Atlas of Indianapolis: Carpenter on Pole at Indy

(AP) Atlas of Indianapolis: Carpenter on pole at Indy
By DAVE SKRETTA
AP Sports Writer
INDIANAPOLIS
Ed Carpenter will lead the field to the green flag in Sunday’s Indianapolis 500, the local boy on the pole for the biggest race of the season.

But the owner-driver of a modest one-car team insists that he doesn’t feel any pressure, even though he also happens to be the stepson of series founder Tony George.

Carpenter said that he’s carried around the expectations of his family for as long as he can remember, and that he’d rather be sitting on the pole with all the distractions that entails than sitting the race out.

That doesn’t mean that Carpenter isn’t anxious for the start of the race, though. He says that feeling is only natural for every driver in the field, regardless of where they’re from.