Indy 500: 3 drivers most likely to be bumped

Indy 500 drivers most likely to be bumped: No. 3 – Katherine Legge

When Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing showed up to Texas Motor Speedway last year and only managed to take three of the final four spots on the grid, many chalked up their lack of pace to a bad weekend. But more than a year later, they did almost the exact same thing, taking three of the final five spots, including the final two.

In last year’s Indy 500 qualifying session, they also struggled. Excluding Stefan Wilson, who never made a qualifying attempt, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing posted the two lowest qualifying speeds, with Christian Lundgaard and Jack Harvey qualifying 31st and 32nd, respectively.

They clearly have a lot of work to do to figure things out for this year’s Indy 500, which makes their decision to run a fourth car for the first time that much more questionable.

Katherine Legge has not competed in an IndyCar race in a decade, and she is set to join the team that is currently the slowest superspeedway team in the sport behind the wheel of the No. 44 Honda. On paper, that doesn’t exactly bode well for anyone’s confidence entering the month of May.

The good thing about Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing is that they have become one of the larger teams on the grid and have the resources to get it right. There’s a reason they aren’t even three years removed from a 1-3 Indy 500 finish. But if they don’t figure things out, Legge is all but set up for failure.

Dark horse?

If you’re looking for a dark horse/full-time driver who could be at risk, look no further than Harvey. It was he who qualified 32nd for last year’s race, last among those who made qualifying attempts, and his qualifying effort at Texas Motor Speedway last month was the slowest in the field.

If Legge can outqualify Harvey, he could be in big trouble, and that could very well result in him becoming the first full-time driver to miss the race since 2018 when James Hinchcliffe was left a spectator on Memorial Day Sunday.

With the Indy 500 entry list having expanded to 34 cars, who will be left on the outside looking in? There always seems to be a surprise when Bump Day rolls around. Qualifying is scheduled to take place on Saturday, May 20 and Sunday, May 21, and the race itself is scheduled to take place on Sunday, May 28.