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Edmonton: Sam Schmidt Motorsports qualifying notes

SAM SCHMIDT MOTORSPORTS QUICKLY LEARNS NEW TRACK AND JUMPS INTO QUALIFYING AT EDMONTON EDMONTON, Alberta, Canada -- A single hour practice session and qualifying took place on Friday at the Rexall Speedway in Edmonton, and when the day ended, ...

Published: Oct 2, 2009, 4:35 PM

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SAM SCHMIDT MOTORSPORTS QUICKLY LEARNS NEW TRACK AND JUMPS INTO QUALIFYING AT EDMONTON

EDMONTON, Alberta, Canada -- A single hour practice session and qualifying took place on Friday at the Rexall Speedway in Edmonton, and when the day ended, Toronto native James Hinchcliffe found himself leading the Sam Schmidt quartet by earning the fourth starting position for Saturday's race at the downtown City Centre Airport. He was followed by Ana Beatriz in 10th, Wade Cunningham in 12th, and Gustavo Yacaman in 14th.

A warm-up will kick things off on Saturday at 10 a.m., and the race itself is at 4 p.m. All session times are listed in EDT and can be viewed live via indycar.com.

The television broadcast of the Firestone Indy Lights Grand Prix of Edmonton airs on Monday, July 27, at 4 p.m. EDT on VERSUS.

DRIVER NOTES & QUOTES

#7 HINCHTOWN.com/Sam Schmidt Motorsports Driver James Hinchcliffe

"It was a tough day. Practice for us was difficult. The track is tough, and the circuit itself was green. We were a bit off on the setup that we came off the truck with. We worked hard in between the sessions to make huge improvements. Qualifying was going really well for us. We were sort of hanging there in the top-three the whole session. On my last set of tires, I hit traffic on my second, third, and fourth laps. Unfortunately, the tires peak after lap three so if you hadn't gotten it done by then, you were in trouble, and we were. So, we're starting fourth, but realistically, we know we had a car capable of being on the front row. On one hand, it's frustrating knowing that, but then again, it's a good confidence boost heading into Saturday's race. It's going to be a long, tough race, but I'm hoping some of my prior experience here during a race will play out for me in the end. I'm excited to get going."

#11 LUCAS OIL/Sam Schmidt Motorsports Driver Wade Cunningham

"It was a bit of a tough day for us. We didn't get much time to learn the track before qualifying, and even then, we had to fight a dirty track. The team and I made huge improvements from practice into qualifying, but we still have a lot of room for improvement. We'll try a few things on the car in the morning warm-up and hopefully for us that translates into a good race in the afternoon."

#20 HEALTHY CHOICE/Sam Schmidt Motorsports Driver Ana Beatriz

"We made good improvements in our car from practice. During qualifying, on new tires, I just couldn't put a lap together. I'm really confident for the race though. The Healthy Choice/Sam Schmidt car is good. My teammate Hinch gave me some good tips, and we've got some more things to try on the car for the warm-up. Let's see what Saturday brings, and hopefully we can come away with a good result."

#44 CREPES & WAFFLES/TUVACOL/Sam Schmidt Motorsports Driver Gustavo Yacaman

"I'm not sure what to say. We know there's some work for us to do to move up, and rest assured, we're going to do what we can to move up in the field Qualifying was not a good experience for us, but hopefully we have a big turnaround in the race on Saturday."

-credit: ssm

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