Carpenter Eyes Pole after Leading Dramatic First Day of Qualifying

Ed Carpenter was the fastest driver on a dramatic first day of qualifying Saturday for the 101st Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil, as a long rain delay gave every driver just one shot to attempt to earn a spot in what promises to be a thrilling Fast Nine Shootout for the pole Sunday.

Hometown hero Carpenter, a two-time Indianapolis 500 pole winner from Indianapolis, turned the top four-lap average of 230.468 mph in the No. 20 Fuzzy’s Chevrolet as the fifth-to-last qualifier. He benefitted from cooler track and air temperatures in the early evening compared to drivers earlier in the draw.

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“I think my little buddy Ryder (son) here got us in there,” Carpenter said. “I asked him to draw six yesterday (in the qualifying draw), and he drew 60. I was like: 'You were close. You got the first number right.’

“As today turned out, I think he drew us a favorable number. The track temps were coming down. It was pretty ideal for us. But we're running in the cool tomorrow night, too, so we'll see what happens."

A heavy thunderstorm that started just minutes before qualifying was scheduled to begin Saturday forced a delay until 4 p.m. The sun returned in the mid-afternoon while the track was drying, which created slicker, hotter conditions for early qualifiers.

Takuma Sato was second fastest at 230.382 in the No. 26 Andretti Autosport Honda, while 2008 Indianapolis 500 winner Scott Dixon was third at 230.333 in the No. 9 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.

Other drivers who qualified for the Fast Nine Shootout that will determine the pole and the other top eight starting positions are JR Hildebrand (fourth, 230.205), reigning “500” champion Alexander Rossi (fifth, 230.148), Will Power (sixth, 230.072), two-time Formula One World Champion Fernando Alonso (seventh, 230.034), 2013 “500” winner Tony Kanaan (eighth, 230.007) and Marco Andretti (ninth, 229.924). Each member of the Fast Nine gets one shot for the pole, starting at 5 p.m. (ET) Sunday.

The rest of the field will re-qualify for positions 10 through 33 from 2:45-4:45 p.m. Sunday. Rookie Ed Jones was the fastest of that group Saturday at 229.717 in the No. 19 Boy Scouts of America Honda fielded by Dale Coyne Racing.

But Saturday was a bittersweet day for the Coyne team. The team’s lead driver, Sebastien Bourdais, was diagnosed with multiple fractures to his pelvis and a fracture to his right hip following an incident while attempting to qualify in the No. 18 Sonny’s BBQ Honda.

According to INDYCAR Medical Director Dr. Geoffrey Billows, Bourdais will undergo surgery on his pelvis Saturday evening at IU Health Methodist Hospital. Bourdais was on the third lap of his qualification run at Indianapolis Motor Speedway when his Dale Coyne Racing No. 18 GEICO Honda made hard contact with the Turn 2 SAFER Barrier.

The 101st Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil is scheduled for noon (ET) Sunday, May 28.

Visit IMS.com to purchase tickets for the 101st Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil on Sunday, May 28 and for more information on the complete Month or May schedule at IMS.

The race also will be televised live on ABC, with the pre-race show starting at 11 a.m. (ET). Advance Auto Parts IndyCar Radio will provide live coverage of the race to its affiliates and on Sirius 212, XM 209 and SXM 970.