Scuderia Corsa Earns Fast Nine Shootout Appearance for Indianapolis 500

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Driver Ed Jones and the No. 63 Ed Carpenter Racing Scuderia Corsa Chevrolet topped the speed charts at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, earning a position in tomorrow’s fast nine shootout for pole position in the 103rd running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge.

Jones was ultimately sixth fastest overall in today’s NTT IndyCar qualifying run after turning the quickest Lap 1 of the day reaching a speed of 231.015 mph and fastest trap speed of 240 mph. That top speed along with three other lap times, puts him in position to take a run for the coveted pole position. Tomorrow, Sunday, May 19 from 1:15 to 2:15 p.m. ET the top nine drivers will qualify again in a pole bid. Today’s qualifying times will not factor in to tomorrow’s qualifying lap times. Following the shootout, the grid of 33 drivers will be set for the Indianapolis 500 and practice will resume.

Jones has proved tremendous strength in practice over the course of the week. On day three of practice none proved to be faster than Jones, he topped the charts as both fastest overall and fastest with no-tow. Jones has consistently been one of the fastest with no-tow throughout the week and never finished a practice session outside of the Top Ten.

For Jones today’s success was based on the team’s ability to quickly react to changing conditions.

“The conditions have been really difficult today,” Jones said. “Including the temperatures and the wind, but car seems to be running really well. We just have to keep on top of how the conditions change, as tomorrow looks to be even hotter. Temperature will definitely play a big part in how qualifying goes. In the end, we just have to finalize a few small things and get ready for tomorrow.”

For Team Owner Giacomo Mattioli today’s success brought immense pride.

“I want to say thank you to Ed Carpenter and the entire Ed Carpenter Racing team,” Mattioli said. “They proved again that they are tough competitors with all three cars making the Fast Nine. We are very happy to be in good position to compete for the pole. I know Ed Jones has the talent to fight for the top spot tomorrow. His work ethic has shown brightly all of May.”

Sunday, May 19 qualifying begins again with the Last Row Shootout at 12:15 p.m. ET, then the Fast Nine Shootout takes places immediately after at 1:15 p.m. Once Jones secures his position in one of the first three rows for the Indianapolis 500 practice will resume. Sunday, May 26 is race day for the NTT IndyCar series with the green flag set to drop at 12:29 p.m. ET. The race is broadcast on NBC, check your local listings for details. Follow all the action on Scuderia Corsa social media channels: Twitter @Scuderia_Corsa, Facebook at Scuderia Corsa, Instagram at @Scuderia.Corsa.

Ed Carpenter Racing PR

Speedway Digest Staff
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