“We had the speed yesterday, so we had a taste of it, but we just couldn't recreate it today,” lamented Hunter-Reay, who was uninjured in the accident and was immediately cleared to continue driving by IndyCar physicians. “I was trying to tune the car like we did yesterday from inside the cockpit, but we just didn't have it. We wanted to make the car a little better on the exit because that is where we were having trouble, but we were on the edge and we just went over. I knew that it was going to be very close to being trouble, but I'm a race car driver and I just wanted to get everything I could out of it. I've been in the Ethanol car for six or seven months and this is our first crash, and I'm happy to be able to walk away from it.”
While some decided against making a late bid, pulling their cars out of the qualifying line, Rahal was keen to promote himself back into the all-important spots. Sadly for the Newman/Haas/Lanigan rookie, he fell short, condemning him to try again on Sunday.
Surprisingly, Wheldon decided to scrub his third-place effort in favour of a bid to topple his team-mate, and appeared on course to run Dixon close. When the chequer fell, however, the Briton had improved just one spot, knocking Briscoe back to third and ensuring a Ganassi 1-2.
“I don't think we got everything, but the car was definitely fast," Wheldon reported, "The guys have worked really hard to give Scott and I really fast cars, and pole would have been good. The Indianapolis 500 is the biggest race in the world, and I would certainly take the race win over the pole, but, at the end of the day, the pole would be nice. But I am not taking the pole if it takes away from the race stuff. I would much rather win the race.”
