Castroneves in lead spot for Indy pole run
INDIANAPOLIS
— In the modern way of qualifying for the Indianapolis 500, the bumping came on Saturday, and it turned into a frenzied circus with a familiar ringmaster in Helio Castroneves on top but a famous act in James Hinchcliffe kicked to the curb.
That Castroneves once won "Dancing With The Stars" and Hinchcliffe once finished second on the show was the coincidence. What turned out to be a reality TV show of its own Saturday meant Hinchcliffe, who won the pole in 2016, will be gone Sunday for final qualifying and next Sunday for the race.
The final order for positions 10 through 33 will be determined at 2:45 p.m. Sunday followed by the top nine qualifiers taking singlecar runs for the pole at 5 p.m.
The 43-year-old Castroneves — no longer an IndyCar full-timer while racing for Team Penske in the IMSA sports car series — hasn’t won the pole yet. Does he have more left after his 228.919 mph four-lap run?
“I went only half throttle; tomorrow, I am going to go Helio Castroneves had a four-lap run of 228.919 mph in the first qualifying session for the Indianapolis 500. He is the fastest of the nine drivers who will compete for the pole on Sunday.
full throttle,” joked the three-time race Indy 500 winner whose four poles are second only to Rick Mears' six. “No, we are going to push it, squeeze the heck out of the car.”
All four of the Chevypowered Penske cars qualified in the top nine, including Simon Pagenaud (third), Will Power (fourth) and Josef Newgarden (seventh). Chevy-powered Ed Carpenter Racing flexed its muscle, with the team owner second,
Spencer Pigot sixth and Danica Patrick ninth.
“I was going 208 (mph) on the first day and thought ‘I may not be able to do this,’ "Patrick said, referring to her reorientation laps April 30. “Um, 228 is much better.”
Patrick, who is stepping away from racing, is in her first Indianapolis 500 since 2011 after competing the past six seasons in NASCAR.
Rounding out the top nine were the
Honda-powered cars of Sebastien Bourdais (fifth) and Scott Dixon (eighth).
But Hinchcliffe, a crowd favorite, will be left watching. He was in the pits ready to go back out when the gun went off signaling no more attempts. He took the disappointment in stride. He wasn’t fast enough on his initial run after the first of two rain delays, and his second run with 15 minutes left had to be aborted because of car trouble.
He never got a third.
“This is what we’ve been looking for the last few years, is bumping,” Hinchcliffe said. “It’s a show. It’s supposed to be exciting. Drama, I guess, is exciting. Unfortunately, we were a bit too dramatic.”
His Schmidt Peterson teammate Robert Wickens was 20th, meanwhile, and the Pataskala-based Meyer Shank Racing, an adjunct partner with Schmidt Peterson, qualified for its second Indianapolis 500
When: TV: 500 with Jack Harvey 27th.
There were rumors Schmidt Peterson officials might ask Harvey to step aside and let Hinchcliffe have the ride, but Harvey’s principal team owner, Mike Shank, said it was “not happening.”
The Rahal Letterman Lanigan team put all three of its drivers — defending race winner Takuma Sato, New Albany native Graham Rahal and Oriol Servia — in the field, at 29th, 30th and 31st, respectively.
“I was reliving 1993 all over again,” said owner Bobby Rahal, who as the defending IndyCar champion failed to make the Indianapolis 500 field that year. “I’m really pleased we’re in the race, obviously, but I’m not pleased that we were as far out of it as we were.
“In the end you’re talking 1.5 mph (difference between between 14th and 31st) which is nothing, really, but it’s everything here.”