2019 Indy 500: Sage Karam tops Last Row Bump Day qualifying session

By Asher Fair | May 19, 2019

FORT WORTH, TX - JUNE 05: Sage Karam, driver of the #8 Lexar Chevrolet, prepares to drive during NTT DATA qualifying for the Verizon IndyCar Series Firestone 600 at Texas Motor Speedway on June 5, 2015 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images for Texas Motor Speedway) /

Sage Karam topped the speed chart in the Last Row Bump Day qualifying session for the 103rd running of the Indy 500 to lock himself into the field.

One-off IndyCar driver Sage Karam of Dreyer & Reinbold Racing topped the speed chart in the Last Row Bump Day qualifying session for the 103rd running of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway to lock himself into the field for the race.

Karam topped the speed chart in this qualifying session by recording a lap four-lap average speed of 227.740 miles per hour around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval in Speedway, Indiana in his #24 Chevrolet to secure himself the 31st starting position in this year’s running of the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing”.

Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports’ James Hinchcliffe, who was the only Honda driver of the six drivers who competed in this qualifying session, finished in second place in his #5 Honda to secure himself the 32nd starting position in this race.

More from IndyCar

The third and final driver who locked himself into the field for this year’s Indy 500 did so on the final qualifying run of the qualifying session, and he did it in epic fashion, knocking out a two-time Formula 1 champion in doing so.

McLaren Racing’s Fernando Alonso sat in the 33rd position on the bubble before Juncos Racing’s Kyle Kaiser made his qualifying attempt, and by just 0.019 miles per hour over the course of a four-lap run, the driver of the #32 Chevrolet bumped the global racing icon and his #66 Chevrolet out of the field. Kaiser is set to start the race in 33rd (last) place.

Also missing the field were Carlin teammates Patricio O’Ward, a rookie, and Max Chilton, who finished in fifth and sixth place in this qualifying session in their #31 Chevrolet and #59 Chevrolet, respectively.

Here are the full qualifying results of the Last Row Bump Day qualifying session for the 103rd running of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Rank – Driver – Car, Team, Engine – Speed (miles per hour)
31st – Sage Karam – #24, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, Chevrolet – 227.74
32nd – James Hinchcliffe – #5, Arrow SPM, Honda – 227.543
33rd – Kyle Kaiser – #32, Juncos Racing, Chevrolet – 227.372
34th – Fernando Alonso – #66, McLaren Racing, Chevrolet – 227.353
35th – Patricio O’Ward – #31, Carlin, Chevrolet – 227.092
36th – Max Chilton – #59, Carlin, Chevrolet – 226.192

Next. Top 10 Indianapolis 500 drivers of all-time. dark

NBC is set to broadcast the 103rd running of the Indianapolis 500 next Sunday, May 26 from Indianapolis Motor Speedway beginning at 11:00 p.m. ET, and the race itself is scheduled to begin at around 12:30 p.m. ET.