Two Day Qualifying Format Begins at 11 A.M. ET Saturday

(SPEEDWAY, Ind.) May 20, 2016 – Qualifying Preview

– Qualifications for the iconic 100th Running of the Indianapolis 500 begin tomorrow. Ed Carpenter Racing will be attempting to qualify three cars: the No. 6 Preferred Freezer Services Chevrolet of JR Hildebrand, the No. 20 Fuzzy’s Ultra Premium Vodka Chevrolet of Ed Carpenter and the No. 21 Preferred Freezer Services Chevrolet of Josef Newgarden.

– The qualification order was announced tonight after a blind draw. For their primary cars, Newgarden drew the 11th spot in line, Hildebrand drew the 16th spot in line, and Carpenter drew the 62nd spot. At the conclusion of tomorrow’s qualifications, the starting field for the 100th Running of the Indianapolis 500 will be set. The fastest nine drivers are locked into the field and advance to Sunday’s Fast Nine Shootout. Positions 10-33 are locked into the field and advance to Group 1 qualifying to determine the starting order for next weekend’s race.

– ECR has returned to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway with a driver lineup identical to that of 2015. The trio of drivers earned the nickname “Team America” last year when ECR was the only multi-car team with an all-American lineup in the Indianapolis 500. Hildebrand hails from Sausalito, Calif.; Newgarden is a native of Hendersonville, Tenn.; Carpenter, from Indianapolis, is a hometown favorite.

– Carpenter will be attempting to qualify for his 13th Indianapolis 500. He is one of only six drivers in the 33-car qualification lineup that has competed in more than 10 Indianapolis 500s. He was a back-to-back pole winner, capturing the coveted first starting position in both 2013 and 2014. He qualified 12th last year in a backup car, only hours after a crash in Turn 2 destroyed his primary car and left him upside down.

– Hildebrand has joined Ed Carpenter Racing for two events: last weekend’s Angie’s List Grand Prix of Indianapolis and next weekend’s 100th Running of the Indianapolis 500. When the Indianapolis Motor Speedway opened for practice on Monday, May 16, it was Hildebrand’s first time back on an oval since the 2015 Indianapolis 500. He has five total starts in the 500-mile race and was the highest-placing ECR driver last year, finishing 8th.

– Newgarden is preparing to qualify for his 5th Indianapolis 500. All five starts have come with the same team, competing under the Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing, CFH Racing, and now Ed Carpenter Racing banners. His best finish occurred last year when he finished 9th after starting in the same position.

– Indianapolis 500 qualifications will be broadcast live tomorrow, beginning at 11 a.m. ET on ESPN 3. The broadcast will resume on ABC at 4 p.m. ET.

JR HILDEBRAND, NO. 6 PREFERRED FREEZER SERVICES CHEVROLET: “It was a hectic day, really. We ended up feeling like we needed to kind of change our plan in the middle of the day. We were able to get some speed out of that, which was good, but it made for a busy afternoon. Hopefully we can go back and figure out what’s the best for everybody and be ready to go for tomorrow.”

ED CARPENTER, NO. 20 FUZZY’S ULTRA PREMIUM VODKA CHEVROLET: “It was a tough day. I wasn’t thinking we were going to run nearly 50 laps when the day started. We used a few more sets of tires than we had originally planned, but I think it was worthwhile in the end. We were struggling for speed for a while and I feel like we closed the gap a little bit. We’ll just have to work hard overnight tonight and see if we can close the gap the rest of the way and see if we can get up there with my teammates and some of the other faster Chevys.”

JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 21 PREFERRED FREEZER SERVICES CHEVROLET: “It was a good day. It was hectic with a little bit of sprinkling, so we were not sure if we were going to get the full day in, but luckily we did. We definitely wanted to step through our trim steps. We definitely made progress with all three cars. We got a quick Preferred Freezer car, so hopefully all three of us are going to be fast tomorrow inside the top nine. We’ll do a little bit more work tonight and see where we’re at.”