Carpenter Rockets Past Team Penske to Third Career Indianapolis 500 Pole
May 21, 2018 | By INDYCAR
It appeared like Team Penske might sweep the front row for the Indianapolis 500 for the only the second time in history Sunday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, repeating its feat from 1988.
Then hometown hero Ed Carpenter took to the 2.5-mile oval on the second-to-last attempt of the Fast Nine Shootout and ignited the crowd, claiming his third career pole for “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” with a four-lap average of 229.618 mph in the No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing Fuzzy’s Vodka Chevrolet. Carpenter, from Indianapolis, also won the pole in 2013 and 2014.
“It's never easy qualifying here, but it was,” Carpenter said. “Every other pole I've won here, at least one of the laps, I was right-hand-down loose on the last lap. The balance (today) was just perfect for all four laps. So that's what I meant by it was easy, just the balance was perfect, but it's still never easy doing what we do. But they certainly gave me a great car today.”
Team Penske claimed the next four spots on the starting grid for the 102nd Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil on Sunday, May 27.
2016 Verizon IndyCar Series champion Simon Pagenaud will start second after his four-lap speed of 228.761 in the No. 22 Menards Team Penske Chevrolet. 2014 series champion Will Power, who won the INDYCAR Grand Prix on the IMS road course on May 12, will start third at 228.607 in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet. Reigning series champion Josef Newgarden will start fourth in the No. 1 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet after his run of 228.405.
“I don't know what else I could take off the car that would make a mile-an-hour,” Power said. “Ed has got something good going there, and obviously doing a good job over the four laps.”
Penske had a temporary hold on only the second front-row sweep ever at Indy, with Pagenaud, Power and Newgarden holding the top three spots when Carpenter rolled out of the pits to make his qualifying run as the penultimate driver in the qualifying line.
The dream of more history for the most successful team in Indianapolis 500 history quickly evaporated when Carpenter ripped off a first lap at 230.088 – nearly 1 mph faster than Pagenaud’s best lap and the only 230-mph lap of either day of qualifying.
With the crowd roaring on every lap, Carpenter stayed on rails for the next three trips around the oval, turning laps of 229.808, 229.519 and 229.061.
Only one driver remained in line, four-time pole winner Castroneves, who was fastest in Bump Day qualifying. Carpenter, his family and crew watched from pit lane as Castroneves’ first lap appeared on the video boards – 228.992. When Castroneves’ second lap of 228.184 flashed on the screens, Carpenter was almost certain the pole was his.
Castroneves faded into the 227-mph range and into the third row on his last two laps, and the celebration began for the driver who started his career in USAC short-track racing on tracks in Central Indiana and the Midwest before climbing to IndyCar and becoming a silky-smooth oval specialist.
“It feels great,” Carpenter said. “I think I've been around long enough that -- I've been here long enough to build a fan base, and I love this town, and my wife (Heather) and I try to do as much as we can in the community. Heather does a ton at our kids' schools, and we love this community and love being a part of it, so it's nice to feel the support for us during the month of May and having the town behind us.”
There also was drama in the qualifying session to determine positions 10 through 33.
2016 “500” winner Alexander Rossi just missed the Fast Nine Shootout after recording the 10th-fastest time Saturday in the No. 27 NAPA Auto Parts Honda and was a favorite to stay in that position during qualifying today.
Rossi started his qualifying attempt Sunday with a lap of 227.454, and his run went south from there. His final three laps were 226.608, 224.152 and 221.619, with his four-lap average speed of 224.935 placing him a disappointing 32nd on the grid.
No driver has won the “500” from a starting spot deeper in the field than 28th, so Rossi has plenty of work ahead this Sunday to place his face on the Borg-Warner Trophy for the second time.
“It’s, for sure, frustration; I thought we were fighting for Row 4, and now we are on the last row,” Rossi said. “On the warm-up lap, there was something pretty wrong. You had to commit to it, and you had to try.
“The first lap was manageable-ish, and then it was just survival and you had to bring the car home. There’s a lot of curve balls this place can throw at you; it’s the nature of the beast.”
Teams will work on race setups during practice from 12:30-4 p.m. Monday.