INDY 500 FRONT ROW START FOR WILL POWER

Aussie Will Power will start the Indy 500 off the front row – Photo: LAT

Will Power (Chevrolet) will start next weekends 102nd running of the Indy 500 off the front row after averaging 228.6mph in the Fast Nine Shootout.

Owner/Driver Ed Carpenter took out the top spot on the timesheets after putting together a sensational four-lap, 10-mile run at 229.618 mph during the shootout that featured the fastest drivers from first-day of qualifying on Saturday.

Carpenter’s performance earned him his third Indy 500 pole position in six years. He’ll be joined by Penske teammates Simon Pagenaud and Power on the three-car front row.

The Australian was relatively happy with his run, but knew he couldn’t match Carpenter’s effort before taking to the track.

“We weren’t going to beat a 230 mph lap. That’s very impressive.” said Power after his run in the shootout.

“I don’t know how he (Ed Carpenter) did it in these conditions. I’m kind of happy with my run.”

“I feel good. I’ve had a very positive month, so we’ll see what we can do.”

Kiwi Scott Dixon rounded out the Fast Nine – Photo: LAT

Kiwi Scott Dixon also featured in the Fast Nine, but couldn’t improve his position and will start off the third row.

“The PNC Bank car was good, we tried a couple things today we hoped would pick up the speed. It didn’t pan out, but we were in the Fast Nine for the second straight year and we’re proud of that.”

“We’ll just have to now see how the race plays out.” said Dixon at the end of the shootout.

The second Aussie in the field, James Davison, recovered from his practice crash to qualify on the seventh row.

Indy 500 Qualifying Results

1. (20) Ed Carpenter, Chevrolet, 2:36.7818 (229.618 mph)
2. (22) Simon Pagenaud, Chevrolet, 2:37.3696 (228.761)
3. (12) Will Power, Chevrolet, 2:37.4757 (228.607)
4. (1) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 2:37.6151 (228.405)
5. (18) Sebastien Bourdais, Honda, 2:37.7965 (228.142)
6. (21) Spencer Pigot, Chevrolet, 2:37.8208 (228.107)
7. (13) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 2:37.8326 (228.090)
8. (3) Helio Castroneves, Chevrolet, 2:37.9924 (227.859)
9. (9) Scott Dixon, Honda, 2:38.4076 (227.262)
10. (14) Tony Kanaan, Chevrolet, 2:38.1278 (227.664)
11. (4) Matheus Leist, Chevrolet, 2:38.1922 (227.571)
12. (98) Marco Andretti, Honda, 2:38.3894 (227.288)
13. (19) Zachary Claman De Melo, Honda, 2:38.5908 (226.999)
14. (28) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Honda, 2:38.7389 (226.788)
15. (23) Charlie Kimball, Chevrolet, 2:38.8304 (226.657)
16. (30) Takuma Sato, Honda, 2:38.9003 (226.557)
17. (32) Kyle Kaiser, Chevrolet, 2:39.0119 (226.398)
18. (6) Robert Wickens, Honda, 2:39.0835 (226.296)
19. (33) James Davison, Chevrolet, 2:39.1128 (226.255)
20. (59) Max Chilton, Chevrolet, 2:39.1430 (226.212)
21. (29) Carlos Munoz, Honda, 2:39.2585 (226.048)
22. (88) Gabby Chaves, Chevrolet, 2:39.2874 (226.007)
23. (25) Stefan Wilson, Honda, 2:39.3889 (225.863)
24. (24) Sage Karam, Chevrolet, 2:39.4171 (225.823)
25. (26) Zach Veach, Honda, 2:39.4696 (225.748)
26. (64) Oriol Servia, Honda, 2:39.5044 (225.699)
27. (66) JR Hildebrand, Chevrolet, 2:39.7032 (225.418)
28. (7) Jay Howard, Honda, 2:39.7245 (225.388)
29. (10) Ed Jones, Honda, 2:39.7433 (225.362)
30. (15) Graham Rahal, Honda, 2:39.7679 (225.327)
31. (60) Jack Harvey, Honda, 2:39.8193 (225.254)
32. (27) Alexander Rossi, Honda, 2:40.0462 (224.935)
33. (17) Conor Daly, Honda, 2:40.4073 (224.429)

The 102nd running of the Indy 500 will start on Monday 28th May at 2:00am EST.

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