2018 Indy 500: Team power rankings

#10 and #9

With Kyle Kaiser, Juncos Racing’s lone driver, qualifying in 17th place for his first Indy 500 after many people thought he could potentially be one of the two drivers bumped from the field, the team certainly overachieved in their first Indy 500 qualifying session as more than an Indy 500-only team, especially after they were slow in qualifying last year as a two-car team in an Indy 500-only effort. They were also slow in the race last year, but Kaiser’s pace has led a lot of people to believe that they are far better prepared for this year’s race. They are certainly not one of the favorites, but don’t count them out.

In their first Indy 500 qualifying effort, Carlin Motorsport were solid, as both of their drivers, Charlie Kimball and Max Chilton, qualified in the top 20. Kimball did so in 15th place, and Chilton did so in 20th. Coming into qualifying, a lot of people believed that one or even both of their drivers would fail to qualify for the race, but there was never really any kind of chance whatsoever of either of their drivers being bumped throughout Saturday’s session. The team’s speed with a tow was decent throughout the week, so it will be interesting to see how they actually perform in their first superspeedway race in IndyCar.