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IndyCar: Unofficial championship standings after 2019 Indy 500 qualifying

By Asher Fair

INDIANAPOLIS - MAY 10: The Pagoda is adorned with an image of the original Pagoda from 1909 during qualifying for the IRL IndyCar Series 93rd running of the Indianapolis 500 on May 10, 2009 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Darrell Ingham/Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS - MAY 10: The Pagoda is adorned with an image of the original Pagoda from 1909 during qualifying for the IRL IndyCar Series 93rd running of the Indianapolis 500 on May 10, 2009 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Darrell Ingham/Getty Images) /
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Drivers are awarded points in the IndyCar championship standings after qualifying in the top nine for the Indy 500. Here are the unofficial standings following this session.

As opposed to the usual one point being awarded to the IndyCar race polesitter in the championship standings, qualifying for the Indianapolis 500 results in points being awarded to each of the drivers who qualify for the race in the top nine.

Nine points are awarded to the race polesitter for the 200-lap race around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval in Speedway, Indiana.

Meanwhile, eight points are awarded to the second place qualifier, seven points are awarded to the third place qualifier, and so on down to one point being awarded to the ninth place qualifier.

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For this year’s running of the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing”, Team Penske teammates Simon Pagenaud, Will Power and Josef Newgarden and Ed Carpenter Racing teammates Ed Carpenter, Spencer Pigot and Ed Jones (Scuderia Corsa) all advanced to the Fast Nine Shootout Pole Day qualifying session.

Additionally, Harding Steinbrenner Racing rookie Colton Herta, Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan’s Sebastien Bourdais and Andretti Autosport’s Alexander Rossi all advanced to this qualifying session as well to determine the first three rows of the starting grid for the famed race at the Brickyard.

Here is how that session turned out.

Rank – Driver – Car, Team, Engine – Qualifying speed (miles per hour) – Points

Row 1

1st – Simon Pagenaud – #22, Team Penske, Chevrolet – 229.992 – 9
2nd – Ed Carpenter – #20, Ed Carpenter Racing, Chevrolet – 229.889 – 8
3rd – Spencer Pigot – #21, Ed Carpenter Racing, Chevrolet – 229.826 – 7

Row 2

4th – Ed Jones – #63, Ed Carpenter Racing Scuderia Corsa, Chevrolet – 229.646 – 6
5th – Colton Herta – #88, Harding Steinbrenner Racing, Honda – 229.086 – 5
6th – Will Power – #12, Team Penske, Chevrolet – 228.645 – 4

Row 3

7th – Sebastien Bourdais – #18, DCR with Vasser-Sullivan, Honda – 228.621 – 3
8th – Josef Newgarden – #2, Team Penske, Chevrolet – 228.396 – 2
9th – Alexander Rossi – #27, Andretti Autosport, Honda – 228.247 – 1

Here are the unofficial championship standings following the Fast Nine Shootout Pole Day qualifying session for the 103rd running of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

NOTE: These standings are not official until they are further updated following the race itself.

Rank – Driver, Car, Team, Engine: Points (Behind)
1st – Josef Newgarden, #2, Team Penske, Chevrolet: 184 (0)
2nd – Scott Dixon, #9, Chip Ganassi Racing, Honda: 176 (-8)
3rd – Alexander Rossi, #27, Andretti Autosport, Honda: 147 (-37)
3rd – Simon Pagenaud, #22, Team Penske, Chevrolet: 147 (-37)
5th – Takuma Sato, #30, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, Honda: 132 (-52)
6th – Will Power, #12, Team Penske, Chevrolet: 123 (-61)
7th – Sebastien Bourdais, #18, DCR with Vasser-Sullivan, Honda: 114 (-70)
8th – Graham Rahal, #15, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, Honda: 113 (-71)
9th – Ryan Hunter-Reay, #28, Andretti Autosport, Honda: 109 (-75)
10th – James Hinchcliffe, #5, Arrow SPM, Honda: 107 (-77)
11th – Felix Rosenqvist, #10, Chip Ganassi Racing, Honda: 106 (-78)
12th – Jack Harvey, #60, Meyer Shank Racing, Honda: 100 (-84)
12th – Colton Herta, #88, Harding Steinbrenner Racing, Honda: 100 (-84)
12th – Spencer Pigot, #21, Ed Carpenter Racing, Chevrolet: 100 (-84)
15th – Marco Andretti, #98, Andretti Herta Autosport, Honda: 95 (-89)
16th – Ed Jones, #20, Ed Carpenter Racing, Chevrolet: 84 (-100)
17th – Matheus Leist, #4, A.J. Foyt Enterprises, Chevrolet: 78 (-106)
18th – Santino Ferrucci, #19, Dale Coyne Racing, Honda: 76 (-108)
19th – Zach Veach, #26, Andretti Autosport, Honda: 73 (-111)
20th – Marcus Ericsson, #7, Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, Honda: 67 (-117)
20th – Patricio O’Ward, #31, Carlin, Chevrolet: 67 (-117)
22nd – Tony Kanaan, #14, A.J. Foyt Enterprises, Chevrolet: 66 (-118)
23rd – Max Chilton, #59, Carlin, Chevrolet: 59 (-125)
24th – Ben Hanley, #81, DragonSpeed, Chevrolet: 21 (-163)
25th – Charlie Kimball, #23, Carlin, Chevrolet: 13 (-171)
26th – Kyle Kaiser, #32, Juncos Racing, Chevrolet: 12 (-172)
27th – Helio Castroneves, #3, Team Penske, Chevrolet: 9 (-175)
28th – Ed Carpenter, #20, Ed Carpenter Racing, Chevrolet: 8 (-176)

What positions changed?

Pagenaud moved into a third place tie with Rossi from fourth. Bourdais passed Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Graham Rahal for seventh from eighth. Herta and Pigot moved into a 12th place tie with Meyer Shank Racing with Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports’ Jack Harvey from a 13th place tie and 15th, respectively. Jones moved out of a 16th place tie with A.J. Foyt Enterprises’ Matheus Leist to 16th on his own. Carpenter moved into 28th after he wasn’t previously in the championship standings at all.

Newgarden and Power were the only two drivers who qualified for this race in the top nine but did not change positions in the championship standings as a result of it.

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Expect the IndyCar championship standings to be shaken up even more on Memorial Day Sunday, May 26, as the 103rd running of the Indianapolis 500 is the first of two double points-paying races on the 2019 schedule. NBC is set to broadcast this race live from Indianapolis Motor Speedway beginning at 11:00 a.m. ET, and the green flag is set to fly at roughly 12:30 p.m. ET.