Carlos Munoz qualified second for the Indianapolis 500 in his IndyCar Series debut.
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Carlos Munoz claimed his first IndyCar pole position on Friday during qualifying for the Firestone 600 at Texas Motor Speedway. He will be joined on the front row by defending race victor Scott Dixon, who is supposed to depart along with Sebastien Bourdais immediately after the race to prepare for next weekend’s 24 Hours of Le Mans. He was the runner-up at the Brickyard again this season, behind Andretti-affiliated rookie Alexander Rossi, who outlasted his faster rivals and had just enough fuel for a shocking victory. “I don’t think it’s a really big deal where you qualify as long as you’re up towards the front, but it’s always great to be near the pointy end of the field”.
Josef Newgarden had looked to be in the fight for pole after going quickest early on, only for Munoz to depose him on the very next run, leaving the Ed Carpenter Racing driver to settle for P5 on the grid. Munoz also finished second at Indy this season, his only top-five finish. It is Sato’s best Texas qualifying effort in eight tries and the best for the Foyt team since Billy Boat started second and won the 1998 June race. While a solid showing, Will Power, Simon Pagenaud and Helio Castroneves started 1-2-3 previous year at Texas. Castroneves wound up third in the #3 AAA Insurance Team Penske Chevrolet at 216.740mph.
AN INFECTED FINGER: Series rookie Conor Daly drove with a heavily taped left ring finger, the result of a cut getting infected.
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Dixon is now looking to have a strong race on Saturday night, in what he expects to be a close battle due to the number of different lanes drivers can use around the speedway.
