The bigger story out of qualifying was the blocking penalty issued to Takuma Sato after the Fast 12, relegating the Japanese driver from the Fast Six to twelfth of the grid and promoting the rookie Vautier into the final round of qualifying. Sato had impeded Justin Wilson entering turn eight. Race director Beuax Barfield made the call and Sato lost his two fastest laps from qualifying.
Marco Andretti starts seventh, with Justin Wilson right next to him in eighth. Sebastián Saavedra makes another appearance in the top ten, starting ninth while his teammate Sébastien Bourdais struggled again and could not make it out of the first round. AJ Allmendinger starts tenth in his return to IndyCar with James Jakes joining Sato on row six.
For a second consecutive week, big names are starting in the back half of the grid. Simon Pagenaud and Simona de Silvestro, the two fastest from the final practice session before qualifying, both were seventh in their respective groups and missed out on the top 12. Dario Franchitti finds himself in seventeenth with the winner of the most recent race, James Hinchcliffe down in twentieth. The Americans of Graham Rahal and Josef Newgarden make up row eleven.
In other news, all signs point to Ryan Briscoe driving a Ganassi entry for the Indianapolis 500. Briscoe raced for Ganassi during his rookie season in 2005. He ran 14 races before having his season end in a crash at Chicagoland Speedway. Last year, Briscoe won the pole position for the Indianapolis 500. As of now the unofficial Indianapolis 500 entry list is at 30, with the 26 running Barber today, Briscoe, Carlos Muñoz at Andretti, Conor Daly at Foyt and a third Rahal-Letterman-Lanigan entry.
In other news, all signs point to Ryan Briscoe driving a Ganassi entry for the Indianapolis 500. Briscoe raced for Ganassi during his rookie season in 2005. He ran 14 races before having his season end in a crash at Chicagoland Speedway. Last year, Briscoe won the pole position for the Indianapolis 500. As of now the unofficial Indianapolis 500 entry list is at 30, with the 26 running Barber today, Briscoe, Carlos Muñoz at Andretti, Conor Daly at Foyt and a third Rahal-Letterman-Lanigan entry.
Forecast today is mostly sunny at 75 degrees with zero chance of rain. NBC Sports Network will broadcast the Indy Lights race at 2:00 PM with IndyCar pre-race coverage at 3:00 PM and green flag around 3:40 PM. All times are Eastern.
