Posted: May 21, 2012 5:35 PM by Andrew Masuda
Updated: May 21, 2012 11:02 PM
Central Coast native Townsend Bell is back in the Brickyard this week for the 96th running of the Indianapolis 500. Bell is looking to make his sixth time driving in the Indy 500 the charm.
The San Luis Obispo High graduate qualified in the 20th pole position over the weekend. He averaged 223.134 miles per hour.
The 37 year old is driving the number 99 car for Schmidt Motorsports. Last year, Bell qualified fourth, but did not finish after he crashed during lap 158. During a phone interview with KSBY Sports on Monday, Bell said he learned a lot from that crash. “I need to keep a cool head all the way through and just continue to make sure that we don’t put ourselves in difficult situations. As much as a I want to win I really want to finish the race this year and have a good strong result,” said Bell.
Bell’s best finish at the Brickyard was fourth place in 2009. He finished 16th in 2010, 10th in 2008 and 22nd in 2006.
The Indy 500 is scheduled to start around 9 am California time on Sunday morning.