SPEEDWAY,
Ind., (May 12, 2001) – Robby Gordon did something he hasn’t been
able to do at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in six previous
trips by qualifying on the front row Saturday for the May 27th
Indianapolis 500. Driving the #41 Team Conseco/CD-2 Dallara, Gordon
waited until late in the day to post a four-lap average speed
of 224.994mph, which was good for third on the starting grid.
Gordon shares the front row with pole-sitter Scott Sharp of Kelley
Racing, and former Team Menard teammate Greg Ray.
Gordon’s
warm-up was one of the keys to his fast run, something that caught
him by surprise…
“I thought we had a real shot of getting the pole," exclaimed
Gordon following the run. "We waited until weather conditions
were ideal. My fastest lap was my warm-up lap. My warm-up lap
surprised me. The car was loose going into Turn 1 on the first
lap. I tightened the bar two notches for the second lap. Then
I had to back it off one more notch because I had to let off.
Then on lap three I loosened the bar some more. The big advantage
to being up front is I’ve seen accidents happen back in the middle.
I’m going to beat Greg Ray into Turn 1 this year. I am excited
to be in the front row. A.J. (Foyt) knows how to make a car go
fast. We’re going to work on our race setup. My race strategy
is to go out, sit back and cruise. With 75 to 50 laps to go to
I’ll turn it up. There are a lot of obstacles to get around. You
have to have a little luck because you still have 10 pit stops.”
Gordon
was the 27th qualifying attempt of the day, beginning his run
at 4:52 p.m.
Lap
times for the four laps were as follows:
Lap
1: 39.8247 225.990mph
Lap
2: 39.9351 225.366mph
Lap
3: 40.1265 224.291mph
Lap
4: 40.1180 224.338mph
Total
Time: 2:40.0043
Avg
Speed: 224.994mph