Kurt Busch 10th-fastest on first day of Indy 500 qualifying
Kurt Busch ran a lap above 230 mph during qualification runs for the 98th running of the Indianapolis 500 on Saturday. So he says scratch “Going 230 mph in a Racecar” off his bucket list.
Take that Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson.
Bidding to become the first driver in a decade to drive in the Indy 500 and NASCAR’s Coca-Cola 600 on the same day, Busch averaged 229.960 mph for his four-lap, 10-mile qualifying run.
It was the day’s 10th-fastest run, but placed Busch just outside the Fast Nine, meaning he won’t get a chance to compete for the coveted pole position on Sunday.
He was on his way to North Carolina in a fast airplane for Saturday night’s NASCAR all-star race at Charlotte Motor Speedway when most of the Indy drivers took their cars back out to improve their speeds on Saturday, or Busch might also be running for the top spot on Sunday.
“It’s a lot of fun to qualify into the Indianapolis 500 my first outing,” the Las Vegas native said after his private jet landed in Charlotte.
“I was hoping for a little more. We got bumped out of the Fast Nine, which I thought we might be able to hang on to but, hey. First time there to be 10th, 11th, 12th is right in the mix and it’s really exciting.”
Busch will be back in Indianapolis Sunday for the second round of qualifying. The best starting position he can hope for is 10th, which he now occupies.
Ed Carpenter, last year’s pole sitter at Indianapolis, also topped the speed charts on Saturday with a four-lap average of 230.661 mph.
Rounding out the Fast Nine were Carlos Munoz, Helio Castroneves, James Hinchcliffe, Will Power, Marco Andretti, Simon Pagenaud, Josef Newgarden and J.R. Hildebrand. Each posted a qualifying speed over 230 mph on an unseasonably cool day.
So then it was on to Charlotte, where Busch finished 11th in the annual NASCAR all-star race won by Jamie McMurray, whose car owner Chip Ganassi also started the day in Indianapolis.
“Door to door, I walked out of the paddock in Indianapolis and made it here, to the back of the hauler, in an hour and 31 minutes,” Busch said.
Beats talking the freeway.