Ed Carpenter Fastest After Final IndyCar Practice At Fontana
Ed Carpenter has ended the final practice session ahead of tomorrow’s IndyCar finale fastest overall, as the paddock prepares for the all-important final race of this highly entertaining season. Carpenter was followed home by oval experts Helio Castroneves and Scott Dixon, who finished the session 2nd and 3rd respectively .
After the earlier qualifying session, the drivers were able to once again take to the 2-mile Auto Club Speedway to continue their preparations for the 250-lap race. With the track conditions ever-changing throughout the day, many drivers predicated that the final practice session in the evening would show the true pecking order as the sun went down and track became cooler.
Whether or not this was the case remained to be seen, with Championship contenders’ Ryan Hunter-Reay and Will Power floundering down in 21st and 23rd place respectively. After clinching pole in the earlier qualifying session, Marco Andretti ended the final practice session of the weekend only 13th fastest.
The 45-minute session was momentarily halted twice, firstly due to a track inspection and secondly due to the Kiwi of Wade Cunningham who made contact with the barrier at turn 2. This incident extended the session by five minutes, allowing the majority of the field to take to the track in the dying minutes for yet further valuable laps.
This session was the last the drivers had to prepare for the tomorrow’s race, which will see the new IZOD IndyCar Champion crowned after what is expected to be 250 laps of pure excitement.
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