Spencer Pigot leads first Indy 500 qualifying attempts

Spencer Pigot stands as the fastest qualifier of the 103rd Indianapolis 500 Presented by Gainbridge as all drivers have made an attempt.

The Ed Carpenter Racing was the second driver to attack the 2.5-mile oval and logged a four-lap average of 230.083 mph with three of his four laps above 230 mph.

The Orlando, Florida native's run survived the attack of three Team Penske drivers led by defending race winner Will Power. The Aussie came up .002 of a second off Pigot's time as the track temperature increased.

Simon Pagenaud and Josef Newgarden ended up third and fourth respectively as Pigot's ECR teammate Ed Jones ended up fifth. Jones outperformed his teammate on single-lap runs with a whopping 231.015 mph and broke the 240-mph barrier in the process. The handling went away as the temperatures continued to rise and he ended up in fifth.

Jones and Pigot's boss Ed Carpenter ended up sixth and completed a top-six sweep for manufacturer Chevrolet.

Rookie Colton Herta was one of the last cars in the qualifying order and ended the quickest Honda in seventh (229.033 mph) followed by satellite teammate Alexander Rossi in eighth as Sebastien Bourdais and Marco Andretti completed the top ten.

The fastest nine drivers from today will make a run for the pole tomorrow afternoon. Spots 10-30 will be secured based on today's times.

Three-time Indy champion Helio Castroneves was the lone Team Penske out of the top ten, as his qualifying draw of 23rd left him at the hottest part of the day. His 4 lap run of 228.523 mph left him in 11th place.

Formula One castaway Marcus Ericsson slotted in 12th in a solid Indy debut run, slotting in 12th ahead of 2017 race winner Takuma Sato in 13th.

The most significant incident of the afternoon came when James Hinchcliffe crashed his Arrow Schmidt Peterson Racing Honda in Turn 2. His team has the backup car prepared and will make another attempt later today.

Fernando Alonso and McLaren Racing encountered more bad luck as a punctured right rear tyre hindered his run and left him with the slowest 4-lap average of all qualified drivers at 225.113 mph.

Also, occupying the "danger zone" spots of 31-36 were rookies Patricio O'Ward, Ben Hanley and Kyle Kaiser. Veteran Sage Karam was also on the outside looking in as he hit the wall on his attempt.

Drivers in positions 31-36 will qualify again tomorrow, with the slowest three cars missing the show.

If rain washes out qualifying tomorrow, positions 1-30 will be based off today's times. The Last Row Shootout will be rescheduled when conditions are clear.

All drivers have until 5:50 pm tonight to make additional qualifying runs.