Ed Carpenter wins Indy 500 pole by a wiggle

A wiggle here, a pole there. That's how close this Indianapolis 500 is.

The difference between the Sunday qualifying runs of Ed Carpenter and James Hinchcliffe was a tenth of a second, a blink in a 10-mile tour of Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The separation likely would have been closer, perhaps even resulted in a swap of positions, had Hinchcliffe's car not bobbled briefly in Turn3. That caused him "to crack the throttle," he said, which was enough.

He knew it.

"I was screaming in my helmet in Turn4 and all down the front straightaway," he said.

Hinchcliffe gave Carpenter a 230.839 mph to shoot for, and the Indianapolis native hit the target by a whisker. Carpenter's four-lap average was 231.067 mph.

"I knew when I came off Turn4 and didn't have to lift (off the throttle)," Carpenter said.

Both of the drivers have incredible stories to share. Eight days ago, Hinchcliffe was removed from the IMS road course on a stretcher after being struck in the helmet by flying debris. He had been knocked briefly unconscious, and was diagnosed with a concussion.

Hinchcliffe didn't take any pain medication and after two nights of sleep, felt he was close to being back to full strength. "One more good night's sleep like that and I'll be (ready)," he said about how his week began.

Hinchcliffe passed a post-concussion test and was cleared to drive Thursday afternoon. He got the Andretti Autosport car back up to speed Friday, and now he's ready to start second in the 500 for the second time in three years.

Carpenter, who owns his IndyCar team, made the bold decision last year to remove himself from the cockpit for road races. He hired Mike Conway for the races that comprise two-thirds of the season, but things are coming together nicely.

Conway won last month's street race in Long Beach, Calif., and now Carpenter has 42 points for winning the 500's pole. Before this month, Carpenter hadn't driven a race car since October.

"No one's raced on an oval since (the race at Auto Club Speedway), so I don't feel like I missed very much," he said. "I don't feel lacking or unprepared."

Ed Carpenter Racing's namesake is a veteran of the track his family owns, and he knew how to adjust a car that was sliding late in the qualifying. It was the right move.

"But it's hard to do the math at 230," he said.

Carpenter, 33, also became this event's 11th back-to-back pole winner in history, joining the likes of Parnelli Jones, Mario Andretti, A.J. Foyt, Tom Sneva, Rick Mears and Helio Castroneves. He didn't see it coming.

"I always get extremely paranoid the week before practice here," he said. "I have this giant fear we're going to be really slow and really struggle."

In IndyCar's new qualifying format, the field was split into a pair of groups. The first, competing for starting positions 10 through 33, saw Juan Pablo Montoya of Team Penske turn the first 231-mph average, and that turned out to be the second-fastest run of the weekend (231.007 mph).

Montoya also became the fastest Penske driver, even quicker than Will Power, who will start on the front row along with Carpenter and Hinchcliffe. Power ran 230.697 mph.

Castroneves settled for a spot on the second row along with Simon Pagenaud of Schmidt Peterson Motorsports and Marco Andretti, who is one of Hinchcliffe's teammates at Andretti Autosport.

The last group of Fast Nine qualifiers were Andretti driver Carlos Munoz, who slid from second to seventh in second-day qualifying, Josef Newgarden of Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing and Carpenter's teammate, JR Hildebrand.

There were no accidents, which means the only mishap of the month's oval activity was Jack Hawksworth's Turn3 hit Thursday.

IndyCar will give teams five hours of practice Monday to simulate race-day fuel runs. Carpenter, who was disappointed to finish 10th last year, will be ready, and he knows the field will be, too.

The separation from fastest to slowest is 2.1509 seconds, the closest in the history of 500 qualifying. It was also the highest qualifying average at 229.382mph, breaking the old mark of 228.648 in 2002.

Soon it will be time to pick out a winner.

Call Star reporter Curt Cavin at (317) 444-6409.

Monday's Indy 500 schedule

Noon-5 p.m.: Practice

Tickets: $15

Wednesday: Community Day, $10

Thursday: Practice, free

Friday: Carb Day, $30

Saturday: Legends Day, $10

Sunday: Indianapolis 500, tickets start at $40

Pit Pass Live: Next show 9:30 a.m. Wednesday with hosts James Hinchcliffe and Curt Cavin.