Part of growing older is being able to admit one’s mistakes. During the April test at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Robert Shwartzman was 19th on the non-tow speed chart during the qualifying boost session. The Israeli driver was 23rd out of 24 drivers on the non-tow speed chart in the final afternoon session of the open test.
Yeah, I think it’s safe to admit that everyone, myself included, was all thinking the same thing.
“There’s no way they’re making it past the last row shootout.”
I’m sorry, PREMA. I wasn’t familiar with your game.
Shwartzman put the No. 83 Chevrolet on pole for the 109th Indianapolis 500, beating several multi-time Indianapolis 500 winners, polesitters and IndyCar champions.
Shwartzman’s qualifying run might be one of the biggest pole winner surprises in Indianapolis 500 history. And that’s no exaggeration.
Look at how the 2025 season has gone for PREMA so far. Hell, before the season started, renowned engineer Michael Cannon departed the team because he felt he wasn’t being listened to enough.
The team had numerous radio issues at St. Petersburg. Callum Ilott had his best finish of the season in St. Pete with 19th, but he’s 26th out of 27 full-time IndyCar drivers in points.
Meanwhile, Shwartzman has two 18th-place finishes en route to being 21st in points, and that’s before we look at his weirdest weekend of the season.
Shwartzman’s car went up in flames in practice at The Thermal Club and the team was fined for an incorrect fire extinguisher pull cable. That might have been why the fire extinguisher didn’t activate, but that’s beside the point.
The 2025 season has been one of massive challenges for PREMA. A European powerhouse taking on America’s top open-wheel racing series in cars that other teams have well over a decade’s worth of experience engineering.
A team trying to do what Carlin could not in their American adventure when they started back in 2018: succeed.
Okay, sure, Carlin got one pole at Iowa Speedway with Conor Daly, but at that time the team wasn’t going to last much longer in America. The writing was on the wall; all that was left was for it to become legible.
PREMA has taken its lumps in the early part of the 2025 season. The lumps continued as May loomed.
As teams were practicing during Tuesday’s on-track sessions, both PREMA cars were sitting in their garage stalls as the team was putting the finishing touches on their superspeedway cars. Small crowds gathered outside the team’s garage stalls on the east side of Building C as the crew worked on perfecting both entries.
Team consultant and 2012 Indianapolis 500 polesitter Ryan Briscoe was adamant about the team’s goals.
“We just wanted to get out by the end of the day, making sure that everything was done the right way, not rushed,” Briscoe said after Shwartzman’s qualifying run. “And so we told the guys, ‘Take your time, make sure it’s done right. We have plenty of time, you’re limited on tires, you don’t need to run all day Tuesday.'”
And Tuesday practice was never going to be about setting a fast time, it was just about getting mileage on the oval, especially for Shwartzman, who had never competed on one in his life.
That’s right. The polesitter for the 109th Indianapolis 500 has never raced on an oval before, which makes his pole qualifying run that much more incredible.
Especially considering that Ilott will start 21st as well, and he’s raced in the 500 a few times.
Now, there’s always the possibility, heaven forbid, that Shwartzman can have a horrific race and the goodwill over the past week goes away completely.
Nobody wants that, especially for somebody who has seemingly embraced the event and all its traditions like Shwartzman has.
But there are still 500 miles to go for PREMA to show that they are not the team that started this season.
Only time will tell. That time will come on May 25th.
Christopher DeHarde has covered IndyCar racing and the Road to Indy for various outlets since 2014. In addition to open wheel racing, DeHarde has also covered IMSA and various short track racing events around Indiana. Originally from New Orleans, DeHarde moved to the Indianapolis area in 2017 to further pursue a career as a motorsports writer.