INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Marco Andretti made the field for the Indianapolis 500 in last-chance qualifying Sunday, while Rinus Veekay sweated out a last-minute run by Dale Coyne Racing teammate Jacob Abel to earn the final spot on the 33-car starting grid.
Marcus Armstrong, who wrecked during practice a day earlier, also made the May 25 race after Meyer Shank Racing hastily built up a replacement car Saturday. He will start between Andretti and Veekay in the middle of the final row.
“I feel relief but not real happiness,” said Veekay, who has never started worse than seventh in five previous Indy 500s. “We were just very slow, both Jacob and I, and unfortunately it was one of the two that was going to go out.”
Andretti posted a four-lap average of 229.741 mph, and Armstrong was not far off during his qualifying run. But Abel and Veekay were well off the pace, and it quickly became evident that the teammates would be battling it out for the final spot.
Coyne said that he would let his two teams operate independently as they sought to make the field.
Veekay's first four-lap effort produced an average of 227.740 mph, well ahead of Abel's run. But with his teammate preparing to go again, Veekay pulled his initial effort and went back to the track with about 8 minutes left in the hour-long window.
That turned out to be a bad idea. Veekay went even slower — just 226.913 mph — and was left to watch nervously from pit lane as Abel went out in the final minutes of the session with a chance to bump him from the field.
“I was really afraid,” Veekay said. “I thought that could be it.”
But with a car still hot from its previous run, Abel also went slower. His speed of 226.394 mph made him the only driver that spent the past two weeks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway who failed to make the starting grid.
“Jacob is not just my teammate. He's a really good friend,” Veekay said. “I feel bad for him. This was going to be his first; this is my sixth. Of course it feels good to make the field, but it is the definition of bittersweet.”
Abel was at a loss to explain his lack of pace. His car had been good in practice but simply didn't show up during qualifying.
“Super weird situation,” he said. “We were fast in no-tows. We were very, very conservative. It seemed like something happened overnight Friday to Saturday and we lost speed, and it got slower and slower every run.”
Meanwhile, Andretti was safely in his 20th consecutive Indy 500. The son of Michael Andretti and grandson of 1969 winner Mario Andretti started on the pole in 2020, but now will be starting from the deepest he's ever been in the field.
“Never thought I’d be happy with 31st but today I am,” Andretti, who finished second in his debut in 2006 and has three third-place finishes, said on social media. “Proud of the 98 group! Now we go try to win the Indy 500!”
AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
Marco Andretti drives through the first turn during practice for the Indianapolis 500 auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its bloody crackdown on protesters, a move coming as activists said Monday the death toll in the nationwide demonstrations rose to at least 544.
Iran had no immediate reaction to the news, which came after the foreign minister of Oman — long an interlocutor between Washington and Tehran — traveled to Iran this weekend. It also remains unclear just what Iran could promise, particularly as Trump has set strict demands over its nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal, which Tehran insists is crucial for its national defense.
Meanwhile Monday, Iran called for pro-government demonstrators to head to the streets in support of the theocracy, a show of force after days of protests directly challenging the rule of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”
Trump and his national security team have been weighing a range of potential responses against Iran including cyberattacks and direct strikes by the U.S. or Israel, according to two people familiar with internal White House discussions who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night. Asked about Iran’s threats of retaliation, he said: “If they do that, we will hit them at levels that they’ve never been hit before.”
Trump said that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.
“I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” Trump said. “Iran wants to negotiate.”
He added: “The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate.”
Iran through country's parliamentary speaker warned Sunday that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.
More than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information. It said 496 of the dead were protesters and 48 were with security forces.
With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.
Those abroad fear the information blackout is emboldening hard-liners within Iran’s security services to launch a bloody crackdown. Protesters flooded the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city on Saturday night into Sunday morning. Online videos purported to show more demonstrations Sunday night into Monday, with a Tehran official acknowledging them in state media.
In Tehran, a witness told the AP that the streets of the capital empty at the sunset call to prayers each night. By the Isha, or nighttime prayer, the streets are deserted.
Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”
Another text, which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.
“Dear parents, in view of the enemy’s plan to increase the level of naked violence and the decision to kill people, ... refrain from being on the streets and gathering in places involved in violence, and inform your children about the consequences of cooperating with terrorist mercenaries, which is an example of treason against the country,” the text warned.
The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.
The demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the country’s economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran’s theocracy.
Nikhinson reported from aboard Air Force One.
In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran's Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, January. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)
In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran shows protesters taking to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)
In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)
