Race one from Belle Isle takes place today at 3:30 p.m. ET on ABC. Dario Franchitti won pole for race one but because of an early engine at Indianapolis, will have to serve a ten spot grid penalty, relegating the four-time series champion to eleventh. EJ Viso will be promoted to the first spot on the starting grid with Mike Conway joining the Venezuelan on the front row.
James Jakes will start a career-high third with defending Izod IndyCar Series champion Ryan Hunter-Reay starting in fourth. Hondas occupy the next four positions with Alex Tagliani in fifth, rookie Tristan Vautier sixth, Takuma Sato seventh and Simon Pagenaud eighth. Will Power and Sebastián Saavedra round out the top ten.
Franchitti will be eleventh, next to two-time Belle Isle winner Helio Castroneves. AJ Allmendinger starts thirteenth in what could be the final IndyCar weekend for him. Sébastien Bourdais starts fourteenth in his 100th career start. Defending Belle Isle race winner Scott Dixon starts fifteenth. Justin Wilson in down in sixteenth ahead of Simona de Silvestro, points leader Marco Andretti, Indianapolis 500 winner Tony Kanaan and James Hinchcliffe.
Ryan Briscoe starts twenty-first in his first race for Panther Racing. Ed Carpenter will start twenty-second ahead of Graham Rahal, Josef Newgarden and Charlie Kimball. Rahal, Newgarden and Kimball are all serving ten spot grid penalties for engine changes made at Indianapolis.
In qualifying for Sunday's race, Mike Conway won pole position with a time of 1:18.0977. James Jakes will start second. Will Power and Ryan Hunter-Reay make up row two. EJ Viso and Simon Pagenaud will start on row three. The Hondas of Scott Dixon and Justin Wilson make up row four. Chevrolet has the next six positions with Helio Castroneves and James Hinchcliffe on row five, Sebastián Saavedra and AJ Allmendinger on row six and Ryan Briscoe and Marco Andretti on row seven.
Former Ganassi teammates Graham Rahal and Dario Franchitti make up row eight ahead of Simona de Silvestro and Charlie Kimball. Tony Kanaan starts nineteenth with Tristan Vautier starting twentieth. Takuma Sato and Sébastien Bourdais make up row eleven with Ed Carpenter, Josef Newgarden and Alex Tagliani rounding out the field.
Sunday's race can also be seen at 3:30 p.m. ET on ABC.
Update: Sunday Morning
Mike Conway starts where he left off on Saturday. Conway won his first career pole yesterday and he will lead the field to the green flag today coming off his second career win. Fellow Brit James Jakes also starts on row one. James Jakes started third yesterday but fell like a rock but managed a top ten after Ryan Briscoe ran into the tires. Will Power starts third after finishing eighth yesterday, next to yesterday's runner-up Ryan Hunter-Reay. Car #5 of EJ Viso will start in fifth position. Viso had a boost problem yesterday which dropped the Venezuelan to seventeenth. Simon Pagenaud starts sixth, his best starting position of the season. Scott Dixon and Justin Wilson start on row four. Wilson held off a late charge by Dixon yesterday to take the final step on the podium.
Josef Newgarden finished seventh in race one and will have to start twenty-fourth today. Dario Franchitti starts sixteenth. Sebastián Saavedra starts eleventh after an accident ended his day early yesterday. He starts in front of AJ Allmendinger and Briscoe; two drivers who also had accidents end their race one.
Other notables: Helio Castroneves starts ninth, James Hinchcliffe tenth, Marco Andretti fourteenth, Graham Rahal fifteenth, Simona de Silvestro seventeenth, Tony Kanaan nineteenth, Tristan Vautier twentieth and Sébastien Bourdais twenty-second.
Coverage begins at 3:30 p.m. ET on ABC, with green flag at 3:50 p.m.
Covering All Motorsports. From Indianapolis to Le Mans, Daytona to Monaco.
