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Indianapolis 500: Pole qualifying talking points

The gates of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where the Indianapolis 500 is raced (Christopher Ziemnowicz/Wikimedia Commons)
Roar Guru
21st May, 2018
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There are few things in motorsport as exciting as the fast nine running their ten miles over four laps for the right to lead the field of 33 to the green flag at the Indianapolis 500.

While Pole Day might not have had the outright shocking drama that Bump Day did yesterday, it was far from dull inside the speedway on the corner of 16th and Georgetown. Emerging at the head of the pack after a fast qualifying shootout? A local hero.

Carpenter fastest
The Butler Bulldog does it again. Owner-driver Ed Carpenter put his Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet on pole at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the third time.

The ridiculously popular local boy, who only races the oval tracks in the IndyCar series, has become something of a qualifying specialist at the Brickyard, and he showed plenty of moxie right from the outset. His first lap was over 230 miles per hour – the fastest we’ve seen all month – and his four-lap average was a fast 229.618 miles per hour.

You sensed it after the first lap that Carpenter would not be denied, and the immense roar from the partisan crowd told the story. Perhaps the only knock on Carpenter is that he’s yet to translate strong pole qualifying speed into results on race day. It would be a tremendous story if he could somehow break that duck on Sunday.

For the moment Carpenter can bask in the glory of becoming just the tenth driver to capture three Indianapolis 500 poles. Rarefied air indeed.

Indianapolis 500 Speedway Indiana Motorsport

(Christopher Ziemnowicz/Wikimedia Commons)

Australian update
Will Power, the only driver to be in the Indianapolis 500 fast nine since this particular system of qualifying was introduced in 2010, was on provisional pole following his run (228.607 miles per hour). He saw his time bettered by Penske teammate Simon Pagenaud and then Carpenter, but he has a nice starting spot on the outside of row one.

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James Davison, who avoided being bumped from the field by only the skin of his teeth yesterday afternoon, showed great improvement on Sunday, qualifying 19th. Considering he started from the back last year when replacing the injured Sebastien Bourdais and made it to the front, getting to the point from 19th doesn’t seem like such a big deal.

Foyt cars strong
After a disappointing 2017 season, AJ Foyt Enterprises jettisoned both Conor Daly and Carlos Munoz and started again, hiring veteran Tony Kanaan and rookie Matheus Leist, both Brazilians – and, this month has shown us, both fast at Indianapolis. The pair were the fastest qualifiers outside the fast nine group and will start in tenth and 11th positions. TK was a popular winner back in 2013, and him going to victory Sunday for Foyt, the four-time winner and absolute Indy legend, would be something to behold.

Worth noting here that Australia’s James Davison is running for a satellite team under the Foyt banner, so the team’s speed is very encouraging.

It was a big day for Ed Carpenter Racing
Aside from the success for the ECR owner-driver, it’s worth nothing that both Ed’s teammates – Spencer Pigot and the soon-to-be-retired Danica Patrick – were fast, qualifying in sixth and seventh respectively. Don’t discount either American as a race-day threat. Whatever you might say about Danica, she knows how to get around Indy. That’s never been in doubt.

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Bourdais and Dixon flying the Honda flag
Not much to write home about for the Japanese manufacturer, who’s had a stranglehold on victory lane in recent years. In 2018 their speed has been markedly inferior to the Chevrolet teams. But Sebastien Bourdais did qualify fifth, with Australian-born New Zealander Scott Dixon in ninth. Both figure to be threats on Sunday, when drafting will be king.

Even so, you can’t help but call the month a failure thus far for Honda, who saw one of it’s biggest names in James Hinchliffe – the advertising face of the marque in North America – extraordinarily bumped from the field on Saturday. That’ll sting for a while. Of course a win Sunday will make everything better.

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Sadly, based on current form, other than Dixon and Bourdais and potentially a dark horse like Marco Andretti (starting eleventh) or Carlos Munoz (further back in 21st), noted for being good at IMS, I can’t see it happening this year. Now that I’ve said as much, Honda will probably sweep the podium!

Big names near the back
Son of a gun Graham Rahal, 2016 Indianapolis 500 champion Alexander Rossi, fan favourite Connor Daly – all three are facing uphill battles on Sunday. Daly qualified slowest, and he’s joined on the 11th row by Rossi, with Rahal just one row ahead. The good news for that trio and for others like JR Hildebrand and Ganassi’s Ed Jones is that the only way is up from there.

James Hinchliffe remains on the outer
The Canadian, bumped in extraordinary circumstances on Saturday, was at the track on Sunday supporting his Schmidt-Peterson teammates Robert Wickens and Jay Howard. He admitted his chances of finding a ride for next Sunday were slim, but he showed plenty of the humility and class that has made him such a fan favourite.

You know what would be great? If someone at ABC, the host broadcaster in America, could get Hinch up into the commentary box for the race.

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