Indy 500 – Carpenter dominates Saturday qualifying, Pagenaud will play for pole

Ed Carpenter (Ed Carpenter – Chevrolet) Carlos Munoz (Andretti Autosport – Honda), Helio Castroneves (Team Penske – Chevrolet), James Hinchcliffe (Andretti Autosport – Honda), Will Power (Team Penske – Chevrolet), Marco Andretti (Andretti Autosport – Honda), simon pagenaud (Schmidt Peterson Motorsports – Honda), Josef Newgarden (Sarah Fisher Hartman – Honda) and JR Hildebrand (Ed Carpenter – Chevrolet). These are the nine drivers who were the fastest on the Indianapolis oval during qualifying on Saturday. All exceeded the 230 mph mark to advance to this Sunday's Pole Day in a session which was at one point interrupted by rain.

“It's always fun to be the fastest at Indy, explains Carpenter, who averaged 230,661 mph over his four laps, with a peak of 230,863 mph on one of his loops. You arrive for these two days without really thinking about the race and working on your car for the race. When you have a car like today, you try to go as fast as you can. »

In the rest of the peloton of 33 entrants, no trace of Kurt Busch and Juan-Pablo Montoya, who were nevertheless well placed mid-session. The pilot NASCAR at Stewart-Haas fails at the Fast Nine gate in 10th position. Jacques Villeneuve (Schmit Peterson Motorsports – Honda) ranks 27th. Sebastian Bourdais (KV Racing – Chevrolet) took 24th place.

The nine qualifiers will have four rounds to determine who will be the pole sitter and winner of the Verizon P1 Award. Drivers classified from 10th to 33rd place will also have to repeat a series of four laps to determine their starting positions on the rest of the starting grid for the 500 miles which will take place on May 25.