Ed Carpenter takes pole at Indy 500

Ed Carpenter caused a sensation by winning the pole at the Indianapolis 500. The driver of the No. 12 Ed Carpenter Racing DW20-Chevrolet was the fastest in the Fast Nine which determined the first three rows of the starting grid, taking first place with an average of 228,762 mph. “I prefer racing much more than qualifying.”, commented the pole sitter. The last victory on an oval dates back to the Auto Club Speedway contested last September. “I really want to send a message and prove to the competitors and the team that we are here. But pole doesn't count for much if we don't perform well on the big day. It's a good thing to see the speeds increasing again. I had already been able to qualify in the top ten, but this is the first year where we had a chance to fight for pole and we were on the attack like that all day. » Ed Carpenter has nine Indy 500 starts with two eighth-place finishes (2010 and 2011) and a fifth-place finish (2008) as his best result.

Carlos Munoz was also brilliant since he was closest to the poleman (228,342 mph) dominating his Andretti Autosport teammates even though the Colombian is a rookie in this event. The latter is ahead of Marco Andretti on the first row, while E.J Viso will have to share the second row with two Penske drivers, the rookie A.J Allmendinger and Will Power. Reigning champion Ryan Hunter-Reay (Andretti Autosport) will start from seventh place ahead Helio Castroneves (Team Penske) and James Hinchcliffe (Andretti Autosport) who completes the third row ahead of J.R Hildebrand (Panther Racing), first not qualified for the Fast Nine. The last winner Dario Franchitti (Ganassi Racing) had to settle for 17th place.

The French experienced various fortunes during this first day of qualifying. Sebastian Bourdais (Dragon Racing) is the highest French driver on the grid after taking 15th place between Justin Wilson (Dale Coyne Racing) and Scott Dixon (Ganassi Racing). simon pagenaud (Schmidt Motorsports) will start from 21st between James Jakes (Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing) and Townsend Bell (Panther Racing). On the other hand, his teammate Tristan Vautier will have to compete this evening on Bump Day which will determine the back of the grid (from 25th to 33rd place). With the last minute registration of Katherine Legge (Schmidt Motorsports), one competitor will be disqualified at the end of the session.