2022 Champion Marcus Ericsson Almost Misses 2024 Indy 500 After Miscounting Qualifying Laps
In a moment of heartache, the 2022 Indy 500 champion Marcus Ericsson slowed after the third lap of his first Last Chance Qualifying run after miscounting and believing he had completed the final lap. Sunday afternoon, nestled in between the Fast 12 and Fast Six qualifying efforts, the former Indy 500 champion was sweating bullets trying to rebound after a disastrous start to his 2024 Indy 500 campaign.
The Andretti Global team went straight to work to get the car cooled down for a second run, running cool down laps before setting up to qualify, while they could work on their race vehicle the other three competitors could not unless they were willing to delete their current runs.
Few expected Ericsson to be in the fight for the final row, but a crash during Thursday practice created a snowball effect for the team as things continued to worsen.
With the worst of the four times, Ericsson found himself in control of how the rest of qualifying would run. The No. 28 team waited until the final seven minutes to run their second four laps, leaving the other drivers waiting in the wind.
Ericsson went out during the hottest portion of the weekend for his final attempt and put down a four-lap average of 230.027, one position behind Katherine Legge, who locked with Ericsson’s attempt to start 31st in the Indy 500
The 19-year-old rookie Nolan Siegel went out with 1:52 remaining, knowing that he had to beat Graham Rahal’s time of 229.974 or go home. His first lap fell short, and on his second, he lost control and slapped the wall, leading to his second spin of the weekend.
With Siegel's crash, Graham Rahal narrowly avoids missing his second Indy 500 in a row.
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