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Carpenter Takes 24th In Edmonton Qualifying

Topics: Ed Carpenter, Edmonton Indy

Carpenter Takes 24th In Edmonton Qualifying

Tom Blattler
Ed Carpenter Racing
July 21, 2012

July 21st 2012 - EDMONTON, Alta., CANADA – Ed Carpenter, in his first appearance at the latest City Centre Airport race circuit, qualified 24th Saturday in preparations for Sunday’s 75-lap Edmonton Indy, the 11th stop in the 15-race IZOD IndyCar Series.

Carpenter took his No. 20 Fuzzy’s Ultra Premium Vodka Chevrolet over the 2.24-mile, 13-turn temporary track in a time of one minute, 17.691 seconds for an average speed of 103.053 miles per hour. Carpenter did not compete at Edmonton last year when the new track figuration was debuted.

With tricky conditions expected as rain showers threatened Saturday afternoon, the ECR/Fuzzy’s crew went into time trials prepared to handle both the dry or wet tarmac. Series officials determined that a team must select one type of Firestone rubber (slicks or rains) before the qualifying session and would have to remain with that set of tires despite any changing weather conditions.

With rain looming over the facility, Carpenter went out quickly in the 15-minute qualifying round and put his machine in the top-four among the 13-driver group. Ed improved his time by his third lap and slotted into the 10th position. Fighting the likes of Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dario Franchitti, James Hinchcliffe, Helio Castroneves and Graham Rahal, Carpenter was relegated to 12th spot at the checkered flag in the second of two qualifying segments.

Rain did affect the second round of time trials in determining the battle for the Firestone Fast Six. In the Fast Six, Hunter-Reay nipped Franchitti for the pole position Saturday.

Due to engine changes and on-track penalties, Sunday’s starting lineup is expected to change following Sunday’s warm-up round and Carpenter figures to move up from the 24th qualified position.

The Edmonton Indy will begin Sunday at 2:45 p.m. EDT and will be shown live on the NBC Sports Network.

“I’m a little disappointed in our qualifying run,” said Carpenter, the only team owner/driver in the 25-driver field. “We started with a good lap out of the box. I thought we had a good chance for a 76-second lap. But I wasn’t able to get through a certain portion of the track well. On one lap, I was up about half a second over my best time and lost it later. Our Fuzzy’s guys worked hard to give me a good car today. And we have a good direction for the race. We’ll work to get better for Sunday too. I think we can move up the field in the race.”