Work on the vehicle was delayed a couple of years, leaving engineering and manufacturing teams with only a few months to do final testing before the trucks went to customers, former employees said. Musk tried to temper expectations around how quickly Tesla could increase production, given its unique design. 'There is always some chance that Cybertruck will flop, because it is so unlike anything else,' he wrote on social media in July 2021. Still, he promoted some of its most unusual features, including his dream of making the car amphibious. Former employees said they took Musk's social posts as orders, but the engineering proved difficult. By 2022, it was clear internally that Cybertruck wouldn't be able to meet all Musk's criteria, so engineers scrapped an early design and started over—developing a smaller, landlocked version of the truck, the people said. After about a year and a half of testing, Tesla delivered the first Cybertrucks to a dozen or so customers in late November 2023. An early version of the truck started at $100,000 and had an estimated range of 318 miles. Two months later, Tesla issued its first recall on the vehicle: a software update that required the company to increase the size of the font on a warning system used across its fleet. It was the first of three recalls that Tesla addressed on the Cybertruck through over-the-air updates to its software. Cybertruck's problems couldn't be fixed by software updates alone. In April 2024, Tesla issued a recall for the accelerator pedal. The company had received a notice from a customer complaining that the accelerator had gotten stuck. Tesla found that the pad attached to the long pedal could dislodge and get stuck in the trim above the pedal, causing the car to accelerate. An internal investigation found the issue was the result of an 'unapproved change,' in which Tesla employees used soap as a lubricant to attach the pad, according to the recall notice. Inside Tesla, the accelerator pad had been a known issue starting with the prototype, according to an employee who worked on the part. The manufacturing team also identified the part as problematic, this person said. Tesla also had problems with the Cybertruck's expansive windshield, which measured nearly 6 square feet. Sometimes the heavy glass would break, two employees said. The glass either arrived cracked from the supplier in Mexico or from handling at the Austin, Texas, facility, they said. Some owners took to social media to describe the glass cracking as soon as they drove off the lot, or while they wiped the inside of their windshield. The windshield required a large windshield wiper measuring 50 inches long. In June 2024, Tesla issued a recall on the wipers, whose motors Tesla found had been overstressed by testing. The wiper had been flagged nearly a year before, two people who worked on the Cybertruck said. It was one of the first issues identified on the vehicles, at which point it was classified as a 'gating issue,' which meant that it needed to be resolved before production could move forward. Reid Tomasko, a 25-year-old YouTube creator, took his Cybertruck on a cross-country trip, during which it performed perfectly, he said. Then came winter in New Hampshire. He was driving near his home in Lebanon, N.H., in February when a metal panel flew off the side of his truck. In March, Tesla issued a recall affecting most of the Cybertrucks it had produced—more than 46,000. The problem involved adhesive that could become brittle in extreme weather, causing exterior trim panels called cant rails to dislodge. Inspecting his truck, Tomasko said he found loose connections on almost every panel that used the adhesive, including the large pieces of stainless steel over the rear wheels, the front fender and the front doors. 'I was wondering, why are they not recalling the other panels?' Tomasko said. After replacing several panels, Tesla offered to buy back Tomasko's truck for nearly all of the $102,000 that he paid, he said. He accepted. 'I am planning on getting a newer one for cheaper soon,' he said. Write to Becky Peterson at
Yahoo
31 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Sinkhole shuts down Buford Highway on-ramp to I-85N, GDOT assessing
The Brief Buford Highway is closed at Interstate 85 while Georgia Department of Transportation officials inspect the bridge. GDOT says a sinkhole before the ramp is responsible for the closure. It's unclear when the road will re-open. ATLANTA - The ramp from Buford Highway to Interstate 85 northbound is currently closed and Georgia Department of Transportation officials are inspecting the area. What we know Officials say there is a sinkhole caused by a tunneling project which has impacted the roadway. The closure is causing backups during rush-hour Friday. Cheshire Bridge Road can be used as an alternate route. What they're saying "Settlement in a portion of the road was identified due to surface drainage issues. We will be reopening one lane shortly but motorists should expect intermittent full closures throughout the weekend for crews to perform necessary repairs," a spokesperson for GDOT wrote in a statement to FOX 5. What we don't know It's unclear what caused the sinkhole. No word on when the roadway will reopen. This is a developing story, and we will keep you updated as we learn more. The Source Information for this article came from original reporting by SKYFOX Traffic Team.
