Indy native Carpenter captures pole

INDIANAPOLIS — Two-thirds of the 33 drivers who attempted to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 on Saturday at Pole Day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway are from foreign countries, yet it was Indy’s own Ed Carpenter who claimed pole position.

The 32-year-old Butler University graduate founded his own single-car team, Ed Carpenter Racing, sponsored by Fuzzy’s Premium Vodka in 2012. On Pole Day Saturday, Ed Carpenter Racing toppled two of IndyCar’s historic powers: Penske Racing and Andretti Autosport.

Team Penske, comprised of three-time Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves, Will Power and Rookie of the Year candidate AJ Allmendinger, dominated the Saturday morning practice sessions. Power, whose car caught fire in his last race at the Sao Paulo Indy 300 on May 5, drove around the two and a half mile track at 229.808 mph during the open practice, which was the fastest speed of the morning. Allmendinger posted the second fastest speed of the morning at 229.086 mph. Castroneves was sixth in the standings with a speed of 227.978 mph.

Rain showers swept into the Indianapolis area Saturday after practice and delayed qualifications more than two hours until 1:30 p.m. When Pole Day finally commenced, all drivers drove four consecutive laps. The 24 drivers with the fastest average speeds qualified for the Indy 500.

Then the top nine qualifiers, referred to as the Fast Nine, competed in the same manner to determine the order of the first three rows of starting positions for the Indy 500.

In the first stage of qualifications, five Andretti Autosports drivers, three Team Penske drivers, and Carpenter, all of whom drive Chevrolets, placed in the top nine to advance to the second segment and fight for the pole.

Power’s four-lap average was 228.844, the fastest time in the first segment. Castroneves and Allmendinger finished fourth and seventh, respectively. Andretti Autosport’s five-headed monster, comprised of 2012 IndyCar Series champion Ryan Hunter-Reay, Rookie of the Year candidate Carlos Muñoz, Marco Andretti, E.J. Viso and James Hinchcliffe claimed the majority of the Fast Nine positions.

And then there was Carpenter, who was in the middle of the first segment in fifth place.
Andretti’s position in the shootout was one spot before Carpenter and he took control of first place with an average speed of 228.261 mph.

Carpenter came out at a blistering pace of 229.347 mph on his first lap and also topped Andretti’s average speed in his second and third laps. In front of his home crowd, Carpenter sealed the deal at 227.955 mph in his final lap.

With Muñoz’s shootout attempt less than half a mile per hour slower then that of Carpenter, it was Power’s pole to lose.

Carpenter, who said that his earliest memory of the Indy 500 was watching the 1991 Pole Day from Turn Two, said he knew he was going to win the pole as he watched Power from pit row.

“I kind of knew on the first lap that it was going to happen to be honest, after seeing what Helio and A.J. had done,” he said. “I figured he would fall off too much to maintain the average that we had.”

Carpenter said that after he saw Allmendinger and Castroneves gradually lose speed each lap, he expected the same from Power. Despite breaking 229 mph on his first lap of the shootout, the Australian Power lost nearly two miles per hour over the course of his next three laps and finished in sixth place with an average speed of 228.087 mph.

Despite his parents and sister being in South Bend, Ind., for his sister’s graduation from the University of Notre Dame, Carpenter’s new family members — the IndyCar fans from Indianapolis and the state of Indiana — lined the home stretch of the track to cheer for their hometown driver.

“I’ve lived here since I was eight years old, went to school at Butler University and probably will never leave,” Carpenter said. “It gives you confidence knowing that people are behind you and I’ve got a great family, a lot of them are here.”

While Carpenter was thrilled to win the pole, he kept his victory in perspective of what lies ahead Sunday.

“It’s definitely a landmark day but I don’t want to get overly focused on this because we have a lot of work to do yet,” he said. “I want to make sure that we keep focus because I hope this is part one of a really magical month. We’re here for race day.”