Solid qualifying effort puts KVSH Racing's Sebastien Bourdais 17th on grid for 2014 Indianapolis 500

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - A solid effort in round two of qualifying put KVSH Racing driver Sebastien Bourdais 17th on the grid for the 2014 Indianapolis 500, May 25 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Under the new Indy 500 qualifying system, Bourdais put the No. 11 HYDROXYCUT/MISTIC E-Cigs - KVSH Racing Chevrolet/Dallara/Firestone machine in the field yesterday during round one of qualifying. For today's second round, Bourdais made his second run with the first group of cars, those that placed 10-33 from yesterday. He posted the eighth fastest time of the group with a four-lap average speed of 229.847 mph, placing him 17th and in the middle of row six on the final grid.

"I am very happy for the Hydroxycut/Mistic E-Cigs crew," Bourdais said. "We were desperately trying to get a read on a change we made yesterday, but we didn't get out, so the guys kept working and did a great job overnight. We made progress. I honestly didn't think we had that much speed in the car, but I stayed on top of it. I'll take it. Now it is back to race mode and we have already done a lot of work on that. So we will just go from there."

Bourdais, 35, the only driver to win four consecutive U.S. open-wheel championships (2004-2007), will make just his fourth Indy 500 start next Sunday.In four qualifying attempts at the Speedway, the native of Le Mans, France, has a best starting position of 15th in 2005 and 2013. In three previous races, his best finish is 12th in 2005. Bourdais, who is eighth all-time in the IndyCar record books with 31 wins, seventh all-time with 31 poles and won the 2014 Rolex 24-Hour sports car race at Daytona, is coming off a fourth-place showing in the inaugural Grand Prix of Indianapolis. The top-five finish snapped a streak of three consecutive double-digit finishes in the first three races of the 2014 Verizon IndyCar Series season. He currently sits 10th in the championship standings with 81 points, just 21 out of fifth place.

The 2014 Indianapolis 500 will be the 98th running of the "Greatest Spectacle in Racing." It has been held every year since the first race in 1911 except the war years of 1917-1918 and 1942-1945. The race will take place May 25, 2014, and will be broadcast live on ABC beginning at 11 a.m. (ET).

KVSH Racing