Results of Qualifying for the 102nd Indy 500…
By Tony DiZinno of Trackside Online…
Ed Carpenter has won the pole for the 102nd Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil, his third for the Ed Carpenter Racing team, and toppled all four Team Penske cars in the process.
Carpenter adds a 2018 pole to the ones he did in 2013 and 2014.
Chevrolet locks out the top four spots on the grid, with Sebastien Bourdais the best Honda in fifth.
Fast Nine notes are below.
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It’s hot for qualifying with temperatures of 85 degrees ambient and 121 track, with 50 percent humidity, per Firestone.
13-Danica Patrick
WU 222.743
L1 228.584
L2 228.305
L3 227.953
L4 227.520
Avg. 228.090
Time 2:37.8326
First day average: 227.610
Bump day rank: 9th
Starting spot: 7th
Notes: Before her run, Patrick tells ABC she wants a “boring” run. A very consistent four laps with nothing said on the radio until she takes the checkered flag accomplishes that. She reports in a very good car back to engineer Don Halliday, with thorough post-run detail. A little bit of understeer exiting Turn 1, but she’s happy, and thanks her crew. After the run, she said she had one little slip, but it was very straightforward.
9-Scott Dixon
WU 222.134
L1 227.820
L2 227.303
L3 227.149
L4 226.777
Avg. 227.262
Time 2:38.4076
First day average: 227.610
Bump day rank: 8th
Starting spot: 9th
Notes: The first Honda runner in the Fast Nine, Dixon will provide the first look at what they can do. Dixon using considerably more track on his run than Patrick did on hers.
1-Josef Newgarden
WU 222.172
L1 228.862
L2 228.286
L3 228.148
L4 228.323
Avg. 228.405
Time 2:37.6151
First day average: 227.782
Bump day rank: 7th
Starting spot: 4th
Notes: Newgarden has a best starting position of second here in 2016, but he’ll need to find a bit today to match or better that. He’ll also provide the first look what the Team Penske quartet might do. Holding in the 228 mph bracket for the first three laps, he’s poised to push Patrick off the provisional pole, and does so as he takes the checkered with a fourth lap improvement. He tells ABC it’s an overall good run, but you always feel there’s a little bit you can do better – maybe gearing, downforce or a tiny bit of driving difference.
21-Spencer Pigot
WU 222.240
L1 228.709
L2 228.005
L3 227.961
L4 227.755
Avg. 228.107
Time 2:37.8208
First day average: 228.052
Bump day rank: 6th
Starting spot: 6th
Notes: Pigot has not yet made a road or street course Firestone Fast Six, so this first run in the Fast Nine marks the first time in the multiple-time Mazda Road to Indy presented by Cooper Tires’ Verizon IndyCar Series career he’s progressed to the final stage of qualifying. He’s also been 29th on the grid in both his first two Indianapolis 500 races, so he’s going to make a huge gain this year. “Hit your marks, nice and smooth,” is the radio call as he completes Lap 2, which is a bit slower. “Thank you to Danica. Felt a little more neutral in 2,” Pigot reports in to the crew as he’s the second of three Ed Carpenter Racing cars to run. “Starting inside the top nine is a big achievement – at least 20 spots higher than I have in the past,” Pigot tells ABC.
18-Sebastien Bourdais
WU 215.478
L1 228.676
L2 228.430
L3 227.409
L4 228.057
Avg. 228.142
Time 2:37.7965
First day average: 228.090
Bump day rank: 5th
Starting spot: 5th
Notes: After drop of only 0.04 of a second from Lap 1 to Lap 2, Bourdais loses nearly two full tenths on Lap 3 – which equates to a whole mph from 228.4 to 227.4. “You did great, awesome, awesome job man,” Olivier Boisson reports in to Bourdais over the radio, although Bourdais felt there was more in the car. He tells ABC it’s been a hard weekend, and the car has been sliding all over the track.
12-Will Power
WU 222.255
L1 228.880
L2 228.831
L3 228.429
L4 228.288
Avg. 228.607
Time 2:37.4757
First day average: 228.194
Bump day rank: 4th
Starting spot: 3rd
Notes: After Newgarden’s 228.405 mph average, you have to think Power is the first one with a realistic shot to knock his teammate off the provisional pole. It’s going to be close as the run falls off… or not. A really, really good second lap here is 0.6 of a mph up on Newgarden’s. Still solid on Lap 3 and this should knock him off. He does with his final lap.
22-Simon Pagenaud
WU 222.795
L1 229.125
L2 228.974
L3 228.623
L4 228.323
Avg. 228.761
Time 2:37.3696
First day average: 228.304
Bump day rank: 3rd
Starting spot: 2nd
Notes: Hello to the fluorescent highlighter yellow Menards Chevrolet, as Pagenaud uncorks the first 229 mph lap of the day. This is 0.3 of a mph up on Power’s first lap but will he remain consistent enough throughout the run? A 228.9 on Lap 2 is a very good sign, as is a 228.6 on Lap 3. He’s got this easily barring a bobble on the final lap. “Woo!” Pagenaud exhales on the radio as the team tells him he did a fantastic job.
20-Ed Carpenter
WU 221.799
L1 230.088
L2 229.808
L3 229.519
L4 229.061
Avg. 229.618
Time 2:36.7818
First day average: 228.692
Bump day rank: 2nd
Starting spot: 1st
Notes: Carpenter is the lone threat to Penske’s pole here – and potentially a Penske 1-2-3-4 on the grid. Paired with engineer Allen McDonald, who has won poles here before, this should be a doozy.
A 221.7 mph warm-up lap isn’t the best but he may be waiting to unleash the beast.
Crowd goes WILD after a 230.088 flashes on the first lap. And a 229.808 keeps him there – still 1.2 mph up on Pagenaud through two laps. He’s still over 229 on Lap 3 and has 1.1 mph to play with going into the final lap.
“Yes!!! This is one of the best runs I’ve ever had,” he immediately says over the radio.
3-Helio Castroneves
WU 220.606
L1 228.992
L2 228.184
L3 227.255
L4 227.015
Avg. 227.859
Time 2:37.9924
First day average: 228.919
Bump day rank: 1st
Starting spot: 8th
Notes: It’s either going to be Carpenter’s third or Castroneves’ record-tying fifth Indianapolis 500 pole position after Carpenter’s 229.618 mph run one spot before.
Through three laps he and Bourdais have identical speeds of 228.142 but he loses it on the final lap down to eighth.
Dixon is slower than Kanaan, who starts 10th.
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Qualifying Results 1-9
| P | No | Name | Engine | Team | QSpeed – Sun. | Rank | QSpeed – Sat. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 20 | Ed Carpenter | Chevy | Ed Carpenter Racing | 229.618 | 1 | 228.692 |
| 2 | 22 | Simon Pagenaud | Chevy | Team Penske | 228.761 | 2 | 228.304 |
| 3 | 12 | Will Power | Chevy | Team Penske | 228.607 | 3 | 228.194 |
| 4 | 1 | Josef Newgarden | Chevy | Team Penske | 228.405 | 4 | 228.049 |
| 5 | 18 | Sebastien Bourdais | Honda | Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan | 228.142 | 5 | 228.090 |
| 6 | 21 | Spencer Pigot | Chevy | Ed Carpenter Racing | 228.107 | 6 | 228.052 |
| 7 | 13 | Danica Patrick | Chevy | Ed Carpenter Racing | 228.090 | 7 | 227.610 |
| 8 | 3 | Helio Castroneves | Chevy | Team Penske | 227.859 | 8 | 228.919 |
| 9 | 9 | Scott Dixon | Honda | Chip Ganassi Racing Teams | 227.262 | 9 | 227.782 |
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Qualifying Results 10-33
| P | No | Name | Engine | Team | QSpeed – Sun. | Rank | QSpeed – Sat. | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | 14 | Tony Kanaan | Chevy | AJ Foyt Enterprises | 227.664 | 10 | 227.508 | 11 |
| 11 | 4 | Matheus Leist | Chevy | AJ Foyt Enterprises | 227.571 | 11 | 227.441 | 12 |
| 12 | 98 | Marco Andretti | Honda | Andretti Herta Autosport with Curb-Agajanian | 227.288 | 12 | 226.154 | 17 |
| 13 | 19 | Zachary Claman De Melo | Honda | Dale Coyne Racing | 226.999 | 13 | 225.722 | 26 |
| 14 | 28 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | Honda | Andretti Autosport | 226.788 | 14 | 226.952 | 14 |
| 15 | 23 | Charlie Kimball | Chevy | Carlin | 226.657 | 15 | 225.752 | 25 |
| 16 | 30 | Takuma Sato | Honda | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | 226.557 | 16 | 225.513 | 29 |
| 17 | 32 | Kyle Kaiser | Chevy | Juncos Racing | 226.398 | 17 | 225.934 | 21 |
| 18 | 6 | Robert Wickens | Honda | Schmidt Peterson Motorsports | 226.296 | 18 | 225.955 | 20 |
| 19 | 33 | James Davison | Chevy | Foyt with Byrd/Hollinger/Belardi | 226.255 | 19 | 224.798 | 33 |
| 20 | 59 | Max Chilton | Chevy | Carlin | 226.212 | 20 | 225.666 | 28 |
| 21 | 29 | Carlos Munoz | Honda | Andretti Autosport | 226.048 | 21 | 226.600 | 15 |
| 22 | 88 | Gabby Chaves | Chevy | Harding Racing | 226.007 | 22 | 225.808 | 23 |
| 23 | 25 | Stefan Wilson | Honda | Andretti Autosport | 225.863 | 23 | 225.909 | 22 |
| 24 | 24 | Sage Karam | Chevy | Dreyer & Reinbold | 225.823 | 24 | 226.065 | 19 |
| 25 | 26 | Zach Veach | Honda | Andretti Autosport | 225.748 | 25 | 225.805 | 24 |
| 26 | 64 | Oriol Servia | Honda | Scuderia Corsa with RLL | 225.699 | 26 | 225.007 | 31 |
| 27 | 66 | JR Hildebrand | Chevy | Dreyer & Reinbold | 225.418 | 27 | 226.499 | 16 |
| 28 | 7 | Jay Howard | Honda | Schmidt Peterson Motorsports | 225.388 | 28 | 226.098 | 18 |
| 29 | 10 | Ed Jones | Honda | Chip Ganassi Racing Teams | 225.362 | 29 | 226.995 | 13 |
| 30 | 15 | Graham Rahal | Honda | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | 225.327 | 30 | 225.407 | 30 |
| 31 | 60 | Jack Harvey | Honda | Meyer Shank Racing with Schmidt Peterson | 225.254 | 31 | 225.720 | 27 |
| 32 | 27 | Alexander Rossi | Honda | Andretti Autosport | 224.935 | 32 | 227.561 | 10 |
| 33 | 17 | Conor Daly | Honda | Dale Coyne Racing dba Thom Burns Racing | 224.429 | 33 | 224.874 | 32 |