Oval-novice Shwartzman wows everyone with stellar Indy 500 qualifying performance

Who had IndyCar Series rookie and complete oval novice Robert Shwartzman as the rockstar performer during Saturday’s qualifying session for the Indianapolis 500?

Even the Israel-born, Russia-bred driver had no expectation for his PREMA Racing team – a total non-factor in every one of its five introductory IndyCar races – to propel the No. 83 Chevy to the sixth-fastest qualifying effort and earn a ticket into Sunday’s Fast 12 session and a chance at pole position.

His teammate, three-time Indy starter Callum Ilott, qualified 23rd.

“Honestly, I was quite nervous before the run,” Shwartzman admitted. “I was like, ‘How is it gonna be feeling? It's quite cooler. We haven't driven in these conditions. Everything is new to me.’ But then I was like, ‘Listen, it's one chance. It's my first qualifying. I just have to go for it.’ And I just floored it. I went flat. The first two laps were really good. The car was hanging on, was really fast. And then from lap three, obviously, at some point, it started to have a bit of a deg on the rear, like the car started to move.

"So the last two laps, honestly, was like on the edge, and I was trying to hold on to it. I'm really happy I managed to finish my qualifying run. I still know that I could have done even a faster lap time, speed wise, but yeah, obviously, for my first time, I didn't know how to react to these changes. Overall, I'm really happy how it was. Honestly, the emotions in the car, like, how fast it goes and how you're playing on the limit at 240mph, like, that's crazy.”