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Carpenter On Pole For Kentucky Indy 300

Sparta, KY – It took eight years of trying, but Butler University graduate Ed Carpenter captured his first IZOD Indy Car Series pole Friday at Kentucky Speedway. Carpenter, who started his IRL career back in 2003 with PDM Racing, turned a two-lap average of 217.993 MPH on the 1.5 mile semi-banked tri-oval to capture the $10,000 Peak Performance Pole Award.

Carpenter, who is the 10th driver to win a Kentucky Speedway pole in this, the track’s 11th Indy Racing League event, backed up a spectacular near win last year with the first pole run for the Panther/Vision Racing tandem that fields Carpenter’s No. 20 Dallara/ Honda backed by PGA golfer Fuzzy Zoeller’s Vodka.

Second on the rain-washed track was Will Power, whose 217.829MPH effort looked like a winner for Verizon Team Penske until Carpenter made his late-session run. Power, who leads the IZOD Series’ season points chase, starts ahead of points runner-up Dario Franchetti (-23 points) who drove his Target Ganassi Dixie Dallara into a disappointing eleventh starting spot. Dan Wheldon, coming off a strong run at Chicagoland for Panther Racing, will line up 3rd, with Scott Dixon’s Target Ganassi entry starting 4th.

Ryan Hunter-Reay was the only spin victim of the session, as his his Team IZOD Dallara spun into the fourth turn wall. His teammate Tony Kanaan who starts 26th, almost brushed the wall in his Andretti Autosport Team 7-Eleven mount, putting both team cars at the back of the field. Marco Andretti (15th) and Danica Patrick (17th) round out a rough weekend for Michael Andretti’s squad.

Paul Tracy, who rejoined the Dreyer & Reinbold team for this race and one later in the season in Japan, was a disappointing 23rd in his Motegi Racing Wheels/DRR mount.

Qualifying Friday for the Kentucky Indy 300 IZOD IndyCar Series event on the 1.48-mile Kentucky Speedway, with starting position, car number in parentheses, driver, chassis-engine, and speed
1. (20) Ed Carpenter, Dallara-Honda, 217.933
2. (12) Will Power, Dallara-Honda, 217.829
3. (4) Dan Wheldon, Dallara-Honda, 217.700
4. (9) Scott Dixon, Dallara-Honda, 217.533
5. (06) Hideki Mutoh, Dallara-Honda, 217.374
6. (34) Bertrand Baguette, Dallara-Honda, 216.988

7. (32) Mario Moraes, Dallara-Honda, 216.879
8. (3) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Honda, 216.857

9. (6) Ryan Briscoe, Dallara-Honda, 216.600
10. (36) Tomas Scheckter, Dallara-Honda, 216.589
11. (10) Dario Franchitti, Dallara-Honda, 216.533
12. (14) Vitor Meira, Dallara-Honda, 216.434
13. (77) Alex Tagliani, Dallara-Honda, 216.391
14. (5) Takuma Sato, Dallara-Honda, 216.265
15. (26) Marco Andretti, Dallara-Honda, 216.173
16. (22) Justin Wilson, Dallara-Honda, 215.944
17. (7) Danica Patrick, Dallara-Honda, 215.820
18. (19) Alex Lloyd, Dallara-Honda, 215.272
19. (78) Simona de Silvestro, Dallara-Honda, 215.003
20. (2) Raphael Matos, Dallara-Honda, 214.948
21. (67) Sarah Fisher, Dallara-Honda, 214.813

22. (8) EJ Viso, Dallara-Honda, 214.595
23. (24) Paul Tracy, Dallara-Honda, 214.270
24. (18) Milka Duno, Dallara-Honda, 213.343
25. (66) Graham Rahal, Dallara-Honda, 212.364
26. (11) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Honda, 210.831
27. (37) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dallara-Honda, No speed

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