Newgarden Losing Indy 500 Pole in Final Moments ‘Tough Pill to Swallow’

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief

INDIANAPOLIS – Josef Newgarden missed out on sitting on pole for the 100th Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil by 0.04s in the final seconds of Sunday’s Fast Nine Shootout.

The 25-year-old went out fourth put down the fastest single lap on the afternoon at 231.551 mph on the opening of his four circuits around the 2.5-mile oval. With an energetic roar from the crowd, Newgarden came across with a four lap average of 230.700 mph and jumped to the top of the scoring pylon.

Looking on with anticipation, Newgarden withstood threats from Will Power and 2014 Indy 500 champion Ryan Hunter-Reay before the final contender, James Hinchcliffe, went out.

The phenomenal effort by Newgarden almost put Ed Carpenter Racing on pole for the third time in four years. Team owner Ed Carpenter sat on pole in back-to-back years in 2013 and ’14.

As painful as it was to lose the pole, Newgarden knows the real prize lies ahead on May 29, 2016.

“It was a tough pill to swallow,” Newgarden said. “I try to remind myself it’s not just about today’s battle, it’s about the war, and we’ve got to try and get that done next week in the 500. But it was still a lot of fun, just to be up there and have this opportunity to compete. I was really hopeful. I thought we had enough there.

“I was really worried about those last couple of guys, but James did an awesome job, and the entire team at Schmidt Peterson Motorsports. I’m really happy for them. They’ve really worked hard. It’s a tough pill to swallow, but we’ll try to come back and win the 500.”

If he had his way, the Tennessee native would have preferred to go out later in the session as opposed to earlier, but doesn’t really think today it made all that much difference.

“It’s always nice to go later,” Newgarden continued. “You know what you’ve got to beat, and definitely, the track gets a little better, but I don’t think that was the deciding factor today. It was all pretty close at the end. We all had a good opportunity to try to put up a big number.

“It fell the way it fell. I hope it falls our way for the race.”

Image: David Yowe/INDYCAR

 

About Joey Barnes 597 Articles
Joey Barnes is the Founder of Motorsports Tribune, an outlet that began with the goal of helping aspiring journalists break into and grow the industry. A regular on the racing scene since 2013, the journey for Joey started by covering a Grand-Am event at Circuit of The Americas in his home state of Texas. He has since primarily focused on the IndyCar Series, with appearances in the garages of NASCAR, paddocks of Formula 1, IMSA and World Endurance Championship, while also occasionally engulfing clouds of dust at the Chili Bowl Midget Nationals and select Supercross rounds. With previous stops at Autoweek, IndyCar.com, Motorsport.com and RACER, among others, Joey evolved from the singular task as a freelance writer to advanced roles behind the copy desk and alongside some of the best editorial teams in the business. Recognized as a multi-time award winner by the National Motorsports Press Association, Joey currently resides in Dallas-Fort Worth with his trusty four-legged canine companion, Rocket.

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