IPS qual: Carpenter on pole
Ed Carpenter, the 22-year-old stepson of IRL and IMS president Tony George, will start the first ever support event for the Indianapolis 500 - the Freedom 100 Infiniti Pro Series race - from pole position
Carpenter, who drives for A.J. Foyt's squad, was clocked at 188.490mph, which just edged series leader Mark Taylor's lap of 188.062mph. Carpenter heads a 19-car field for today's third round of the IRL feeder series, but the former USAC sprint and midget driver said he wasn't sure he could top Taylor's lap.
"Mark had me nervous for a second," Carpenter said. "He went out right before me and was the first person to put up a big number. I figured I would be running right about exactly where he was, so he put the heat on."
Most teams struggled with gear issues in practice and qualifying. Britain's Taylor said his Fulmar Panther team might have chose the wrong gear, but indicated he was pleased to be in the front row.
"Anywhere in the top five, I would have been happy," said Taylor, winner of both Pro Series races this season. "We were like everybody else, too small a gear. If we had the chance to run again, we would have done something completely different. We might have even been able to put it on the pole."
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