CFH Racing Qualifies All 3 Cars in Top 12 for the Indy500

Qualifications for the 99th Running of the Indianapolis 500 were truncated to a late-Sunday, one-shot attempt for all teams after rain washed out yesterday's scheduled qualification sessions.

• CFH Racing rallied together after Ed Carpenter became the second team entry (first being Josef Newgarden) and third competitor (Helio Castroneves) to become airborne after hard contact with the outside wall. Carpenter's crash occurred in Turn 2 during the first session of morning practice, leaving the team rushing to prepare the No. 20T Fuzzy's Award Winning Vodka Chevrolet in time for qualifications. Despite landing upside down, Carpenter was cleared and released from the IMS medical center. The original No. 20 entry was destroyed in the crash.

• Crew members from three CFH Racing entries built up the No. 20T entry from the tub that Luca Filippi drove in last weekend's Angie's List Indy Grand Prix of Indianapolis in just under three hours. The incredible team effort allowed Carpenter to return to the cockpit in the No. 20T by the start of practice and later qualify the Chevrolet in his one-shot attempt.

• CFH Racing successfully qualified all three team entries with Josef Newgarden leading the way in the 9th position behind the wheel of the No. 21 CENTURY 21 Chevrolet, followed by JR Hildebrand in 10th with the No. 6 Preferred Freezer Services Chevrolet and rounded out by Ed Carpenter in 12th, driving the No. 20T Fuzzy's Award Winning Vodka Chevrolet.

• Starting ninth in what will be his fourth Indianapolis 500 start, Newgarden qualified with a four lap average of 225.187 mph. His best start of 7th came in 2012, his first appearance, which also delivered his best finish of 25th.

• Hildebrand has joined CFH Racing for two events: last weekend's Angie's List Grand Prix of Indianapolis and next weekend's 99th Running of the Indianapolis 500. Today he qualified in the 10th spot for his fifth Indianapolis 500 start with a four lap average of 225.099 mph. Hildebrand nearly won the 2011 Indianapolis 500 in his rookie year, finishing in second. He has four total starts in the 500-mile race, including last year as Carpenter's teammate, finishing in the ninth spot.

• After the morning crash, Carpenter's hopes to make history in qualifying for the Indianapolis 500 by winning the pole position for the third consecutive year were all but dashed. Nonetheless, he and his team overcame great adversity to qualify in the 12th position with a four lap average of 224.803 mph. The 34-year-old Carpenter has 11 previous starts in the Indianapolis 500 with a best finish of 5th in 2008.

• CFH Racing is the only multi-car team with an all-American driver line up, prompting the team's nickname of "Team America." Hildebrand is from Sausalito, Calif., now residing in Boulder, Colo.; Ed Carpenter hails from Indianapolis, IN., where he still lives; Newgarden is a Hendersonville, Tenn. native, also residing in Indianapolis.

• The team returns to track action tomorrow and seeks to dial in their race cars as practice for the 99th Running of the Indianapolis 500 continues from 12:30-4 P.M. ET.

JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 21 CENTURY 21 CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 9TH:

"Anytime you qualify for the Indy 500 it's a good day. All of us at CFH Racing are happy, we're looking pretty solid.We got all three cars solidly in the mix after we've definitely had a tough week.We've had some issues, things not go our way, and some unlucky instances, but we've kept striding.The whole CFH Racing group has been amazing, we had to build two brand new racecars basically. They built my car overnight on Thursday and they built Ed's in about two hours, that has to be a record time to build a car.

The four lap average was not bad considering where we came from.We've had good cars all week, it has just been a little difficult with some issues, some unforeseen things, and then the crashes happened.CFH Racing has been amazing, we've got all our cars in the field and that's pretty much all you can ask on qualifying day.Obviously we'd like to be a little higher, disappointed we're not a little faster, sitting in the top ten is pretty good, it's comfy enough.

We've got a great racecar with the Century 21 car.We should be able to race to the front and you never know, it's the Indy 500. You always have a chance to win this thing."

JR HILDEBRAND, NO. 6 PREFERRED FREEZER SERVICES CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 10TH: "I was thinking we were going to get a little bit more out of it, the conditions have changed. The track grip is better than we were anticipating. We ended up being a little bit conservative for the run. It's obviously good to be in a Chevy here today. We'll certainly have a good starting spot and I'm looking forward to the race. I'm looking forward to getting out tomorrow and getting the car ready for next Sunday. We definitely have high expectations. We had an awesome race car here last year, in fact, the fastest car I've had around this place was with this team last year, so we've set the bar high for ourselves. The race cars are good; they've felt good all week so we just have to do the little things. That's how we were successful last year and that's how we'll be successful again this year, by just paying attention to the process."

ED CARPENTER, NO. 20 FUZZY'S AWARD WINNING VODKA CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 12TH: "When I was upside down out of Turn 2 this morning, I didn't know we were going to have the delays that we had. If things would've stayed on schedule, we would've been qualifying for a spot on the last row, but the way things worked out, it gave the team the time it needed to get a car ready for me. There's definitely more there. It felt good. We were off a little bit on the gears, so just a gear change and we would've been well into the 225 mph range. I don't think we expected to win the pole with the morning we had, so I'm just thankful for the whole CFH Racing team. All three crews pitched in and got the Fuzzy's Vodka backup car ready. It was good teamwork and a great effort to get me out there and I'm very thankful."

Contact:

Brie Rentz

brie.rentz@cfhracing.com

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