Busch momentarily had his Andretti Autosport ride in the top nine during qualifying. [Mark Walczak Photo]
Ed Carpenter, set the early pace with a lap averaging over 230 MPH at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. [Mark Walczak Photo]
SPEEDWAY, IN: Last year’s Pole winner, Indy’s own Ed Carpenter, set the early pace Saturday at the legendary Speedway, averaging over 230 MPH to place himself safely in the “Fast Nine Shootout”, which tomorrow will determine the 2014 Indianapolis 500 Pole winner. Andretti Motorsports Ryan Hunter-Reay also posted an average speed in excess of 230 MPH to stake an early claim to a front row spot.
Feeling a little confused? Well…rest assured that you are not alone!
The first round of qualifications will conclude later this afternoon. Today’s real drama will probably center on the battle for the ninth best speed of the day, since only Saturday’s fastest nine will be eligible to run for the Pole on Sunday.
NASCAR’s Kurt Busch put in an amazing run, averaging nearly 230 MPH to temporally claim a front row starting spot. Busch will be jetting to Charlotte shortly to fulfill his stock car obligations; hoping that his 229.960 MPH effort will remain in the top nine throughout the day. That would mean that Busch would be eligible to try for the Pole Position on Sunday.
As the day continues to unfold, perhaps some of the confusion will begin to lift. The field will continue to re-align itself until the track closes for the day around 6 PM, weather permitting. Saturday’s fastest nine will battle each other in the “Fast Nine Shootout” on Sunday, which will determine the actual Pole winner, while positions ten through thirty-three will re-qualify to determine their final starting positions.
We tried to help some of the folks making up Saturday’s modest crowd to better understand these new qualifying procedures and, in many cases, we were met with blank stares. Hopefully, the excitement that the Speedway is hoping to create with these new qualifying rules will become a reality at the end of the day.
A wise man once said, “If you confuse ’em, you lose ’em. In this case, let’s hope that the end result will justify a bit of confusion.
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