INDIANAPOLIS — The first day of Indianapolis 500 qualifying was rained out, race organizers announced Saturday.It’s the first time since 2008 a full day of qualifying was lost because of weather. The decision prompted some significant schedule changes for Sunday.A short practice, held in two groups, will begin at 9:30 a.m. local time for each driver trying to make the traditional 33-car starting grid. The four-lap qualifying runs will begin at noon.But the plan to hold a series of elimination rounds between the 15 fastest cars has been scrapped and organizers will now revert back to the 12-car format used in recent years, starting at 4 p.m. The top six cars advance to the final round, which determines the pole winner for the May 24 race.That will likely force teams to continue holding strategy sessions overnight, something that almost undoubtedly began during a nearly six-hour wait to see if they could get cars onto the Brickyard’s 2.5-mile oval.The fastest drivers in this week’s practices have been 2024 Indy pole winner Scott McLaughlin and his Team Penske teammates — two-time Indy winner Josef Newgarden and last year’s 500 runner-up David Malukas; defending race winner Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing; Felix Rosenqvist of Meyer Shank Racing, who hopes to join Palou as a two-time pole winner this season; 2016 Indianapolis 500 winner Alexander Rossi, who drives for owner-driver Ed Carpenter, a three-time Indy pole winner; and Conor Daly, the stepson of speedway president Doug Boles who is making his IndyCar season debut with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing.Rosenqvist posted the fastest lap, 233.372 mph, and the fastest four-lap average, 232.828 mph, in practice Friday when series officials gave ea …
