Bay Area driver crashes Indy 500 field in dramatic style
Two days after crashing and destroying his car, Santa Clara’s Kyle Kaiser not only captured a spot in the Indianapolis 500, the 23-year-old bumped two-time Formula One World Champion Fernando Alonso and McLaren Racing from the field to get there.
Two days after crashing and destroying his car, Santa Clara’s Kyle Kaiser not only was back on the track, but dramatically captured a spot in the Indianapolis 500.
The 23-year-old bumped two-time Formula One World Champion Fernando Alonso from the field by .02 mph in the “Last Row Shootout” on Sunday, spoiling McLaren’s hyped return to the Indy 500 with a last-gasp bid by tiny Juncos Racing.
“It felt like we qualified on pole when I came in, to be honest,” Kaiser said. “It was pretty wild.”
McLaren came to Indy with every inch of its car sold in sponsorship and guaranteed to turn a profit. Juncos Racing lost its two primary sponsors right before opening day and spent most of this week in an unmarked white car.
Juncos was the underdog from the very start, and when Kaiser crashed Friday, every one of Ricardo Junco’s employees worked through the night to put together a car for Kaiser to qualify.
“We worked 48 straight hours, we couldn’t think straight,” Juncos said.
Juncos all week has done everything better than mighty McLaren, the Formula One team that dominated Indy in the 1970s. Kaiser was faster than Alonso every day, and while Juncos was able to rebound fairly quickly from Kaiser’s crash, it took McLaren almost two full days to get a car ready after Alonso crashed on Wednesday.
McLaren then begged and borrowed for assistance all across the paddock, threw an entirely new setup on the car Sunday morning, and it dragged and sparked along the track on Alonso’s first lap. He had to pit for a fix, got in just five more laps of practice, then rain ended the session. Juncos, meanwhile, never went on track Sunday morning in a decision the team owner believes got Kaiser into the race.
“We decided not to practice that was a key decision because it allowed us another four, five hours to work on the car,” he said. Now his phone is buzzing, potential sponsors are lining up, and he vowed to have a covered car in next Sunday’s race.
• Simon Pagenaud earned his first career Indy 500 pole with a four-lap average of 229.992 mph, edging three-time pole winner Ed Carpenter and Spencer Pigot on Sunday. He is the first Frenchman to win the Indy 500 pole in 100 years.
Carpenter, also the team owner, will start second while Pigot, the fastest qualifier Saturday, completes the front row and Chevrolet sweep of the top three spots.