IndyCar: 5 drivers most likely to miss the 2024 Indy 500

3. Sting Ray Robb

A.J. Foyt Enterprises brought pace to Indianapolis Motor Speedway last May that nobody could have anticipated, given the fact that they had struggled for so many years. Both Santino Ferrucci and rookie Benjamin Pedersen advanced to the second round of qualifying, with Ferrucci advancing to the third and qualifying on the inside of the second row in fourth place.

But even with an A.J. Foyt Enterprises team that have a technical alliance with Team Penske, I don't trust Sting Ray Robb to match or even come close to matching Ferrucci this year.

He has shown no signs of quality pace at any point throughout his first few races behind the wheel of the No. 41 Chevrolet, and he showed no signs of quality pace at any point during his rookie season on oval tracks. He neither started nor finished any oval race inside the top 20, and that includes races that featured nowhere near the 33 cars that the Indy 500 features.

Last year's Bump Day would have featured all four of the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing drivers instead of just three, had it not been for Robb's lack of pace on the first day of qualifying on Saturday.

Let's not forget that then-teammate David Malukas comfortably qualified for the race, even after looking like he too could be a Bump Day candidate early on. An inability to extract the pace out of his car this year could prove detrimental.