Ed Carpenter Racing’s Christian Rasmussen delivered the best qualifying performance of his IndyCar career on Saturday, charging into the Fast Six and securing a fourth-place starting position for the Freedom 250 Grand Prix.
Navigating the 1.7-mile, 7-turn temporary street circuit wrapped around the National Mall, the 26-year-old Dane saved his best for last. As the final driver to take the track during the Fast Six shootout, Rasmussen pushed his #21 Chevrolet to a blistering lap of 57.8892 seconds, locking up a second-row grid spot for Sunday’s race.
The effort marked the highest IndyCar qualifying result of Rasmussen’s career, bettering his previous best of fifth at Mid-Ohio earlier this season, and represents just his second Fast Six appearance of the year.
Despite the breakthrough result, the Dane admitted he left a fraction of a second on the track.
"Honestly, my lap could have been better,” Rasmussen said. “It’s so hard starting last in this format and not having any heat in the tires. It was also my first time doing this single-car qualifying on a street course! We are super happy with the starting spot. We’ve had good pace in the car since Practice 1, we made improvements for Practice 2 and then made it even better for qualifying. I made a small mistake out of Turn 5, I pulled a downshift over a bump like my hand kind of slipped on the paddles.
"We probably should have been P3, but I am just super happy. I’m excited to see what the Splenda Stevia car can do!"
Rasmussen, who has two top-10 finishes this season, including a podium at World Wide Technology Raceway, credited ECR with giving him a competitive car from the start of the weekend.
“It was there from the beginning. We rolled off the truck super well this weekend,” Rasmussen said. “We made a few improvements for the second practice and made a few improvements for qualifying. We improved the car; that’s just the name of the game. We started on the right progression and stepped up each time, which is very big for us. I’m very happy, putting the Splenda Stevia Chevy at the right end of the field is exciting and representing these brands well, and hopefully, have a good race tomorrow.”
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