ECR Teammates Will Advance to Tomorrow’s Indianapolis 500 Qualifications; Conor Daly’s Starting Position Set

INDIANAPOLIS (May 22, 2021) – Indianapolis 500 Day 1 Qualifying Notes

– For the sixth time in as many years, Ed Carpenter Racing will have a car in the Fast Nine Shootout for the Indianapolis 500 pole position. This year, two of the nine cars belong to ECR as Ed Carpenter will qualify for his 18th Indy 500 and Rinus VeeKay for his 2nd. While Carpenter and VeeKay’s places on the grid will be determined tomorrow, Conor Daly is locked into his starting position. Daly will start the 2021 Indianapolis 500 from the inside of the 7th row in the 19th position.

– VeeKay was the first of ECR’s three cars to make a qualification attempt after last night’s blind draw set the order. He was the tenth of 33 cars to take to the 2.5-mile oval. The 20-year-old’s first qualification attempt resulted in a four-lap average of 230.841 miles per hour. After all cars had made their first run, he was 12th overall. His second attempt improved his speed to an average of 231.483 mph. At the end of the day, that speed of his No. 21 Bitcoin Chevrolet held as the 5th fastest.

– Carpenter had to wait until the middle of the day to make his run as he was the 19th car out to qualify. The three-time Indianapolis 500 pole sitter put up a four-lap average of 231.616 mph, landing the No. 20 SONAX Chevrolet solidly in the 4th position. No one went faster than Carpenter the rest of the day, meaning the 40-year-old would remain 4th and return to the Fast Nine Shootout.

– Daly rolled out moments after Carpenter as the 24th driver to make an attempt. The 29-year-old’s average speed over four laps was 230.427 mph, which had him 18th overall. A few hours later, Daly returned to the track in his No. 47 U.S. Air Force Chevrolet for a second attempt. He remained 18th, but was bumped down one position as drivers made runs in the final hours of the day. Daly will start next Sunday’s Indy 500 from the 19th position.

– Tomorrow’s Fast Nine Shootout for the 2021 Indianapolis 500 pole position will take place from 3-3:45 p.m. ET. It will be aired live on both NBC and Peacock Premium. All three ECR drivers will return to the track for another practice session later in the day, scheduled for 5-7 p.m. ET.

ED CARPENTER, No. 20 SONAX Chevrolet: “Good first day of qualifying! We have two of the three ECR cars in the Top Nine, which is pretty solid. It would be nice to have all three, but we feel pretty good. Happy me!”

RINUS VEEKAY, No. 21 Bitcoin Chevrolet:“Very good qualifying! We made it to the Fast Nine, P5, just behind Ed in P4! Really good day, just a shame Conor couldn’t get in there but he gave it all he could! I am very excited for tomorrow!”

“It was a good day for the team. Two cars in the Fast Nine, which is awesome for our teammates. After the discomfort that I had yesterday, we just missed it day. I never lifted all day but we just didn’t have the team. That’s partially on me, but the team has given us a great car. It’s an incredible machine, really we have three incredible cars. Clearly we are the fastest Chevy team, so that feels good. We know we have a good racecar, so we will focus on that!”