He’s on the pole for the 100th running.
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“It’s insane to win your first career pole here”.
“It’s insane, ” Hinchcliffe said. This is a story, too, about his team owner, Sam Schmidt, who might have enjoyed his very-best day in motorsports.
“We still have a long race to get through”, he said.
The 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 will take place Sunday May 29th, and will be broadcasted live on ABC at noon eastern on ABC.
“There’s no way 2014 isn’t in the top three”, Hunter-Reay said.
Simon Pagenaud was another of the day’s big winners.
It was a big day for the little guys at the Brickyard as Hinchcliffe and Newgarden, driving for two of IndyCar’s smaller outfits, upstaged two of the sports giants Penske Racing and Chip Ganassi Racing. He started off hot with a first lap speed of 231.551 miles per hour. I thought I had it.
Roger Penske’s top qualifier was Will Power in sixth, ending the team’s streak of winning the pole in all five of this season’s previous races.
Timing and scoring showed that Hinchcliffe was slightly behind Newgarden as the final of his four laps began.
Wilson thanked the team and his sponsors for giving him the opportunity to race in the Indianapolis 500 in 2016, and he now turns his focus to race set-up so to have a good race next weekend.
HISTORY LESSON: Tagliani, the 2011 Indy pole victor, will start 33rd after crashing the No. 35 vehicle during his warmup lap. He finished fifth provisionally with an average of 229.115, continuing with Penske’s struggles this week.
Not only did Honda fulfill Schmidt’s expectations, the maker went further to put Andretti Autosport driver Ryan Hunter-Reay (who also drives a Honda-powered car) on the outside of the front row.
While Hinchcliffe celebrated, the four drivers from Plainfield-based Dale Coyne Racing found themselves near each other in the starting lineup.
The final dramatic minutes of time trials saw drivers chasing a top-nine spot to make a run for the pole. His third lap was slower than the one before it, but was good enough to keep him on the pole. He won the October 500 mile races at the track in 2010 and past year.
“We’re working through things, working through setup, some qualifying stuff, some race stuff, just getting in the mix, getting in traffic and it’s been a fun day, a challenging one at times”, said Hunter-Reay, the 2012 Verizon IndyCar Series champion.
Each of the 33 entries is guaranteed one qualifying attempt Saturday, provided it is in the qualifying line at its designated time and follows the proper procedures until it reaches the head of the line. “I try to remind myself it’s not just about today’s battle, it’s about the war, and we’ve got to try and get that done next week in the ‘500.’ But it was still a lot of fun just to be up there and have this opportunity to compete”.
Tagliani’s auto has been loose this past week in practice.
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For a team that has had to endure so much and work to get back on the track, this is one of those moments in every race that people can and should be proud of.
