Indy 500 Qualifying Results 2018: Ed Carpenter Wins Pole, Danica Patrick 7th

For the third time in his career, Ed Carpenter won the pole during the second leg of Indianapolis 500 qualifying on Sunday, coming in with a four-lap average speed of 229.618 mph at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana.

He'll lead a first row that also includes Simon Pagenaud and Will Power for next Sunday's Indy 500.

You can see the rest of the qualifying order and the four-lap qualifying speeds below (all results via IndianapolisMotorSpeedway.com):

Row 1

• 1. Ed Carpenter 229.618 mph
• 2. Simon Pagenaud 228.761 mph
• 3. Will Power 228.607 mph

Row 2

• 4. Josef Newgarden: 228.405 mph
• 5. Sebastien Bourdais: 228.142 mph
• 6. Spencer Pigot: 228.107 mph

Row 3

• 7. Danica Patrick: 228.090 mph
• 8. Helio Castroneves: 227.859 mph
• 9. Scott Dixon: 227.262 mph

Row 4

• 10. Tony Kanaan: 227.664 mph
• 11. Matheus Leist: 227.571 mph
• 12. Marco Andretti: 227.288 mph

Row 5

• 13. Zachary Claman De Melo: 226.999 mph
• 14. Ryan Hunter-Reay: 226.788 mph
• 15. Charlie Kimball: 226.657 mph

Row 6

• 16. Takuma Sato: 226.557 mph
• 17. Kyle Kaiser: 226.398 mph
• 18. Robert Wickens: 226.296 mph

Row 7

• 19. James Davison: 226.255 mph
• 20. Max Chilton: 226.212 mph
• 21. Carlos Munoz: 226.048 mph

Row 8

• 22. Gabby Chaves: 226.007 mph
• 23. Stefan Wilson: 225.863 mph
• 24. Sage Karam: 225.823 mph

Row 9

• 25. Zach Veach: 225.748 mph
• 26. Oriol Servia: 225.699 mph
• 27. JR Hildebrand: 225.418 mph

Row 10

• 28. Jay Howard: 225.388 mph
• 29. Ed Jones: 225.362 mph
• 30. Graham Rahal: 225.327 mph

Row 11

• 31. Jack Harvey: 225.254 mph
• 32. Alexander Rossi: 224.935 mph
• 33. Conor Daly: 224.429 mph

"I've got to thank my team," Carpenter said after his winning run, per Scott Horner of the Indianapolis Star. "I figured we could go 229 (mph) based on last night. I wasn't expecting a 230 (on his first lap)."

He added: "Of all my pole runs, this came the easiest."

Carpenter's last two pole wins didn't result in race wins, however. In 2013 he won the pole but finished 10th in the race. In 2014 he finished 27th. His best result at the historical race came in 2008 when he started 10th and finished fifth.

"Moreso than my previous two runs it's beneficial," Carpenter said of winning the pole. "It's always nice to start up front, just because you can control things a little bit. But, unless we all figure out a lot with race setups in the next few days, it certainly feels good knowing I've got clean air in front of me, at least if I get a good start."

You can see his full comments below:

Carpenter also broke up Team Penske's potential monopoly atop the grid, with Penske drivers Pagenaud, Power and Newgarden taking up the next three spots and threatening to control the first row entirely.

As for other notable performances in qualifying, Helio Castroneves was the fastest driver on Saturday and went last Sunday, but his car didn't quite have a top run in it, and he ultimately slotted into the eighth position. Castroneves is looking for his fourth Indy 500 win, which would tie him with A.J. Foyt, Al Unser and Rick Mears for the most all-time.

Danica Patrick, meanwhile, will start seventh in her final race before retiring from the sport. Her times on Saturday got her into Sunday's Fast Nine and a guaranteed spot in one of the first three rows.

"I have high expectations for doing well here," she said Saturday, per the Associated Press (h/t the Los Angeles Times). "But to think that I was going to come back and be in the Fast Nine right off the bat, I mean, I'm going to tell you I definitely am relieved."

Were Patrick to bow out of racing with a win at IndyCar's biggest event, it would certainly be an incredible way to go out. But Carpenter will likely be the favorite after his impressive showing in qualifying. He'll be hoping the third time's the charm when it comes to winning the pole in this race.