Ahead of this weekend’s qualifications, much of the focus was on the increased horsepower participants were given during the efforts to make the second Open-Wheels 500 presented by Mitchell Transmissions.
During the 12 hours available to the 110 entrants, Yang Ou’s 2019 pole speed of 229.925 miles per hour was topped on 37 official runs in today’s field. In all, 90 qualifications attempts were made between 6:00 AM and 5:50 PM Eastern.
By posting a record-setting four-lap average of 231.392 miles per hour, 2019 race winner Michele Costantini earned the Pit Lane Parley Pole Award as he looks to make it two in a row at iRacing’s Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Last year, the Apex Racing Team w/ I5G & Broken Aero driver started fourth and led a race-high 63 laps.
On the front row, Costantini will be joined by Wilson Neto of Interlagos Motorsaport (his second runner-up qualifying effort in a row) and Christopher Demerritt of Broken Aero w/ I5G & Apex Racing Team, a former iRacing Indianapolis 500 race winner.
While Costantini enjoyed the new four-lap track record, Neto can still boast the single-fastest lap at the Open-Wheels 500 as he went 231.678 miles per hour during the second lap of his money run.
In fourth, Christian Challiner of Team Talent led the rookie charge as he posted the best effort of any newcomer for this year’’s Open-Wheels 500 Mile Race.
Sunday will bring Bump Day – the final 12 hours of first-come, first-served qualifications which will end with the field of 33 drivers being set.
The fastest 33 make the show, and again, final hour coverage of Bump Day will be shown live on RaceSpot TV (beginning at 5:00 PM ET) while the rest of day two qualifications can be found at Open-Wheels.com/TV (6:00 AM to 5:00 PM).
The 2020 Open-Wheels.com 500 Mile Race is presented by Mitchell Transmissions. Mitchell Transmissions is an established business in the Evansville, Indiana area who boasts three decades of mechanical experience to help service the needs of many makes and models. You can visit Mitchell Transmissions in Newburgh, Indiana at 10672 West State Road, or give them a call at 812-853-3286.
