INDY 500 STARTING POSITIONS

3rd: RINUS VEEKAY 233.385 mph
4th: ED CARPENTER 233.080 mph
18th: CONOR DALY 230.999 mph

RACE BROADCAST: Sunday, May 29 – 11 a.m. ET (NBC)
TRACK: Indianapolis Motor Speedway
LOCATION: Speedway, Indiana, USA
TRACK LAYOUT: 2.5-mile oval

ED CARPENTER RACING

• Rinus VeeKay and Ed Carpenter replicated their qualifying results from last year’s Indianapolis 500 and will start 3rd and 4th, respectively. As they were amongst the 12 fastest drivers from yesterday’s Day 1 of qualifications, their starting positions were determined today. They advanced from the Top 12 into the Firestone Fast Six, where their final four-lap averages ultimately landed VeeKay 3rd overall and Carpenter in 4th. 

• Ed Carpenter Racing’s first season of NTT INDYCAR SERIES competition was 2012, making the 2022 Indianapolis 500 the team’s 11th. For 10 of those 11 years, ECR has had at least one car qualify in the first three rows. Excluding 2015, when the Firestone Fast Nine was cancelled due to weather, ECR has been in every shootout for the pole position since 2013 (known this year as the Firestone Fast Six).

• With VeeKay qualifying third, an Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet will start on the front row of the Indianapolis 500 for the 8th time in 10 years.

• For the third year in a row, Ed Carpenter Racing was the only Chevrolet-powered team in the shootout for the pole position. Additionally, VeeKay has extended his streak as the fastest Chevrolet-powered driver in the field to three consecutive years. 

• Conor Daly, driver of Ed Carpenter Racing’s No. 20 BitNile Chevrolet, qualified yesterday and will start 18th next Sunday. 

RINUS VEEKAY, NO. 21 BITCOIN RACING TEAM POWERED BY BITNILE CHEVROLET

RINUS VEEKAY, No. 21 Bitcoin Racing Team Powered By BitNile Chevrolet, Qualified 3rd: “I’m very happy with qualifying. Looking at yesterday, I think I and many people expected me as a hot prospect for the pole. I gave it all I had out there. We could’ve maybe found some speed to get second in qualifying, but Scott (Dixon) was just very fast and a little bit out of our league! I’m very proud that Ed (Carpenter) and I are very fast. Fastest Chevy in Indy 500 qualifying, third year in a row. Happy me!”

OF NOTE: 

• Rinus VeeKay advanced to today’s qualifications after setting the fastest four-lap average of the 32 cars who attempted a run yesterday. The Top 12 cars from Saturday moved on to today, and of those 12, six would continue on to the Firestone Fast 6 shootout for the pole position. In the Top 12 session, VeeKay’s four-lap average of 233.429 mph placed him second overall, earning him a spot in the Fast 6. His next and final four-lap average of 233.385 mph earned him the 3rd starting position.

• For the second year in a row, VeeKay will roll off from the outside of the front row for the Indianapolis 500. It is the 8th time in 10 years ECR has had a car on the front row. VeeKay is also the fastest Chevy-powered driver in the field for the third consecutive year. 

• VeeKay has three Top 10 finishes in five races so far this season, including his first podium of the year three weeks ago at Barber Motorsports Park. After starting from the pole position, he took the checkered flag in third.

• Ed Carpenter Racing became known as the Bitcoin Racing Team in 2021. Through the generosity of BitNile Holdings, Inc. (BitNile), the Bitcoin Racing Team will continue to grow in 2022. VeeKay is competing in the No. 21 Bitcoin Racing Team Powered by BitNile Chevrolet, which he helped design. Additionally, individual who scans the unique QR code on the side of VeeKay’s No. 21 and completes the registration process will receive free Bitcoin from Earnity, a community-based crypto platform of which BitNile is a significant investor.

ED CARPENTER, NO. 33 ALZAMEND NEURO CHEVROLET

ED CARPENTER, No. 33 Alzamend Neuro Chevrolet, Qualified 4th: “We’re in a really good spot for next week. Not ultimately where we wanted to be, but at the same time, it’s great that  Rinus is starting third, then fourth for me! That’s the same as last year, so I’ve got a little deja vu here.  It’s great to be able to put some Chevrolets in the fight and show off the hard work and dedication of the ECR crew and have a BitNile and an Alzamend Neuro up front. We’re in a good spot for next Sunday and we can do work from there!”

OF NOTE: 

• Ed Carpenter’s view for the start of the Indianapolis 500 will look similar to last year’s as his starting position is identical. Carpenter will start from the inside of the second row in 4th. He too made it through all three rounds of qualifying, with his four-lap average of 232.397 mph placing him 7th at the end of Saturday. He held on to the 5th spot in the Top 12 at 233.073 mph and moved on to the Fast Six. There, his final four-lap average of 233.080 mph earned him the 4th starting position. 

• Next Sunday’s Indianapolis 500 will be the 7th time Carpenter has had a Top 10 start at the 2.5-mile oval in the past nine years. The Indianapolis native solidified his status as a hometown favorite by winning the pole position in 2013 and 2014; in 2018, he became just the 10th driver to collect three or more Indy 500 poles in the century-plus history of the race. Some of his strongest finishes have come in recent years, including a runner-up finish after leading the most laps in 2018 and a 5th place in 2021.  

• The No. 33 features the striking purple and aqua colors of Alzamend Neuro. Alzamend is focused on developing novel products for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases and psychiatric disorders with a primary target of Alzheimer’s disease. Alzamend is committed to “Making Alzheimer’s Just a Memory.

• Though Carpenter’s car is an expansion to ECR’s usual two-car program, the No. 33 pit consists of many familiar faces. Most crew members are an annual part of ECR’s Indy 500 program, some having been with the team since its first time with three cars in 2015. Carpenter’s crew is also be supplemented with several of ECR’s shop-based employees who are trackside each Month of May.