Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian driver Felix Rosenqvist (60) prepares to get in his car Sunday, May 18, 2025, during Top 12 qualifying for the 109th running of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Kristin Enzor / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Texas A&M Partner Felix Rosenqvist Qualifies Top 5 For 2025 Indianapolis 500

Originally posted on Texas A&M Aggies on SI
By Aaron Raley | Last updated May 19, 2025 7:00 AM ET

Texas A&M University is starting in the top five of "The Greatest Spectacle of Racing."

Proudly donning a Texas A&M University sticker on the top of his helmet, Felix Rosenqvist, the driver of the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Honda in the NTT IndyCar Series, qualified in the fifth position for the 109th running of the Indianapolis 500 Sunday with an average lap speed of 231.987 mph.

As the race starts with a special three-wide row start as opposed to the usual two-wide, Rosenqvist will be in the middle of row two, with three-time and reigning IndyCar champion Alex Palou to his outside and six-time IndyCar champion, former teammate and 2008 Indianapolis 500 winner Scott Dixon on his inside.

To date, Rosenqvist only has a single win to his name since his IndyCar career began back in 2019, winning the 2020 REV Grand Prix at Road America, with a fourth-place finish in the 2022 Indianapolis 500 being his highest finish in the race in his career.

Robert Schwartzman, a Russian Israeli rookie in the IndyCar Series driving for Prema Racing, grabbed pole position (first starting spot) for the race, becoming the first rookie polesitter for the 500 since 1983.

Josef Newgarden, the back-to-back reigning champion of the race, will look to do what no driver in the history of the race has done and make it three wins in a row at "The Brickyard," starting from 11th position after him and fellow Team Penske teammate Will Power failed pre-qualifying inspection and did not get a chance to run in the final rounds of qualifying they advanced to in yesterday's session.

The 500 will also be highlighted by Kyle Larson, the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion, who will try another attempt at the "Memorial Day Double," which consists of a driver racing in the Indianapolis 500 and NASCAR's Coca-Cola 600 in the same day, a total of 1,100 miles. He will start 21st for the Indy 500.

Here are the top 12 qualifiers for the 33-car field that will attempt to race their way into the history books on May 25:

(Bold denotes former Indianapolis 500 winner.)

Pole: Robert Schwartzman, 83, Perma Racing

2) Takuma Sato, 75, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing

3) Pato O'Ward, 5, Arrow McLaren Racing

4) Scott Dixon, 9, Chip Ganassi Racing

5) Felix Rosenqvist, 60, Meyer Shank Racing

6) Alex Palou, 10, Chip Ganassi Racing

7) David Malukas, 4, Dale Coyne Racing

8) Christian Lundgaard, 7, Arrow McLaren Racing

9) Marcus Ericcson, 28, Andretti Global

10) Scott McLaughlin, 3, Team Penske