Pole Day Storylines

Pole Day at the 2013 Indianapolis 500 featured much drama and a few surprises. Let's recap some of the highlights that stuck with me:

The little guy beats the big guys: The Fast 9 featured five Andretti Autosport cars, three Penskes, and one lone driver/owner. That driver/owner, Ed Carpenter, beat all of them to grab the pole. Carpenter's speeds seemed to come out of nowhere, but his win was hugely popular in his home state and certainly deserving. We've always known Carpenter was a force to be reckoned with on ovals, but he's never had the Indy 500 success until now. It will be very interesting to see what he can do on race day.

Will Power: Power's speeds during the first qualifying run were unexpected but thrilling. He was the first driver who ran two laps of over 229mph. Apparently he tinkered with the downforce a little too much for the Fast 9, but he showed that he can in fact compete on ovals. His run was the pleasant surprise of the day.

What a difference a year makes: As pleasantly surprising as Power's run was, Ryan Briscoe's qualifying effort greatly disappointed. Last year's pole sitter, now driving a less-than-speedy Honda, struggled to make the top 24. I was cheering louder than the fans when he finally made it in, but he had me nervous for quite awhile there. As Jon Beekhuis indicated on the telecast, I don't think his struggle was the result of being away from IndyCars for seven months. Briscoe can drive. It does, however, point to some possible issues with Hondas and with the Ganassi cars.

Hondas slow: Speaking of Hondas, they were shut out of the top ten, with the fastest Hondas being Alex Tagliani and Justin Wilson. We sort of saw this coming, because the Chevys had been dominant in practice all week, but it's still disappointing. Honda said no one will care if they win the race next weekend, and that's probably true. But I'll bet they got or will be getting an earful from the Ganassi camp, who are not used to underperforming like this.

Bumping decisions: Townsend Bell's highly questionable decision to withdraw his top-24 qualifying run and try again backfired big time. Fortunately for him, he was able to run a third time with more success and avoid being bumped. In the process, he managed to avoid some heavy criticism for that risky decision. Sarah Fisher also made a tough judgment call by not running Josef Newgarden out for another qualifying attempt. Newgarden was ready to go out, at the front of the line, but was pulled because he was still in the top 24. In a television interview, Fisher alluded to some electrical problems that prevented them from having more speed, but they seemed to have fixed those problems now. Well, if that was the case, and you think you will have more speed now, why not try another run? Those 23rd and 24th spots are anything but secure, and shortly after making that decision James Jakes bumped Newgarden out of the top 24. Newgarden seemed to have a great attitude about the situation, staying positive and upbeat. Really, how can you not like this kid?

RLL with rll issues: Until James Jakes' final qualifying run, it seemed the Rahal Letterman Lanigan team could do nothing right. Jakes' initial time was disallowed for being underweight. Graham Rahal struggled and was very frustrated with his car, which failed to make it in on Saturday. Michel Jourdain Jr.'s car was by far the slowest of the day, with speeds nowhere near the rest of the field. (He's my pick to be bumped out of the field of 33 if that keeps up.) This is an unfortunate turn of events for a team that had such success at the Indy 500 last year. Hopefully they will get it figured out on Bump Day.

Real bumping: The announcement that Katherine Legge will drive for Schmidt Motorsports means that there will be at least 34 cars trying to make the final field. So at least one driver will be bumped off the grid, creating some more drama and excitement for fans. Who will be bumped? That remains the story for Sunday.

Legge's addition also makes this the "Vengeance 500" in my opinion, and I'll write more about that in the next week. In the meantime, I will continue to enjoy the suspense of qualifying!