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INDIANAPOLIS -- Hes the hometown hope, the Butler University alum and die-hard Indiana Pacers fan who has put his modest, one-car program on the pole for the Indianapolis 500 ahead of powerhouse programs from Penske Racing and Andretti Autosport. Wholesale China Jerseys Online . Theres more, though, and it runs as deep as blood. The unflappable Ed Carpenter is also the stepson of series founder Tony George. That means his family tree has roots tracing all the way back to Tony Hulman, who bought Indianapolis Motor Speedway after World War II, and includes Mari Hulman George, who still serves as speedway chairman and on Sunday will proclaim once more, "Gentleman, start your engines!" So to say that much of Carpenters life has been lived in Gasoline Alley, where he spent his formative years, is about as fitting for him as the maxim that "haste makes waste." It also means that the Carpenter is carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. "I started racing quarter midgets when I was 8 years old, and at that point, I was already part of the Hulman family. Thats the way its always been for me," said the 32-year-old Carpenter, whose quiet voice and disarming smile belie a fierce competitive streak. "I dont feel the pressure," he insisted moments later, as if driving home the point. "As far as the local fan base and support, its fun. I dont think that translates into pressure." Perhaps its not that Carpenter feels pressure, but that he no longer recognizes it. Hell be making his 10th start in the "Greatest Spectacle in Racing," but his first from the pole. And while peering eyes have been trained on him most of his life, Carpenter insists that the pressure he endures on a daily basis has never managed to overwhelm him. "I dont like to say it means more to me because Im from here," Carpenter said, "but it does mean a lot because of how much I love this place." His first memories of Indianapolis go back to 1991, when he sat in the balcony overlooking the track and watched Rick Mears qualify for the pole. Even then, Carpenter knew that he wanted to one day drive over the hallowed ground that has been in his family for decades. He proved at a young age that he could find victory lane, too, winning national championships in midgets and sprint cars. He graduated to Indy Lights and made his IndyCar debut in 2003, when he was hailed as part of the next wave of young American drivers who might someday wrestle the series back from a surge of foreign stars such as Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti. But things got sidetracked along the way, as they often do in racing, and Carpenter became an after-thought. He started to bounce around to different teams, trying to find magic once more. It wasnt until 2011, when he hooked up with Sarah Fisher Racing, that he won his first IndyCar race. And last year, after founding his own team, he surprised everyone but himself when he took the checked flag at the series finale at California. "Hes really a talent, and hes been developing for a long time, and hes become a special driver," said veteran Buddy Lazier, who also has a single-car team for this years Indy 500. "Its a huge inspiration," Lazier added. "Absolutely." That success would eventually come to Carpenter didnt come as a surprise to those closest to him. Time after time, they point out that he never gets too high or low -- that he keeps an even keel in the roughest of waters, and remains grounded during the best of times. "We all look at sports and talk about sports like its the end-all, be-all, right? But when youre in it, you realize theres a lot more to life," said Butler basketball coach Brad Stevens, whos known Carpenter for about six years. "I think hes got a great perspective on it." It was that perspective that stood out to former Masters and U.S. Open champion Fuzzy Zoeller, whose spirits company sponsors the No. 20 car that Carpenter will be driving on Sunday. "He doesnt run hot and cold, like 90 per cent of athletes do. Hes very, very calm," Zoeller said. "He doesnt get too fired up, he doesnt get too down, and thats very impressive. "Its a difficult thing," Zoeller added, "because they only have one car. But hey, dreams are made, right? You have to start with something." While he insists that pressure seems to run from his shoulders like water, Carpenter admits that hell be anxious when Sunday dawns. Hes not immune to the pageantry of the Indianapolis 500, the fly over and Jim Nabors and everything else that makes it such an iconic event. This is in his blood, after all. Its part of his very fabric. Nor does he know what his emotions will be like when the green flag drops, and he leads the field of 33 cars into the first corner with nothing in front of him but pavement. But its a moment that he intends to relish. "I mean, if someone out there tells you they dont get butterflies or dont get antsy, theyre flat-out liars," Carpenter said with a smile. "Theres no way people dont walk out from driver intros and see the crowd and dont feel that. I get goose bumps just thinking about it." Stitched China Jerseys . "It doesnt get any better than that," Giambi said. "Im speechless." The Indians are roaring toward October. Giambi belted a two-run, pinch-hit homer with two outs in the ninth inning to give Cleveland a shocking 5-4 win over the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night, keeping the Indians up with the lead pack in the AL wild-card race. Wholesale NFL Jerseys 2018 . R.J. Umberger scored twice to lead the Blue Jackets to a franchise-record for consecutive wins with a 5-3 victory Tuesday night over the Los Angeles Kings. http://www.cheapncaachinajerseys.com/ . The Australian is competing in his final season in Formula One and still looking for his first win this year. He will look to end Vettels run of six straight race wins on Sunday. Webber, who is fifth in the championship, earned his second pole from the past three races and 13th of his career. Munster director of rugby Rassie Erasmus was proud of how his charges played in demolishing Champions Cup rivals Leicester 38-0 at Thomond Park on Saturday.?The in-form Irish province stayed top of Pool One after picking up a precious try-scoring bonus point in the emphatic victory over the Aviva Premiership side, who had claimed a home-and-away double over Munster in the pool stages last season.South African centre Jaco Taute bagged a brace of second-half tries, with Simon Zebo touching down in the first half, while Munster were also awarded a 71st-minute penalty try which saw full-back George Worth become the third Leicester player to be sin-binned.The Tigers, licking their wounds after a record European loss, do at least have next Saturdays rematch at Welford Road to get their teeth into.Erasmus said: With the quality of players in the Leicester side and them beating us last season home and away, we were a bit nervous about the whole game and we never thought about getting five points out of it - our aim was always to win the game, so it is an absolute bonus to get the fourth try at the end.They are a team we respect so much. They have brilliant individuals, are really well coached, so we are really happy with the performance, but Im sure when we wake up (on Sunday) morning we know we have to go over there in a weeks time. We wont get carried away.It will be a tough challenge (next Saturday). We are under no illusions. Interesting things happen if you look at Glasgow going away to Racing 92 (on Saturday) and winning there. We will enjoy (Saturday night) and look realistically at how we played.I think we will be fairly happy with the intensity and the commitment, those kind of things. There were some tactical and some little technical errors. Cheap Jerseys 2018. We needed a lot of intensity and commitment to win the game.Leicester director of rugby Richard Cockerill insisted his team can reverse the result at Welford Road in round four.Im disappointed with the performance, full stop - there is no getting away from that, he said.The reality, and it starts with me, is that the performance was not acceptable - 38-0 is not where we want to be.We have some important players missing, but that is no excuse for where the performance was (on Saturday).The one good point is that we bring Munster to Welford Road next week. We have it all to do. We have to salvage some pride from where we were this evening because our two away games in this pool so far have been pretty disastrous for us.We can turn it around. We have to go back and deal with it on Monday. We have to be very honest with ourselves and make sure we win those physical battles or at least match them in the physical battles.Munster played exceptionally well. All credit to them - no issues on that. They were very good - good players, well coached. They played very well and deserved the win. The one thing we have controlled very well over the past six weeks is the territory and field position, and we didnt control it well (on Saturday night).We put ourselves under pressure, we kicked poorly and invited Munster to run at us. We got punished, whether that is through penalties in the first instance. You keep letting sides such as Munster, who are quality, run at you in the first half of the field, you are going to get penalised, get blokes sent to the bin or concede tries, which is exactly what we did. Wholesale NFL White Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Throwback Wholesale Jerseys China Wholesale NFL White Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Wholesale Wholesale Throwback Jerseys Cheap NFL Autographed Jerseys Wholesale NFL Autographed Jerseys Youth NFL Jerseys Wholesale Wholesale Authentic Jerseys China Womens NFL Jerseys Wholesale Throwback Jerseys Youth NFL Jerseys Wholesale Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic Discount NFL Jerseys ' ' '

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