The starting grid is set for the second annual Angie’s List Grand Prix of Indianapolis at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, with Team Penske’s Will Power taking the pole with a blazing run in Firestone Fast Six qualifying.
Power, the defending Verizon IndyCar Series champion, broke the IMS road course track record with a time of 1 minute, 9.4886 seconds. Scott Dixon, of Target Chip Ganassi Racing, will join Power on the front row after qualifying second with a time of 1:09.7156. A total of 25 drivers are in the field.
Saturday’s race will begin at 3:30 p.m. ET, rain or shine, and features excellent vantage points for fans whether they are in covered grandstand seats or on the various spectator mounds around the 14-turn, 2.439-mile IMS road course.
Drivers continue to rave about the layout, now in its second year after a 2013 refurbishing, which incorporates a portion of the famous oval.
“It kind of spoils us, this place, because it’s so smooth. It’s a really nice road course,” Power said. “It’s technical, it’s fun and it’s really good for racing.”
After the race, fans are invited to take part in a Track Invasion – namely, they can walk on the course moments after the drivers finish racing on it. There are various entry points around the course for fans to begin their “Invasion.”
Also, Bronze Badge holders may take part in a complimentary pre-race pit walk at 3 p.m.
Repeat bidder: Simon Pagenaud heads to Saturday looking for a repeat victory in the Angie’s List Grand Prix of Indianapolis. He qualified fifth in the No. 22 DeVilbiss Chevrolet.
This year, he is with a new team – Team Penske – giving the 30-year-old native of Montmorillon, France, confidence to repeat amidst a deep field. So far, the Verizon IndyCar Series has produced four winners from four different teams this season, including Pagenaud’s teammate Juan Pablo Montoya in the opener at St. Petersburg.
In 2014’s inaugural race on the IMS road course, he took the lead with five laps left and held off Ryan Hunter-Reay by 0.8906 of second at the finish.
“I had the key to success last year, but that doesn’t mean you have the key to success this year, because it’s all about competition here,” Pagenaud said. “Every day, you have to reset and try again. Obviously, I have a lot of confidence. It’s a track I like. We should be in good shape.”
As part of the Penske stable – which has won the Indianapolis 500 15 times – Pagenaud is also looking toward later in the month and a try at becoming the first driver to win both Month of May races at IMS.
“That’s my personal dream. It’s something I really want to accomplish,” Pagenaud said. “I’m in the team to do so. I have everything I need to make it happen.”
Source: INDYCAR • Photo: Brian Groce