Ed Carpenter must be wondering what his 2010 season would have been like should he had a full run on the ovals – positive runs at this years Indianapolis 500 an last weekend’s Chicagoland 300 km had left the part-time driver confident, but his first ever IndyCar pole position for tomorrow night’s IndyCar race at Kentucky Speedway was probably not on the cards.
It’s all rather timely too as several sets are still to be decided for next year – including that of his temporary team mate, Dan Wheldon. It’s unlikely that Wheldon is too disappointed with his Kentucky run, as the Manchester-born man will be starting on the inside of row 2 just behind Carpenter.
In between the two Panther Dallara’s is championship leader, Will Power as he aims to reinstate the points gap to challenger Dario Franchitti following a late race problem with fuel last weekend. Franchitti will not be buoyed on by his qualifying performance – the Scot starts in 11th place. Franchitti’s Ganassi team mate, Scott Dixon will start on the outside of row 2, ahead of the Newman-Haas of Hideki Mutoh and Belgian rookie Bertrand Baguette.
Mario Moraes (KV Racing) heads up an all-Brazilian fourth row alongside Helio Castroneves, followed by Ryan Briscoe (9th) and part-timer Tomas Scheckter (10th). AJ Foyt Enterprises’ sole entry, Vitor Meira ran a solid qualifying run, picking up the outside of row 6 (alongside Franchitti), while the single FAZZT Racing car driven by co-owner Alex Tagliani will start from 13th.
The second KV runner, Takuma Sato goes from the outside of row 7, well ahead of his other team mate EJ Viso – the Venezuelan has had a poor season so far and it may continue as starting from 22nd spot. Marco Andretti will lead the four the Andretti-Autosport entries from 15th spot in what was an abysmal session for the team – Danica Patrick will line up from 17th and Tony Kanaan from 26th spot following a difficult run. Ryan Hunter-Reay had a crash in turn 2, meaning he did not post a time – he will start 27th and last.
Justin Wilson (16th) is sandwiched by the two leading Andretti-Autosport cars and will be tailed by fellow Briton, Alex Lloyd (18th). Simona de Silvestro and Raphael Matos make up row 10, followed by the Fisher Racing entry driven by Sarah Fisher (21st). Paul Tracy returns for both this race and the next one in Motegi, but has left himself with much to do with his 23rd starting position. Dale Coyne’s, Milka Duno qualified 24th, with Graham Rahal (25th) slotting in behind.
Coverage for the 2010 IZOD IndyCar Kentucky 300 begins on indycar.com from 1am Sunday morning and from 1.30am on Sky Sports 3.
2010 IZOD IndyCar Kentucky 300 (Round 15)
Pos Driver Team No Total Time Avg Speed (mph)
1 Ed Carpenter Panther Racing 20 00:48.8958 217.933
2 Will Power Team Penske 12 00:48.9192 217.829
3 Dan Wheldon Panther Racing 4 00:48.9480 217.700
4 Scott Dixon Target Chip Ganassi Racing 9 00:48.9857 217.533
5 Hideki Mutoh Newman/Haas Racing 06 00:49.0214 217.374
6 Bertrand Baguette Conquest Racing 34 00:49.1087 216.988
7 Mario Moraes KV Racing Technology 32 00:49.1335 216.879
8 Helio Castroneves Team Penske 3 00:49.1383 216.857
9 Ryan Briscoe Team Penske 6 00:49.1967 216.600
10 Tomas Scheckter Conquest Racing 36 00:49.1991 216.589
11 Dario Franchitti Target Chip Ganassi Racing 10 00:49.2120 216.533
12 Vitor Meira A.J. Foyt Enterprises 14 00:49.2343 216.434
13 Alex Tagliani FAZZT Race Team 77 00:49.2443 216.391
14 Takuma Sato KV Racing Technology 5 00:49.2728 216.265
15 Marco Andretti Andretti Autosport 26 00:49.2939 216.173
16 Justin Wilson Dreyer & Reinbold Racing 22 00:49.3462 215.944
17 Danica Patrick Andretti Autosport 7 00:49.3744 215.820
18 Alex Lloyd Dale Coyne Racing 19 00:49.5001 215.272
19 Simona De Silvestro Team Stargate Worlds/HVM 78 00:49.5621 215.003
20 Raphael Matos de Ferran Dragon Racing 2 00:49.5747 214.948
21 Sarah Fisher Sarah Fisher Racing 67 00:49.6059 214.813
22 E.J. Viso KV Racing Technology 8 00:49.6564 214.595
23 Paul Tracy Dreyer & Reinbold Racing 24 00:49.7317 214.270
24 Milka Duno Dale Coyne Racing 18 00:49.9478 213.343
25 Graham Rahal Sarah Fisher Racing 66 00:50.1781 212.364
26 Tony Kanaan Andretti Autosport 11 00:50.5428 210.831
27 Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Autosport 37 No Time
2010 IZOD IndyCar Series Championship
1. Will Power 528 points
2. Dario Franchitti 505
3. Scott Dixon 443
4. Ryan Briscoe 406
5. Helio Castroneves 398
6. Ryan Hunter-Reay 392
