INDY 500 Day 6 Practice Notes and Quotes May 20, 2010
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INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Vision Racing driver Ed Carpenter put down his fastest lap of practice Thursday in the No. 20 Fuzzy’s Ultra Premium Vodka as he and his Panther Racing crew prepare for the 2010 Indianapolis 500. Carpenter’s fast lap of 225.283 mph slotted him as the 11th fastest driver on the speed charts by the end of the day.
Carpenter completed a total of 29 laps in his Vision Racing’s No. 20 Honda powered Dallara, sponsored by Fuzzy’s Ultra Premium Vodka. He will be making his 100th IZOD IndyCar Series start and is preparing for his seventh Indianapolis 500-mile race and sixth with Vision Racing. Last season Carpenter started 17th and drove to eighth place finish. His best drive at Indianapolis came in 2008 when he started 10th, drove his first career IndyCar Series leader laps (3) and finished fifth.
Meanwhile, team partner, Panther Racing and driver Dan Wheldon put the No. 4 National Guard No. 4 Dallara/Honda/Firestone in the top-five with a quick lap of 226.106 mph. Wheldon completed 31 laps and was fifth on the speed charts. The 2005 Indianapolis 500 champion is making his eighth IZOD IndyCar Series start at the Brickyard.
Thursday evening between 6 and 9 p.m (ET), Carpenter and Fuzzy Zoeller will be guest bartenders at Ruth’s Chris Northside Indianapolis location. Ruth’s Chris is an associate sponsor on Vision Racing’s No. 20 entry for the 2010 Indianapolis 500 and is also proudly serves Fuzzy’s Ultra Premium Vodka.
Friday morning fans can hear Carpenter and Zoeller on the nationally syndicated and award-winning Bob & Tom Show. The pair are scheduled to be interviewed, on-air and around the nation at 9:45 a.m. (ET).
On Saturday, Carpenter and Fuzzy can be seen together again as they will be available for media interviews following Carpenter’s qualifying attempt.
IZOD IndyCar Series action will resume Friday at noon for practice and will conclude at 6 p.m.
Want more Vision Racing news, photos and tidbits from the track? Find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/visionracing; follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/visionracing and; read all about us on Charles West’s daily INDY 500 blog: www.visionracing.com/fans.
The Indianapolis 500 will air live on Sunday, May 30th at noon ET on ABC, as well as IMS Radio Network, XM IndyCar Series Racing Channel 145, XM Sports Nation Channel 144 and on the web at www.IndyCar.com.
Practice Results and Quotes: (May 20, 2010)
Ed Carpenter – No. 20 Fuzzy’s Vodka/Vision Racing/Panther Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone
Top Speed in Practice: 225.283 mph
Top Time in Practice: 39.9497
Number of Laps in Practice: 29
Overall Rank in Practice: 11th on speed chart
Best Lap This Month: 225.283 (May 20, 2010)
On practice:
“Practice was okay. We did some qualifying stuff, but with this schedule it’s making it so hard. Today felt like it was the Sunday of second weekend qualifying or the last day of real practice, so it felt like you were trying to do some race stuff and some qualifying stuff. At the end of the day we’re just left with some question marks as to our qualifying setup and our race setup. As usual, I’m going to take this opportunity to complain about the new schedule because as the days go by, I like it less and less. At the same time, the car is good and we both have good cars. I feel like we are going to be in the mix for the top-nine. There are certainly some people that haven’t really shown what they have just yet and I think we have some left in the tank too, so Saturday is going to be intriguing. I’m just hoping that we get it all in Saturday so that we can use Sunday as another practice day.”
Dan Wheldon – No. 4 National Guard/Panther Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone
Top Speed in Practice: 226.106
Top Time in Practice: 39.8043
Number of Laps in Practice: 31
Overall Rank in Practice: 5th on speed chart
Best Lap This Month: 226.106 (May 20, 2010)
On practice:
"The National Guard Panther boys have been working hard on both the No. 4 car and the Fuzzy’s Vodka car. I think both of our cars certainly have some speed, but as is always the case with Indy, there are some things you can work on to improve your car. As we get closer to qualifying and the race that needs to be the case, but the guys have done a very good job and it shows the strength of the team when you can bounce back from days like yesterday. As always I have a good deal of confidence around Indianapolis and I have a lot of confidence with the team as well, so I think we’re in a good position – we’ve just got to continue to work on the car to continue to improve.”
Day 6 INDY 500 Practice Results:
1. (11) Tony Kanaan 39.6870sec / 226.775mph / 44 laps
2. (15) Paul Tracy 39.7663 sec / 226.322 mph / 43 laps
3. (06) Hideki Mutoh 39.7826 sec / 226.230 mph / 16 laps
4. (26) Marco Andretti 39.8039 sec / 226.108 mph / 28 laps
5. (4) Dan Wheldon 39.8043 sec / 226.106mph / 31 laps
11. (20) Ed Carpenter 39.9497 sec / 225.283 mph / 29 laps