Monthly Archives: February 2011

by Paul Gohde
9/3/2007 New Berlin, WI Two interesting items reported by writer Curt Cavin in his Indianapolis Star blog: One being a future announcement by the Indy Racing League of a 2008 event in the Los Angeles area, and one regarding the Milwaukee Mile. An event in the Dodger Stadium parking lot has been rumored for a year or so, but now it sounds like a reality for next years schedule. It seems to me that the LA area has had several opportunities to prove it a viable market for major racing events, and has failed on a regular basis. The once successful Ontario Motor Speedway, constructed during the speedway building boom of the late 1960s, was eventually demolished even though it was the home of a 500 mile USAC Indy Car race as well as the first NASCAR super speedway events on the west coast. Each event began with large crowds, but they dwindled over the years as the easily-distracted left-coasters moved on to the next flavor-of the-day. For awhile the road course at Riverside drew huge throngs for NASCAR, USAC and SCCA races, but eventually lesser crowds, coupled with rising land value, led to its demise also. The more modern California Speedway lost its open-wheel events due to some embarrassingly small gatherings, while the recent Labor Day weekend Nextel Cup race looked to have several thousand empty seats. The Saturday night Busch race looked to be less than 1/3 full at the most; and this in a state known for its car culture. And now the IRL may put another event into the LA basin? If the story turns out to be true, we hope the event is a success, not only the first year, but for years to come. The Star writer also reported recently that Indianapolis Motor Speedway head man and IRL chairman Tony George was disappointed with the turnout for the Milwaukee Mile IRL race in June. MM personnel had been excited back in 2006 as their lobbying efforts were rewarded with a move from July to the prime first weekend after the Indy 500. But what some perceived as a less- than-aggressive promotion campaign brought a surprisingly weak crowd to the historic track. Now Eddie Gossage and his Texas Motor Speedway juggernaut are seeking to move their IRL date to that prime post-Indy weekend. Gossage holds many cards in his hand and could likely get what he wants. If that occurs, it will be up to the MM staff to prove that the IRL made the wrong decision. The recent success of the Champ Car/ALMS weekend at Road America may signal a new approach for road course promoters. Several other road course venues have mixed IRL-CCWS events with Grand Am-ALMS races with some success. Its time to put the fractured open-wheel series on the same course, on the same weekend and see what happens. Promoted correctly, at a popular track like Mid-Ohio or RA, the weekend could go a long way toward helping open-wheel racing return to the motor sports mainstream. Watching the races on TV recently made me long for the days when most of screen was visible and not hidden by an endless stream of graphics. Time was in the early 1990s, that the World Cup soccer telecasts came under fire for daring to place the score in the corner of the screen-and this in a sport where the score rarely changes. Why cant we see the scoring ribbon every 20 laps or more often if theres been a series of pit stops. But do we have to know that Michael Waltrip is occupying 42nd place twice per lap? Spare us. With all of the recent mergers, associations, affiliations, etc., that have occurred in Nextel Cup Series racing lately, we wonder what the face of that series will look like ten years from now. If you think NASCAR has gone from its simple, southeastern US roots to a national corporate sport business today, think what itll be like in 2020. A NNCS crew chief said recently that its a sport only on Sunday and a business the other six days. Well said. Not that the IRL needs any more on its plate, but Back in the Day, when USAC controlled open wheel racing, the USAC stock car division was a viable circuit, second only to NASCAR. The series featured Indy drivers such as Bobby and Al Unser, Mario Andretti, AJ Foyt, Parnelli Jones and Jim Hurtubise, often in Detroit-backed cars, competing against stock car regulars Tovella, Hartman, Bowsher, Stott, Nelson and White. Today, open wheel racing suffers from regular defections of its talented drivers to NASCAR. What if Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, JP Montoya, JJ Yeley, Dave Blaney, Carl Edwards, Ryan Newman, Robby Gordon, Kasey Kahne and AJ Allmendinger had been able to stay in IRL stocks? I know that wouldnt be NASCAR with all of its money-earning chances, but the thought of an IRL stock car circuit is intriguing. Run at Milwaukee, Iowa, Chicago, Kansas, Memphis, Michigan, Kentucky, Nashville, Gateway and Indy Raceway Park and couple the event with the open-wheelers and see what happens.

by Paul Gohde
9/17/2007 It used to be the Kissel auto manufacturing plant, but today the building, located at 147 Rural St. (just west of Hwy. 83, and north of Hwy. 60 in Hartford, WI), is the home of the Wisconsin Automotive Museum. On Saturday, September 22nd, a ceremony will be held at noon to dedicate the new Southeastern Wisconsin Short Track Hall of Fame at the site. Also on Saturday the Vintage Modified Stock Car group, headed by John Surges, will host a car show, from 10:00am- 3:00pm, in the museum parking lot. We expect 30- 35 vintage race cars for the show Saturday, said Surges, who started the VMSC in 1998, and now sends out over 400 bi-monthly newsletters dedicated to preserving the memories of those who remember the six night-a-week racing at Hales Corners, Cedarburg, Oakfield, Slinger and the State Fair short track. The Short Track Hall of Fame will induct twenty members in its first class during a November 3rd induction dinner at the museum. Our goal was to get a place to establish the Hall, and with the help of Bob Ralston, Miles Melius, Bob Ensweiler and Reed Sederburg, we were able to get former driver Brian Jaeger to donate two cars from his collection to the museum in a permanent display. The cars, a former Melius car and an Etchie Biertzer machine, are on display at the Hartford site. Were beginning the Hall with a large class of inductees, some of whom have already passed away, in hopes of recognizing many of the others while they are still with us. The Hall of Fame board spent the last nine months trying to make a wonderful display of memorabilia and other artifacts that will bring back memories for racing fans, especially those who got to see these greats race. The board also had the daunting assignment of narrowing down the list of candidates to twenty this year and twenty more in 2008 before inducting a smaller group in proceeding years. As of this writing there are forty or more vintage racers that have been restored in southeastern Wisconsin, ranging from modifieds and sportsman cars, to midgets, sprinters and former Indy cars. And with vintage racing booming across the country, Surges felt compelled to make this area part of it. Im glad people are interested in what Im excited about, said Surges. Most of cars come from southeastern Wisconsin, especially from the Mayville, Lomira and Slinger areas. Sportsman cars are the toughest to find since they were often junked after the season. But Im working on bringing Dan the Rebel Kopshes car back to life, and someone is doing Jim Boehles late model. So take a ride out to Hartford on Saturday and be apart of the festivities. Consider bringing younger fans with you so they can learn about how it all began. Many drivers are expected, and they are more than happy to chat, pose for pictures and sign autographs. For more information, please call Surges at 414-315-5320.

by Eddie LePine
3/22/2010 The 12 Hours of Sebring was dominated by Peugeot who’s 1-2 finish decimated the field. However the big news was the absence of Audi after being a fixture at Sebring and winning the last 9 of 10 races here. It gives the Peugeot team a free pass for LeMans and appears no one has a chance to give them a challenge. But the big talk around the paddock was why Audi was not there why they were testing the new 2010 R15 Plus on Monday. They were at Sebring a month ago in which they have changed the front end of the car and improved the suspension components. Apparently they wanted to run the modified version of its 2009 car that did not quite fit the 2010 rules. Audi did not get Peugeot’s dispensation basically giving the French team a free pass to them for the race. I will tell you the Media missed Audi because for the meet and greet Audi has Peugeot beat hands down. The Peugeot team removed all the food before the media got there for the meet and greet and no one could find any water, whereas Audi has a full food spread, open bar and many extra’s. Racing does have it’s perks. Seriously, I think Audi missing from the line-up really affected the interested, but with the P1 class hurting the GT2 has never been stronger. Corvette entering GT2 this was going to be the class to watch and that is the class that will have save ALMS. It was also great to see a Porsche Spyder return to ALMS with Greg Pickett and the Muscle Milk car and bringing in talented Sascha Maassen to drive. What a great story buying the Spyder from Dyson and beating them and Sascha getting his 30th ALMS victory was nice, Maassen was so happy to be a part of this and happy for Greg putting this together. The Risi Ferrari again another victory 6 in a row for long races, drivers, Jaime Melo, Pierre Kaffer and Gianmaria Bruni really know how to get it done. Long Beach the next race will be very good with all these GT2 cars.. I had a chance to chat with Ryan Hunter-Reay after his second place finish in Brazil for the IndyCar opener and with his new team Andretti Autosport he said it was great to start the season with that finish and really feels good about being there and looking forward to St Pete, he said is only going to get better and really clicked with the team. He is really one of the busiest drivers by competing in the Grand Am, ALMS and IZOD IndyCar Series.’ Hunter-Reay hopes the IICS deal will be for all the races and he and the team are working hard on finalizing deals Audi rolled into the track on Monday after their test at Homestead. The team is trying to figure out the Audi R15 Plus so they are ready for LeMans, this after Peugeot would not let them race at the 12 hour of Sebring, The week started off rough with Mike Rockenfellar crashing in turn 17 and doing a lot of damage to the rear. This will not help with testing as they only have one R15 Plus ready to go. This week the IZOD IndyCar Series will have their second race and we’ll see if anyone will be able to stop Penske’s Will Power as he is going to be favorite. Jack Webster captures action from Sebring, Florida where the American LeMans Series drivers prepare for the 58th Running of the 12 Hours of Sebring presented by Fresh from Florida.

LMPC Oreca FLM09, Green Earth Team Gunnar

LMPC Oreca FLM09, Green Earth Team Gunnar. Drivers: Christian Zugel, Gunnar Jeanette and Elton Julian.

Flying Lizard Porsche 911 GT3 RSR

Flying Lizard Porsche 911 GT3 RSR of Jorg Bergmeister, Patrick Long and Marc Lieb exits the hairpin during Thursday practice.

Risi Competizione Ferrari 430GT

Risi Competizione Ferrari 430GT of Jaime Melo, Gianmaria Bruni and Pierre Kaffer heads toward Collier Curve during Thursday practice.

Aston Martin Racing Lola B09 60

Aston Martin Racing Lola B09 60 of Chri Buncombe, Harold Primat, and Adrian Fernandez is pictured during Thursday practice at Sebring.

Dyson Racing Lola B09 86 Mazda

Dyson Racing Lola B09 86 Mazda of Chris Dyson, Guy Smith and Andy Meyrick is pictured during Thursday practice exiting turn 10 at Sebring.

Team Peugeot 908 Hdi FAP

Team Peugeot 908 Hdi FAP of Pedro Lamy, Sebastien Bourdais and Nicolas Minassian is pictured entering turn 10 during practice for the 12 Hours of Sebring on Thurday.

Jaguar RSR

Jaguar RSR of Paul Gentilozzi, Marc Goossens and Ryan Dalziel is pictured entering turn 10 at Sebring during Thursday practice.

Drayson Racing Lola B09 60 Judd

Drayson Racing Lola B09 60 Judd of Paul Drayson, Jonny Cocker and Emanuele Pirro leads the Porsche RS Spyder of Greg Pickett, Klaus Graf and Sascha Maassen into turn 10 during Thursday practice the Sebring.

Chevrolet Corvette ZR1

Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 of Jan Magnussen, Johnny O’Connell and Antonio Garcia is pictured during Thursday practice at Sebring.

Patron Highcroft Racing Honda ARC-01c

Patron Highcroft Racing Honda ARC-01c of David Brabham, Simon Pagenaud and Marino Franchitti is pictured exiting the hairpin at Sebring during Thursday practice.

by American Le Mans Series
3/12/2008 Pedro Lamy kept Peugeot at the top of the timing sheets at Sebring International Raceway on Tuesday in the final test session for the 56th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Fresh from Florida. Lamy’s time of 1:43.710 (128.435 mph) was the best in the field by 0.725 seconds with official practice sessions starting Wednesday. The Peugeot 908 is racing in North America for the first time with Lamy, Nic Minassian and Stephane Sarrazin doing the honors. Saturday’s 12-hour season opener for the American Le Mans Series will serve as a diesel duel between Peugeot and Audi, which has won at Sebring every year since 2000 including the last two seasons with its diesel-powered Audi R10 TDI. But it’s not just a two-car race. Marco Andretti made sure of that with a best lap of 1:44.435 (127.543 mph) that was fastest in LMP2 and second overall. Andretti will make his Series debut in the Acura ARX-01b for Andretti Green Racing, which won in class last year in its maiden American Le Mans Series race. Andretti, the grandson of three-time Sebring overall winner Mario Andretti, was 0.279 seconds better than the first Audi of Marco Werner. He will drive the No. 2 R10 TDI with Lucas Luhr and Mike Rockenfeller. Next was the second-place LMP2 car, the Acura of Lowe’s Fernandez Racing. Adrian Fernandez’s time in the car he will share with Luis Diaz was 1:45.549 (126.197 mph), good enough for a 0.6-second cushion over Dindo Capello in the second Audi he will drive with Allan McNish and Tom Kristensen. Jan Magnussen went quickest for Corvette Racing in GT1. His lap of 1:56.742 (114.098 mph) was 0.155 seconds better than the sister Corvette C6.R of Olivier Beretta, Oliver Gavin and Max Papis. Magnussen will share duties with Ron Fellows and six-time Sebring winner Johnny O’Connell. Jaime Melo kept Risi Competizione on top in GT2 with a time of 2:02.535 (108.704 mph) in the team’s No. 62 Ferrari F430 GT. Melo and Mika Salo will team with Gianmaria Bruni in an effort to repeat as class winners at the 12 Hours. Last year Melo, Salo and Johnny Mowlem won by 0.202 seconds for the closest finish in race history. Flying Lizard Motorsports, the team Risi beat the checkered flag in 2007, was second quickest in class Tuesday. The team’s No. 45 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR of Jrg Bergmeister, Wolf Henzler and Marc Lieb were just 0.283 seconds behind the Ferrari. Farnbacher Loles Racing’s Porsche of Dirk Werner, Marc Basseng and Bryce Miller was third in class at 2:02.829 (108.443 mph).

The 2008 American Le Mans Series season opens with the 56th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Fresh from Florida on Saturday, March 15. The race will start at 10 a.m. ET and will be broadcast live by SPEED, which will begin its coverage at 9:30 a.m. MotorsTV, SPEED Latin America and Greenlight Television will provide international coverage as well. American Le Mans Radio and IMSA’s Live Timing & Scoring will be available at americanlemans.com.

Quotes Dindo Capello, Audi Sport North America Audi R10 TDI (LMP1) “With Peugeot in the race we are now getting back to the great days of sports car racing. It will be a great battle with the top-line manufacturers again. This race and this track put great stress on the car, the tires, the team and the drivers. Driving Sebring is much more demanding on all concerned and it’s a perfect way to test all factors of the car and the team prior to Le Mans.” Marco Andretti, Andretti Green Racing Acura ARX-01b (LMP2) “We still have some work to do. But the car has great balance and a ton of downforce. I ran several laps flat-out through Turn 1. This is most enjoyable car you could have at this track. You just have loads of downforce. I wouldn’t want any other car, which is exactly what you want at this race.” (Racing where grandfather Mario won four times overall) “Obviously this track has a lot of history with my grandfather. Every place he did well, you want to do well too.” Dirk Mller, Tafel Racing Ferrari F430 GT (GT2) “The last time I was here was 2001, and I have not so good memories. I drove the BMW M3, and not the new GTR. It had the six-cylinder engine and it wasn’t a good weekend. But we did finish the race. Although Turn 17 and Turn 1 are very bumpy, the Ferrari is very solid through there. The weight distribution of the car is nearly 50-50. The shocks and dampers are very good too.” Tom Milner, Panoz Team PTG Panoz Esperante GTLM (GT2) (Comparing the Panoz to last year’s Porsche 911 GT3 RSR): “After about 10 laps, you don’t really know the difference (front-engined Panoz and rear-engined Porsche). It just takes a little time to adjust, like anything else. You can be more aggressive in the Panoz and can recover from anything big as well.” Marino Franchitti, Dyson Racing Porsche RS Spyder (LMP2) “For me, the Winter Test was about learning the car and the team. This really is a great group of guys and I’m glad to be with them. Anytime you start with a clean sheet of paper, you can make the car your own. But the Porsche program has been so well developed. You can see the lineage between the prototype and the 911.”

by Joe Jennings
4/9/2010 Leeds, Ala. – Ricky Taylor and Jonathan Bomarito scored doubles in Rolex Sports Car Series qualifications at Barber Motorsports Park on Friday — earning their first pole positions and setting track records. The qualifications set the starting field for Saturday’s Porsche 250 that will be telecast live by SPEED at 1:30 p.m. ET. Taylor, son of veteran driver and owner Wayne Taylor, pushed his SunTrust Racing Ford Dallara to the top of the speed charts in Daytona Prototype qualifications with a record-shattering run of 103.989 miles per hour around the pristine 2.3-mile road course. “It is fantastic to get my first pole,” Taylor said. “This SunTrust team gives me the best equipment every weekend, and it is nice to finally put it up there. Of all the tracks this is one of the most important to start on the pole.” Previously, Taylor’s best qualification effort had been a fifth fastest. Said Wayne Taylor of his son’s accomplishment, “It is just incredible. It was a tough decision this year to put Ricky in the car, as people questioned whether he had the ability. Max (Angelelli) and everyone at SunTrust were behind the move to see what he can do.” Co-driver Angelelli said, “It is great and very well deserved. He worked very hard, and I can only congratulate, as he did everything by himself.” Antonio Garcia put the Spirit of Daytona Racing Porsche Coyote on the outside of the front row with a speed of 103.940 mph. Indianapolis 500 winner Buddy Rice co-drives the car. “It is okay to be on the outside, and anything can happen during our race. It is a long race,” Garcia said. “In Grand-Am, this is my first time to qualify this year and my best effort ever. Buddy (Rice) could have done the same thing as the car has been improved so much since Daytona.” Third fastest qualifier was Memo Rojas in the Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates BMW Riley. For Rojas, his top speed was 103.600 mph. Veteran driver Scott Pruett co-drives with Rojas. Jon Fogarty and co-driver Alex Gurney timed fourth in the GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing Chevrolet Riley with Dion von Moltke and Memo Gidley fifth in the Doran Racing Ford Dallara. On the last lap of qualifications, von Moltke heavily impacted a wall, causing considerable damage to the car. Brian Frisselle and Michael Valiante were sixth fastest in a Michael Shank Racing Ford Riley. Six of the 13 qualifiers broke the single-lap qualification standard held by Valiante. Bomarito set the pace in GT qualifying, gaining the pole position in the abbreviated GT class timed runs. Due to schedule conflicts, the GT session was shortened from 15 minutes to five minutes, giving teams three laps to make their mark.

Driving the Speed Source Mazda RX-8, Bomarito set the pace on the last lap with a speed of 95.379 mph, knocking Jordan Taylor from the top spot. “I love qualifying, and the last lap was an exciting one,” the California driver said. “We only had three laps to get it done. On the second lap, I was stuck in traffic, but on the last lap, I had a clean track and was pushing hard. Everyone tries to maxi Taylor persevered for second fastest in another Mazda RX-8 followed by James Gue in a third Mazda RX-8. 16 GT cars made a qualification run.

by Mary Champion
5/30/2010 A brief summary of each day’s activities at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway leading up to the 2010 Indianapolis 500 on Sunday, May 30.

May 29, Saturday – There was no activity on the track today, but the Speedway was open for several other activities.

A large crowd was on hand for an early morning autograph session with all drivers. Following the autograph session on the plaza, the race rookies were introduced in a press conference format. For the second straight year, the rookie introduction was done in a public access area, giving fans as well as the press an opportunity to see the race newcomers. Following the rookie introduction, all 33 drivers headed to the pit lane for the ceremonial drivers meeting. At the meeting a number of awards were presented including a championship ring to last year’s IZOD IndyCar Series champion, Dario Franchitti. This concluded the day’s activities at the track as, following the driver’s meeting, the drivers were bused to downtown Indianapolis for a mandatory appearance in the “500” Festival Parade. Tomorrow is the big day! It’s the Indianapolis 500. So far, the weather forecast is fairly promising. It’s predicted to be in the high 80’s with a stray thunderstorm possible in the afternoon. Let’s hope that the thunderstorms hit after the race, which starts at Noon Central Time.

May 28, Friday – It’s Carb day. It’s the last day of activity on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway until the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday, and it’s a busy day.

The day will begin with one hour of IndyCar final practice. That will be followed by the Firestone Indy Lights Freedom 100 race. After that, a group of vintage race cars will run a few laps on the track. The IZOD Indy 500 Pit Stop Challenge will complete the on-track activity, and the day will wind up with a ZZ Top concert in the infield. Whew!!! The IndyCar practice session began promptly at 11:00 a.m. By 11:10, all 33 cars have been on the track. During the session, gearbox problems were reported on the #06 car driven by Hideki Mutoh. The track was extremely busy during the one-hour practice stint. The 33 qualified cars ran a total of 1,254 laps. The most laps, 60, were run by rookie Bertrand Baguette. The least number of laps on the track was 19 by rookie Sebastian Saavedra. The fastest lap of the session was Dario Franchitti’s at 225.574 mph. He was followed by Scott Dixon with a lap of 225.159 mph. Will Power was third quick at 224.993 mph. Laps by Bruno Junqueira at 224.898 mph and Helio Castroneves at 224.753 mph rounded out the top five. The command for the engines to fire for the Firestone Indy Lights Freedom 100 was given promptly at 12:30 p.m. As the field took the green, Wade Cunningham jumped into the lead from his outside front row starting position, with Charlie Kimball claiming second from the third starting spot. Polesitter, Pippa Mann, dropped back to fifth place. Meanwhile, J.K. Vernay’s car was in the pit lane with mechanical problems. At the end of the first lap, the top five were Cunningham, Kimball, Martin Plowman, Jeff Simmons and Mann. While working the third lap, Simmons attempted a low pass of Plowman in Turn 1. During the attempt, he did a half-spin to the left, collecting Mann, who was right behind the pair. Both cars hit the Turn 1 SAFER Barrier, Simmons with the left side of the car and Mann with the right. Both drivers were assisted out of their cars, but were checked out and both were cleared to drive. On lap 7, Vernay returned to the track, seven laps down. The green came back out on lap nine with Cunningham in front, trailed by Kimball. For the next few laps, Cunningham and Kimball traded the lead, often more than once in a lap. Although Cunningham held the lead, Kimball trailed by less than .2 of a second for a number of laps. By the 18th lap, James Hinchcliffe had closed on the lead pair and took second from Kimball. The pair traded the position for the next two laps. By lap 20, the top five were Cunningham, Hinchcliffe, Kimball, Dan Clarke and Plowman. Brandon Wagner, who started last after failing to qualify yesterday, had moved up to eighth position. By the 23rd lap, Vernay, who was seven laps down, proved to be a problem as he was running with the leaders, but would not yield positions to allow the leaders to run together. Vernay was a problem for several more laps as Cunningham and Hinchcliffe continued to lead the field. On lap 29, Kimball, who had previously dropped back into the field, caught the lead pair and passed Hinchcliffe for second. Kimball was briefly able to pass Cunningham one last time on lap 33, but Cunningham quickly regained the lead and held it to the end of the race, winning by a margin of .4388 of a second. Hinchclifffe finished third, followed by Clarke, with Plowman finishing fifth. It was Cunningham’s third win in the event and the fifth victory for Sam Schmidt Motorsports. Cunningham commented on his battle with Kimball throughout the race. “The whole time I thought Charlie was driving a smart race and hanging back. I thought he was going to have something in the last 10 laps. But, really, his car wasn’t good in the draft,” he said. After the race, Kimball discussed racing with Cunningham and Hinchcliffe. “I’ve got to give a lot of credit to the guys I was racing with; I mean, Wade Cunningham ran clean pretty much all day. His experience really paid off as far as early in the race, managing the car, lifting at the right spots so I couldn’t get a run. James (Hinchcliffe), I don’t know how he could run that high and I’m sure he doesn’t know how I could run that low. We ran side by side through the corners a couple of times. It was clean and a credit to everyone out there,” he said. There is a change in the official staring line-up for Sunday’s Indianapolis 500. Tony Kanaan has switched from the #11T car he qualified 32nd on Sunday to his car #11 for the race. He will start 33rd, moving Sebastian Saavedra to the 32nd starting position. Helio Castroneves and his Team Penske crew earned $50,000 for winning the IZOD Indy 500 Pit Stop Challenge today. It is the fifth straight and the 12th time overall Team Penske has won the competition. It is the first time Team Penske chief mechanic Sean Hanrahan has won the competition. Rick Rinaman, now working in-house at Team Penske was the winning chief mechanic in Castroneves’ four previous wins. The team consisted of John Haslett, fueler, Pat Husa, air jack, Matt Rosenthal, left front, Clay Turner, left rear and Eric Prentice on the right rear. Tomorrow, the only activities at the track tomorrow will be a driver autograph session, the annual race rookie’s press conference and the ceremonial drivers meeting. Finish of Firestone Freedom 100 May 28, 2010 1-#77 Wade Cunningham 40 Laps 2-#26 Charlie Kimball 40 Laps 3-#2 James Hinchcliffe 40 Laps 4-#40 Dan Clarke 40 Laps 5-#27 Martin Plowman 40 Laps 6-#49 Philip Major 40 Laps 7-#28 Stefan Wilson 40 Laps 8-#32 Brandon Wagner 40 Laps 9-#29 Sebastian Saavedra 40 Laps 10-#22 Adrian Campos, Jr. 40 Laps 11-#10 Gustavo Yacamen 40 Laps 12-#18 Rodrigo Barbosa 40 Laps 13-#32 J.K. Vernay 34 Laps 14-#4 Arie Luyendyk, Jr. 24 Laps 15-#17 Jeff Simmons 2 Laps 16-#11 Pippa Mann 2 Laps

Wade Cunningham celebrates his third Indy Lights Freedom 100 victory. [Russ Lake Photo]

Action in the Indy Lights Freedom 100 race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. [Russ Lake Photo]

Fastest driver of the day, and Indy 500 front row starter, Dario Franchitti, at speed on the track with rookie driver Ana Beatriz (#25), and Indy 500 veteran Vitor Meira (#14). [Russ Lake Photo]

Graham Rahal (#30) and three-time Indianapolis 500 winner, Helio Castroneves (#3), take a last few practice laps before Sunday’s Indy 500. [Russ Lake Photo]

E.J. Viso (#8), and Andretti Autosport driver, Marco Andretti, take part in final practice for the Indy 500 on Carb Day at the Speedway. [Russ lake Photo]

Bruno Junqueira goes under the checkered flag ending the one-hour Carb Day practice session for Sunday’s Indianapolis. [Russ lake Photo]

Helio Castroneves and his Team Penske crew earned $50,000 for winning the IZOD Indy 500 Pit Stop Challenge. [Russ Lake Photo]

Team owners Roger Penske (left) and Chip Ganassi pose with the Harley J. Earl Trophy, presented to the winner of the Daytona 500, and the Borg Warner Trophy, presented to the winner of the Indianapolis 500. Penske and Ganassi are the only two team owners to have won both prestigious events. Ganassi is attempting to be the first owner to claim both trophies in the same year. [Russ Lake Photo]

May 27, Thursday – The Firestone Indy Lights took center stage at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway today, as the track re-opened after being closed for three days following Indianapolis 500 qualifying.

Practice and qualifying were held today for the Firestone Indy Lights Freedom 100. The 40-lap race will take the green at 12:30 p.m. Tomorrow as part of a busy Carb Day at the track. In the first practice session, which started at 9:00 a.m., drivers were apparently very eager to get on the track as Adrian Campos, Jr. and James Hinchcliffe almost collided on the pit road, allowing Firestone Indy Lights veteran, Wade Cunningham, to be the first out for practice. During the session, Daniel Harrington shook down Dan Clarke’s car and Arie Luyendyk, Jr. shook down the car scheduled to be driven by Carmen Jorda. Harrington is not entered in the race, while Luyendyk is scheduled to drive a team car to Jorda’s. The session ended without incident. Luyendyk did not practice in his car, but stayed in Jorda’s for the entire session. When the session ended at 9:45, Firestone Indy Lights and IndyCar veteran Jeff Simmons was fastest at a speed of 190.674 mph, while Gustavo Yacaman was second at 190.444 mph and Charlie Kimball was third fastest at 190.110 mph. When the second practice session began at 11:45 a.m., the ambient and track temperatures had increased significantly, slowing practice speeds. The only yellow of the session was for a tow-in of Rodrigo Barbosa, who ran out of fuel on the track. Martin Plowman set the quickest speed of the session at 187.973 mph, considerably slower than most of the speeds set in the earlier session. In fact, only one driver, Philip Major, posted a faster speed in the second session than his top speed in the first session. It was announced that Anderson Racing car #5 had been withdrawn from the field and Luyendyk would drive the #4 Anderson Racing entry, replacing Jorda. When qualifying started at 3:00 p.m., the track temperature was 120, which was higher than at the start of either of the practice sessions. The first car out to qualify was driven by Brandon Wagner. After taking the green, the car stopped on the course, out of fuel. “We had to make a quick motor change before qualifying and the guys were thrashing as best they could, but we just ran out of fuel. Coming to the green, it just went out of fuel,” Wagner said. “It’s just frustrating. The guys worked hard, and to have something small like this happen, it’s frustrating for everybody,” he added. From that point forward, qualifying proceeded without incident. At the end, Pippa Mann sat on the pole with a speed of 187.989 mph. It is her first pole in the Firestone Indy Lights and only the second time a female driver has captured a Firestone Indy Lights pole. “These guys just gave me an awesome car. They gave me just a fantastic car. I just went out there and did my best to pedal it,” She exclaimed. “It was just awesome out there. I didn’t expect the car to be that fast in clean air. I knew I had a fantastic car in traffic, but I was quicker than I thought I would be in clean air. I’m really, really excited,” she said. A total of 16 cars will start the Freedom 100 tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. (Eastern time). Starting Line-up 2010 Freedom 100 Row 1 – #11 Pippa Mann 187.989 mph, #77 Wade Cunningham 187.742 mph Row 2 – #26 Charlie Kimball 187.375 mph, #27 Martin Plowman 187.209 mph Row 3 – #17 Jeff Simmons 187.168 mph, #7 J.K. Vernay 186.455 mph Row 4 – #49 Philip Major 185.965 mph, #2 James Hinchcliffe 185.756 mph Row 5 – #10 Gustavo Yacaman 185.691 mph, #40 Dan Clarke 185.624 mph Row 6 – #22 Adrian Campos, Jr. 185.431 mph, #29 Sebastian Saavedra 185.284 mph Row 7 – #28 Stefan Wilson 184.085 mph, #18 Rodrigo Barbosa 183.563 mph Row 8 – #4 Arie Luyendyk, Jr. 183.479 mph, #32 Brandon Wagner No Speed

Pippa Mann proudly displays the $5,000 check she received as the fastest qualifier for the Freedom 100 Firestone Indy Lights race. [Russ Lake Photo]

Veteran Firestone Indy Lights driver, Pippa Mann, claimed the pole for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Firestone Indy Lights Freedom 100 with a speed of 187.989 mph. [Russ Lake Photo]

Defending Firestone Indy Lights Freedom 100 winner and 2006 winner, Wade Cunningham, will start on the outside of the front row for the Freedom 100. [Russ Lake Photo]

Takuma Sato, took his #5 Lotus on the track along side the Lotus 38 #83 driven to seventh place in the 1965 Indianapolis 500 by Bobby Johns. Jimmy Vasser, drove the historic Lotus for two demonstration laps. [Russ Lake Photo]

May 23, Sunday – It’s Bump Day. The final day of qualifying, traditionally the fourth day, but this year, the second day of qualifying, is traditionally known as “Bump Day”.

There are nine spots to be filled today, after the first 24 spots in the field were filled yesterday. After those nine spots are filled, bumping will begin. Bumping is the procedure used to put the fastest cars in the field. When the field has 33 cars qualified, and a four-lap average speed faster than the slowest car in the field is recorded, the slowest car will be bumped out and the faster car will be in the race. The cars that qualify today will line up behind the 24 cars qualified yesterday, even if the fastest speed today is faster than the slowest speed yesterday. Cars that qualified yesterday can be bumped after the field is filled. A question about bump speeds arose last night after Hideki Mutoh and Ed Carpenter, members of the “Fast Nine”, recorded slower speeds in the second qualifying session than they did in the first session. It was determined that, for bumping purposes, the speed that put them in the “Fast Nine” is the speed that would be used to determine bumping order. Today, practice was scheduled from 9:00 – 10:00 a.m. And qualifications from Noon – 6:00 p.m. (If no cars are in line to qualify, the track will be open for practice.) Driver Takuma Sato, who crashed yesterday, was checked out and released by Methodist Hospital. The Speedway medical staff has cleared him to drive. It was announced prior to practice that Bruno Junquiera will drive the #33 car and attempt to qualify today after practicing this morning. At 9:21 a.m., in practice, Tony Kanaan did a quarter-spin to the left exiting Turn 1 and hit the outside wall with the left rear of the car. Kanaan then did a full spin in the short chute between Turns 1 and 2 and made secondary contact with the SAFER Barrier in Turn 2 with the right rear of the car. The car continued to slide before stopping in Turn 2. Kanaan was unhurt, and was cleared by the medical staff to drive. It was Kanaan’s second crash in two days. The team had to put together another car from pieces of other Andretti Autosport back-up cars, but had Kanaan back out on the track for practice by early afternoon. Prior to qualifications, it was announced by the A.J. Foyt Racing Team, that A.J. Foyt IV had stepped out of the car and will be replaced by Jaques Lazier. Foyt, who was the first car out to qualify yesterday, posted a speed of 223.992 mph, and was later bumped. The temperature was already 85 and still climbing when qualifications began promptly at noon. John Andretti was the first car out to qualify. He was promptly followed by 10 other cars. All completed a qualification attempt except Milka Duno, who completed three laps not fast enough to make the field, and waved off the attempt. The last car out, Jay Howard, bumped the slowest car ahead of him, Takuma Sato. Bruno Junquiera, who did not have a ride until this morning, practiced for just eight laps, and turned in a four-lap qualifying run at 225.662 mph, which would have put him in the top nine yesterday. The car had been in the garage all week and Junqueira had been at the track since Tuesday. The money to sponsor the car came in after his teammate, Alex Tagliani, qualified in the “Fast Nine” yesterday. After qualifying, Junqueira commented on the situation. “First I have to thank B&W and the FAZZT Team. They stepped up at the last minute when I didn’t get the money,” He said. “B&W said, ‘No, you are part of the team, and we want to help your car as well.’ So they made it possible. This money was short notice. I knew it was going to be difficult,” he added. “I have to thank the team. They gave me a good car. I think it says a lot about my experience. I have always enjoyed and felt very comfortable in Indianapolis. I know my way to go really fast here. But they gave me a fast car, as well,” he said of his run. At 4:50 p.m., Sebastian Saavedra, who was the car on the “bubble,” crashed during practice. He did a half-spin to the left in Turn 1 and hit the SAFER Barrier with the rear of the car. The car slid through the sort chute between Turns 1 and 2 and stopped in Turn 2. Saavedra was assisted from the car by the safety team. He was awake and alert, but was transported to Methodist Hospital for tests and evaluation after complaining of back pain. After 5:15 p.m., the fun and games of bump day began. It turned out to be the wildest 45 minutes of qualifying at the Speedway in many years. At 5:19 p.m., Tony Kannan took to the track for a qualification attempt. He posted a speed of 224.072 mph., which bumped Saavedra. Next, Jaques Lazier went out in the #41 and took four laps not fast enough to bump his way into the field. At 5:33 p.m., Mario Romancini, who was on the bubble at 223.805 mph, withdrew his time to re-qualify. The gamble paid off as he posted a much faster speed of 224.641 mph. This put Jay Howard on the bubble at 223.824 mph. Milka Duno took to the track next and waved off her attempt after the second lap. This is when things really started to get interesting. At 5:41 p.m., Takuma Sato, who crashed yesterday, qualified at 224.178 mph, bumping Jay Howard from the field and putting Paul Tracy on the bubble. Howard then went back out on the track and posted a four-lap average of 223.824 mph, which was not fast enough to bump Tracy’s speed of 223.892 mph. Tracy then withdrew his speed and attempted to re-qualify. However, he took two laps too slow to get back in the field and waved off the attempt, putting Howard’s speed of 223.824 mph in the field. After Tracy, Jaques Lazier went out on his third attempt. The car was extremely loose on his warm-up lap and he pulled in without taking the green flag. Next, Milka Duno went out for her third, and last, qualifying attempt. She took one lap too slow to make the field and pulled in. With Paul Tracy still in line, Howard, still on the bubble, gambled and withdrew his speed of 223.824 mph. This put Saavedra, who was originally bumped by Kanaan, back in the field with a speed of 223.634 mph. As Howard was out on the track, the 6:00 p.m. Gun sounded. The first two laps of the run were fast enough to put him back in the field, but his last two laps slowed his average for the four-laps to 223.120, not fast enough to get back in the race. This left Saavedra the slowest in the field with a speed of 223.643 mph, with a car he crashed earlier in the day. When the smoke cleared, veterans Milka Duno, Paul Tracy and Jacques Lazier, and rookie Jay Howard, who had been the fastest of the rookies in most of the practice sessions, on the outside looking in. All in all, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is an unpredictable place. That’s part of what makes the Indianapolis 500, “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.” Starting Line-up 2010 Indianapolis 500: Row 1 #3 Helio Castroneves 227.970 mph #12 Will Power 227.578 mph #10T Dario Franchitti 226.990 mph Row 2 #6 Ryan Briscoe 226.554 mph #77 Alex Tagliani 226.390 mph #9 Scott Dixon 226.223 mph Row 3 #30 Graham Rahal 225.519 mph #20 Ed Carpenter 224.507 mph #06 Hideki Mutoh 223.487 mph Row 4 #99 Townsend Bell 225.097 mph #22 Justin Wilson 225.050 mph #2 Raphael Matos 225.028 mph Row 5 #32 Mario Moraes 224.888 mph #21 Davey Hamilton 224.852 mph #24 Mike Conway 224.583 mph Row 6 #26 Marco Andretti 224.575 mph #37 Ryan Hunter-Reay 224.547 mph #4 Dan Wheldon 224.464 mph Row 7 #8T E.J. Viso 224.380 mph #23 Tomas Scheckter 224.261 mph #25 Ana Beatriz 224.243 mph Row 8 #78 Simona De Silvestro 224.228 mph #7 Danica Patrick 224.217 mph #36 Bertrand Baguette 224.189 mph Row 9 #33 Bruno Junqueira 225.662 mph #19 Alex Lloyd 224.783 mph #34 Mario Romancini 224.641 mph Row 10 #43 John Andretti 224.518 mph #67 Sarah Fisher 224.434 mph #14 Vitor Meira 224.388 mph Row 11 #5 Takuma Sato 224.178 mph #11T Tony Kanaan 224.072 mph #29 Sebastian Saavedra 223.634 mph

Bruno Junqueira, whose deal to drive was put together Sunday morning, only ran eight practice laps in his car before posting the fastest qualifying speed of the day at 225.662 mph. [Russ Lake Photo]

An emotional Paul Tracy after missing the field for the Indy 500. The team withdrew a speed they considered too slow, to try to re-qualify. In the end, the speed they withdrew would have made the race. [Russ Lake Photo]

A relieved Tony Kanaan posed with his crew after finally qualifying for the Indy 500 at 5:23 p.m. Sunday. He will start in the middle of the row 11. [Russ Lake Photo]

Tony Kanaan crashed for the second time in two days, in Sunday morning practice. The crew borrowed parts from other Andretti Autosports cars to put together a car for Kanaan to qualify. He made it into the field at 5:23 p.m. [Russ Lake Photo]

Jay Howard’s car is pushed into line for a final qualifying attempt. The attempt was unsuccessful and he did not qualify for the race. [Russ Lake Photo]

Saturday, May 22 – Pole day, the day of the new qualifying format, which has been the talk of the Speedway, has arrived.

Three sessions of practice were scheduled before qualifying. In the second practice session, rookie driver Takuma Sato, made hard contact with the outside Turn 2 wall and slid almost halfway down the backstretch. He was transported to Methodist Hospital from the track hospital for x-rays and further evaluation. When qualifying opened, 29 cars completed qualifying attempts for the 24 spots in the field available today, bumping five cars from the line-up. Near the end of the session, Mario Moraes, on the fourth lap of his qualifying attempt, did a quarter-spin to the left in Turn 2, backed into the wall at the exit of Turn 2, and continued down the track stopping in the grass on the inside of the backstretch. A few minutes later, Tony Kanaan, who had just taken the green, did a half-spin to the left exiting Turn 1, slid through the short chute between Turns 1 and 2, did a half-spin to the right and hit the SAFER Barrier in Turn 2 with the right rear end, then with the right side of the car. The car continued through Turn 2 before stopping. Neither Moraes nor Kanaan were injured. After the initial flurry of qualifications, the track re-opened for practice and/or qualification attempts. Several cars qualified for the field and several cars were bumped, but the “Fast Nine” remained the same after the initial qualification session. Both Helio Castroneves and Will Power withdrew their times to re-qualify. Both ended up faster and preliminarily positioned themselves as the two fastest cars in the field. The reason both re-qualified in an attempt to boost their speeds was that race day pit positions were determined by the positions qualified for in the first qualifying session. When all was said and done, the “Fast Nine” were, in order: Helio Castroneves, Will Power, Alex Taglianai, Dario Franchitti, Scott Dixon, Graham Rahal, Hideki Mutoh, Ryan Briscoe and Ed Carpenter. There were several surprises in the top nine. Taglianai and Mutoh are from teams that are not considered top-notch teams, but both had posted quick speeds during practice. Bigger surprises were Rahal and Carpenter, who are both competing at Indianapolis only, and not in the full IZOD IndyCar Series. Neither had been among the speed leaders prior to qualifying. As expected, both Target/Ganassi drivers and all three Team Penske drivers made it into the top nine. Perhaps the biggest surprise was the relatively poor performance of all the Andretti Autosport cars. None of the five cars on the team made the “Fast Nine.” In fact, the highest position of any of the three team cars already in the field, is the inside of Row 6. That space is occupied by Marco Andretti, with his teammate Ryan Hunter-Reay next to him. Hunter-Reay was bumped once and had to re-qualify. Their teammate, Danica Patrick, had her poorest qualifying performance ever, as she will start in the middle of Row 8. Kanaan crashed, as noted above, and the fifth team car, driven by John Andretti, did not qualify today. When the nine went out for the shoot-out, the first driver out, Castroneves set a blistering pace, turning the fastest laps since the track opened with two laps well over 228 mph, and a four-lap average of 227.970 mph. After one time through the line, the drivers were allowed to keep their times and go back on the track for more attempts to improve their position, but no one could come close to Castroneves’ speed. After the second session ended, Castroneves was still on the pole and talked about his run. “I wanted to put the others in a panic mode,” he said. “They kept trying (to beat me) and they came close,” he added. “We really reached the limit. You’ve got to know to go at the right time and we went at the right time,” he concluded. Qualifying resumes tomorrow at noon. The final nine positions in the field will be filled and then bumping will begin. The track will close at 6:00 p.m. Provisional starting Line-up 2010 Indianapolis 500 The provisional field line-up after the first day of qualifying: Row 1 #3 Helio Castroneves 227.970 mph, #12 Will Power 227.578 mph, #10T Dario Franchitti 226.990 mph Row 2 #6 Ryan Briscoe 226.554 mph, #77 Alex Tagliani 226.390 mph, #9 Scott Dixon 226.223 mph Row 3 #30 Graham Rahal 225.519 mph, #20 Ed Carpenter 224.507 mph, #06 Hideki Mutoh 223.487 mph Row 4 #99 Townsend Bell 225.097 mph, #22 Justin Wilson 225.050 mph, #2 Raphael Matos 225.028 mph Row 5 #32 Mario Moraes 224.888 mph, #21 Davey Hamilton 224.852 mph, #24 Mike Conway 224.583 mph Row 6 #26 Marco Andretti 224.575 mph, #37 Ryan Hunter-Reay 224.547 mph, #4 Dan Wheldon 224.464 mph Row 7 #8T E.J. Viso 224.380 mph, #23 Tomas Scheckter 224.261 mph, #25 Ana Beatriz 224.243 mph Row 8 #78 Simona De Silvestro 224.228 mph, #7 Danica Patrick 224.217 mph, #36 Bertrand Baguette 224.189 mph

Pole winner Helio Castroneves is flanked by Team Owner, Roger Penske (left), and Penske President of Competition, Tim Cindric. [Russ Lake Photo]

Driver Ed Carpenter was a surprise member of the “Fast Nine”. Carpenter has a one-off ride for the race, qualifying ninth. He had not previously been high on the speed charts. [Russ Lake Photo]

Ana Beatriz was the fastest rookie qualifier today. She will start her first Indianapolis 500 from the outside of Row 7 after posting a speed of 224.243 mph. [Russ Lake Photo]

Friday, May 21 – The start of today’s practice session was delayed for a few minutes due to wet track conditions left from last night’s heavy rain.

Intermittent sprinkles in the afternoon brought out periodic yellows, but the field was able to get in 1,308 laps of practice. Helio Castroneves was fastest for the third time since practice began with a speed of 226.558 mph. He was fastest the first two days of practice and still holds the overall fastest speed of 227.046 mph, set on Sunday, May 16. Second fast for the day was Will Power at a speed of 226.429 mph. It was the fastest speed that Power has posted since practice started on Saturday, May 15. Third quickest today was Alex Tagliani, who recorded a lap of 226.153 mph, while Scott Dixon was fourth fast at 225.828 mph and Mario Moraes rounded out the top five at 225.806 mph. Most of the discussion and press conference questions this week have centered around two subjects: The lousy weather which has shortened practice considerably, and the new qualifying format. In the shortened format, the inclement weather has left teams scrambling to have enough time to practice both qualifying and race setups. In the past, with practice time after qualifying, teams were able to concentrate on race setup after they were safely in the race. The new qualifying format has the top teams strategizing on how to approach qualifying. 24 cars are to be qualified on Saturday, but all the emphasis has been on the top nine spots. The top nine speeds will be erased at 4:00 p.m. Saturday. These cars will be guaranteed a spot in the top nine, but will have to re-qualify to determine their actual starting position. The overall consensus among the teams is that Team Penske drivers, Helio Castroneves and Will Power, plus Target/Chip Ganassi drivers Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon will dominate the top spots. Others in the hunt will be the four regular Andretti Autosport drivers, Tony Kanaan, Danica Patrick, Marco Andretti and Ryan Hunter-Reay. Other drivers that have been fast include Alex Tagliani, Mario Moraes, Hideki Mutoh and Paul Tracy. The “Fast Nine” qualifying is expected to add quite a bit of excitement for the fans but puts additional stress on the drivers and teams. How the new format worked and what the results were will be known on Saturday night.

Team Penske driver, Will Power, was second quickest in today’s practice. He is expected to be one of the drivers competing for the top nine spots in qualifying tomorrow. [Russ Lake Photo]

Target/Ganassi Racing annual press conference. Left to right are Managing Director Mike Hull, drivers Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti and team owner Chip Ganassi. [Russ Lake Photo]

Team Penske press conference. Left to right are team owner Roger Penske, President, Penske Performance, Inc., Tim Cindric, team consultant Rick Mears and drivers Helio Castroneves, Ryan Briscoe and Will Power. [Russ Lake Photo]

Thursday, May 20 – The track opened promptly at noon and a number of cars quickly took to the track to practice in the bit of clear weather available today.

The top two speeds of the day were set in the first half-hour of track time. Tony Kanaan topped the speed charts for the first time with a quick lap of 226.775 mph. Paul Tracy was second fastest at 226.322 mph. It was the first time Tracy cracked the top five in speeds. Hideki Mutoh posted the third quick speed just a few minutes later at 226.230 mph. Unfortunately, the rain returned to The Speedway this afternoon. A drizzle put the track under yellow several times before a steady rain closed the track for the day shortly after 5:00 p.m. During just under three hours of green flag time, 1,445 laps were run. All told, 37 drivers in 36 cars practiced today. Veteran driver Bruno Junqueira, making his first appearance on the track, shook down the #29 car for rookie driver Sebastian Saavedra. Both Kanaan and Tracy participated in the post-practice press conference. In a rather animated discussion, they discussed preparations for qualifying on Saturday. “We worked on qualifying today,” said Kanaan. “It’s a very tight field, so I’m happy. It’s a step in the right direction.” “I don’t see anybody but the three Penske or the two Ganassi cars having a shot at the pole'” Kanaan added. Tracy, who is running the race on a one-off deal, commented on today’s fast lap and on qualifying. “I had a great day today. Tony (Kanaan) gave me a tow for my quick lap today. Our goal is to shoot for the top nine,” he said.

Team Penske driver, Ryan Briscoe, looks at practice times on one of the large screens while waiting to go out for practice. [Russ Lake Photo]

Dario Franchitti is suited up and preparing to go out for practice. [Russ Lake Photo]

Danica Patrick’s sponsor, “GoDaddy.com,” is prominently displayed in several places in the cockpit of her car and on her helmet. [Russ Lake Photo]

Drivers Tony Kanaan and Paul Tracy, the two fastest of the day, clowned around during the post-practice press conference. [Russ Lake Photo]

Wednesday, May 19 – Driver E.J. Viso, who crashed yesterday and was transported to Methodist Hospital, was released from the hospital Tuesday night after x-rays were negative. He was cleared to drive today by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway medical team.

The track opened at noon as scheduled. It was another busy day of practice as 35 cars were out on the track at some point during the day, and ran a total of 2,262 laps without any serious incidents. For the second straight day, Target/Chip Ganassi Racing driver Scott Dixon posted the top speed at 226.971 mph. Second on the speed chart was Team Penske driver Ryan Briscoe at 226.633 mph. Alex Tagliani, who was in the top five for the second straight day, was third quick at 226.002 mph. Fourth fastest was Japanese driver Hideki Mutoh, who turned in a lap at 225.926 mph, while Dixon’s teammate. Dario Franchitti, recorded a lap at 225.850 mph. Taglianai did not get on the track until Sunday as he is still recovering from a severe case of bronchitis, which put him in Methodist Hospital for two days last week. “I feel blah today. I have a sore throat today. I’ve been at the race track the last couple of days, but it’s not the best scenario,” he said after practice today. “As soon as you’re driving you feel better. I had 13 laps (his total track time) when I felt better today,” he added. Taglianai concluded by saying, “When we put the car on the track it was fast. The car is very comfortable out there. There was not a point to continue today. The temperature will be quite different on Saturday.” Helio Castroneves still holds the fastest lap since track opened with a speed of 227.046 mph, which was set on Sunday, May 16.

Target/Chip Ganassi Racing driver Scott Dixon was fastest for the second day in a row with a speed of 226.971. [Russ Lake Photo]

Andretti Autosport Senor Vice-President of Racing Operations, Tom Anderson (left), consults with team owner, Michael Andretti, on pit lane. [Russ Lake Photo]

Legendary driver/team owner A.J. Foyt Jr. checks notes with his grandson and driver, A.J. Foyt IV. [Russ Lake Photo]

In the post-session press conference, third-quick driver, Alex Tagliani discusses his fast lap and his ongoing recovery from serious bronchitis. [Russ Lake Photo]

Will Power discusses his day, and Team Penske, during the post-race press conference. [Russ Lake Photo]

Tuesday, May 18 – The rain finally stopped and the track was dried. Despite heavy clouds, the rain held off, allowing practice to start at 1:06 p.m., 66 minutes later than the scheduled starting time. A brief yellow came out for debris at 1:43 p.m. And lasted for four minutes.

In the next half-hour, some of the fastest speeds of the day were set. Scott Dixon turned in a lap at 226.549 mph, which turned out to be the quickest of the day. Mario Moraes recorded the second-quickest lap at 225.913, and Alex Tagliani had the fourth quick speed at 225.394 mph. A bit later in the afternoon, Moraes brought out the yellow. He did a half-spin in the acceleration lane coming out of the pits and hit the inside wall twice with the rear of the car, causing slight damage to the rear wing. Moraes continued around the track and into the pits. The other fast speeds of the day were recorded by Marco Andretti who was third-fastest at 225.751 mph, and Dan Wheldon, who rebounded from his crash on Sunday, to set a speed of 225.378 mph, fifth fastest of the day. After a brief yellow for moisture on the track, cars returned to the track for the final few laps of the day. With just ten minutes left in the session, E.J. Viso did a quarter-spin to the left in Turn 1 and backed into the SAFER Barrier at the exit of Turn 1. The car slid down the short chute between Turns 1 and 2, doing 1 and spins to the right before stopping on the apron at the entrance of Turn 2. There was heavy damage to the rear of the car. Viso was removed from the car and placed on a stretcher. He was reported to be awake and alert but was transported to Methodist Hospital, complaining of back pain. Following Viso’s accident the track was closed for the day. It was a very busy afternoon as 36 cars took to the track for a total of 1,590 laps.

Helio Castroneves looks at the many computer readouts, switches and indicators in the cockpit as he prepares to go out for practice. [Russ Lake Photo]

Scott Dixon, who turned in the quickest lap of the day, signed an autograph for an awe-struck youngster. [Russ Lake Photo]

Alex Tagliani, fourth quickest of the day checked things out on the scoring monitor in the pits. [Russ Lake Photo]

Izod IndyCar Series banners with driver names are used to indentify the location of the driver’s garages and, at tracks without garages, are used to mark each transporter. [Russ Lake Photo]

Monday, May 17 – Persistent rain and wet grounds were the story of the day. The rain showers did not abate and, with no track activity, the track was officially closed for the day at 2:30 p.m.

The wet weather is presenting a problem for the teams. The already shortened practice time has put pressure on the teams to prepare both qualifying and race set-ups, basically at the same time. The wet weather only makes the time shorter. Hopes are high for better weather tomorrow, but a chance of showers is still in the forecast.

Sunday, May 16 – Due to the rain yesterday, the track opened an hour early to allow the rookies more time on the track. The cars were on the track at 11:00 a.m., but the green was only out for three minutes and 42 seconds before it went yellow for light rain.

After a 32-minute delay, cars returned to the track. The session continued until 2:10 p.m., ending 45 minutes early due to the fact that all but one driver had completed refresher tests and the Rookie Orientation Program. The lone exception was Sebastian Saavedra, who completed the first two phases, then encountered mechanical problems. It is expected he will be allowed to complete the last two phases of the test. Jay Howard had the fastest lap of the session with a speed of 222.789. At 2:15, the track was then open for practice for all cars. Despite brief yellows for light rain and debris on the track, 33 cars took to the track for practice. During the session, Saavedra finished his Rookie Orientation Program. Right after the track went green following a light shower, Ryan Hunter-Reay did a half-spin in the acceleration lane onto the track, with no damage to the car. The first serious incident since the track opened occurred just a few minutes later when Dan Wheldon slowed, then did a half-spin and hit the outside wall in Turn 4. Scott Dixon was running with Wheldon and commented on the incident. “”Wheldon has a hesitation in the short chute and was already off the pace when he hit the wall. Something mechanical must have happened to the car.” Wheldon suffered a bruised right foot, but the injury was not considered serious. The final yellow of the day came out for rain at 5:21 p.m. And the track was closed for the day 24 minutes early at 5:36 p.m. Helio Castroneves ended the day with the fastest speed of the month thus far at 227.046 mph. Scott Dixon, second fastest of the day at 226.202 mph, and Simona De Silvestro, one of the two female rookies, were the guests at the post-practice press conference. Dixon ran only 14 laps today and spoke of the importance of conserving tires as Firestone allows 33 sets of tires per car for practice, qualifying and the race. “We only ran one set of tires today and anticipate running them again,” Dixon said. “We need to conserve tires for later in the week.” “I think the weather will be a challenge this week. The shortened time period makes this a new ball game for everyone,” he commented. De Silvestro is learning to drive the ovals. “I really respect the ovals. The first time on an oval is a real eye-opener. To be part of the ovals is really cool,” she said.

Danica Patrick prepares to go out for practice. [Russ Lake Photo]

Michael Andretti (left) and son/team driver Marco Andretti sit on the pit wall. [Russ Lake Photo]

Paul Tracy talks on pit lane about his Geico Racing, KV technologies car. [Russ Lake Photo]

Rookie Simona De Silvestro and 2008 winner, Scott Dixon, discuss the day in the post-practice press conference. [Russ Lake Photo]

Helio Castroneves, fastest in today’s practice, waits to take to the track. [Russ Lake Photo]

Saturday, May 15 – The Indianapolis Motor Speedway officially opened for practice at noon today.

Prior to the opening, Bobby and Graham Rahal announced that the dietary product, Quick Trim, would be sponsoring the Rahal Letterman Racing car, which will be driven by Graham Rahal. Veteran drivers were on the track from noon – 2:00 p.m., while the rookies took to the track for the Rookie Orientation Program (ROP) from 2:00 – 6:00 p.m. The seven rookies entered for this year’s race; Takuma Sato, Ana Beatriz, Sebastian Saavedra, Mario Romancini, Bertrand Baguette, Jay Howard and Simona De Silvestro, will be participating in the ROP. The ROP consists of four phases. Each driver must complete 10 laps each at (A) 200-205 mph, (B) 205-210 mph, (C) 210-215 mph and (D) over 215 mph. The drivers must complete all four phases today and tomorrow (or receive special permission to finish later) in order to attempt to qualify for the Indy 500. At noon, Helio Castoneves took the ceremonial first lap of the track, receiving the green flag from Indianapolis mayor, Greg Ballard. When the track officially opened for practice, it was quickly a busy place. In the first 45 minutes of practice, 25 car and driver combinations made appearances on the track. Tony Kanaan, lead driver for Andretti Motorsport, was the busiest driver as he shook down all four of his teammates cars (those of Danica Patrick, Marco Andretti, Ryan Hunter-Reay and John Andretti) before he practiced in his own car. The practice session was halted a few minutes early due to a steady light rain. In total, 451 laps were run in the session, without incident, by 27 car and driver combinations. Only two yellows interrupted the session. One was for debris on the track, which lasted four minutes, and the other was for 17 minutes for a light rain shower. Helio Castroneves got right down to business and recorded the fastest lap in the session of 226.603. Dario Franchitti was just a tick slower at 226.535 mph. After the session, Castroneves was pleased with his run. “It’s always good to start in a positive way,” he said. Franchitti only turned in a total of five laps and was quick right away. He commented about the fast lap, “It was a shakedown day for Team Target. I got a nice tow (on the quick lap) from TK (Tony Kaanan.)” In addition to the ROP, some Indy veterans are required to take a track refresher, which consists of the third and fourth phases of ROP. Veterans who have not run on an oval in the past year or have not run an IZOD IndyCar Series race in the past year are required to take the refresher. These drivers are Tomas Scheckter, Townsend Bell, Graham Rahal, Davey Hamilton and A.J. Foyt IV. Following the veterans, some of the rookies and the drivers required to take a refresher took to the track. The track was green for just 10:23 minutes and only 14 laps were run before a light rain shut down the track for just over two and one-half hours. The track reopened for a short time after the showers before a yellow for debris on the track, followed by another set of showers, closed it for the day. During the brief dry periods, 11 cars were on the track for a total of 146 laps. Of the rookies, Jay Howard was fastest at 215.039 mph, with Ana Beatriz second quick at 213.802 mph. Both are veterans of the Firestone Indy Lights Series. Howard, who has waited a long time for a chance to drive in the Indianapolis 500, was happy with his performance today. “It felt good this afternoon. I’m excited, I’m relaxed and I feel good. I’m enjoying my experience with Sarah Fisher Racing. It’s nice to have a good working relationship. I think having Sarah as a teammate is a good thing,” he said. Ana Beatriz was philosophical about her brief run today. “We couldn’t run as much today as we wanted to,” she said. “We went through two phases. I’m very happy with what I accomplished today,” she added. Despite the brief amount of track time, De Silvestro, Sato and Beatriz completed the first two phases of the ROP. Saavedra completed the first phase and Scheckter, Rahal and Bell completed their refresher tests. Both veterans and rookies will return to the track tomorrow if the weather cooperates. However, the forecast is for rain throughout the day.

Helio Castroneves. [Russ Lake Photo]

Dario Franchitti. [Russ Lake Photo]

Ana Beatriz. [Russ Lake Photo]

Jay Howard. [Russ Lake Photo]

Pace cars hit the track. [Russ Lake Photo]

Graham and Bobby Rahal announce that Graham will be driving for Rahal Letterman in this year’s Indy 500. [Russ Lake Photo]

Previous winners entered in this year’s Indy 500, Dario Franchitti, Dan Wheldon, Helio Castroneves and Scott Dixon. [Russ Lake Photo]

May 14 – Although the Indianapolis Motor Speedway does not officially open for practice for the Indianapolis 500 until tomorrow, the Firestone Indy Lights were on the track today. It will be the only chance for the IZOD Indycar Series support series, to get on the track until they practice and qualify on Thursday, May 27 for the Friday, May 28 Freedom 100 race at the track.

16 car and driver combinations took to the track for the two-hour morning practice session for a total of 502 laps. Among those practicing were Indy 500 rookie Sebastian Saavedra, an Indy Lights veteran, who took advantage of the additional track time and plans to run both the Freedom 100 and the Indianapolis 500, and IndyCar and Indy Lights veteran Jeff Simmons. When the session ended, sophomore Indy Lights driver, Charlie Kimball, who currently sits second in series points, was the fastest with a speed of 190.080 mph. Jeff Simmons was second fastest with a speed of 189.763 mph and Martin Plowman was third at 189.731mph. Pippa Mann was fourth quick with a speed of 189.534 mph. The top speed in the three-hour afternoon session, and overall fastest of the day, was recorded by Gustavo Yacaman at a speed of 190.511 mph. Mann was just behind with a speed of 190.225 mph (second quickest overall,) while Simmons was third quick with a speed of 190.072 mph. Kimball was fourth on the afternoon speed chart at 189.864. 812 laps practice laps were completed by 15 cars in the afternoon session and 1,314 crash free laps were run during the five total hours of practice.

Sophomore Indy Lights driver, Charlie Kimball was the fastest of the first session of the day. [Russ Lake Photo]

Gustavo Yacaman turned the fastes Indy Lights lap of the day at a speed of 190/511mph. [Russ Lake Photo]

Pippa Mann turned some quick laps around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in her Indy Lights machine. [Russ Lake Photo]

by IndyCar Series
6/28/2007 INDYCAR SERIES NEWS AND NOTES June 28, 2007

The short track kings?: Short ovals over the past three IndyCar Series seasons have belonged to Team Penske and Andretti Green Racing. Will they continue to be the short track masters in the SunTrust Indy Challenge presented by XM at Richmond International Raceway?

The tracks: Phoenix (2005), Milwaukee (2005-present), Richmond (2005-present), Pikes Peak (2005), Iowa (2007). The lineup: Team Penske’s Sam Hornish Jr. and Helio Castroneves. Andretti Green Racing’s Tony Kanaan and Dario Franchitti. The results by team Team Penske: Qualifying (six pole starts, 11 other top-five starts) and race results (four victories, five other top-five finishes). AGR: Qualifying (0 pole starts; six top-five starts) and race results (three victories, seven other top-five finishes). Hornish won at the 0.75-mile Richmond bullring last year and Castroneves the year before. Kanaan and Franchitti have won the past three short track events on the IndyCar Series schedule. Richmond is the last of three short tracks (1 mile or less) on the schedule. All things being equal, Hornish likes his chances of repeating as champion. Richmond is a real drivers track, said Hornish, who led 212 of 250 laps last June. It takes a lot of finesse to be able to run well there, and Id like to think I have the hang of it since Ive been lucky enough to win twice. Last years race couldnt have gone any better for us. The car was perfect, the Team Penske crew did a great job, and most importantly, I was able to stay patient in traffic. Patience is the key at Richmond. You have to know when its safe to pass, which can be pretty difficult at times. Franchitti, who won earlier in the week at Iowa Speedway, has finished in the top three the past two years at Richmond. I really enjoy racing at Richmond, the series points leader said. It can be a difficult track because getting through traffic can be really tough. Weve had a couple of really good runs there the past two years, so hopefully we can keep the Canadian Club car up front with the leaders and challenge for another win. In the six years that the IndyCar Series has competed on the 0.75-mile D-shaped oval, the winner has claimed the series title three times. Every series champion has finished in the top five at Richmond during their title run. Richmond is a good barometer for the title because everyone has a good idea of where their cars need to be by this point, Hornish said.

Guest of IndyCar Series salutes Americas heroes: Donny Daughenbaugh remembers almost every step of his night foot patrol in Mahmoudiya, Iraq, south of Baghdad in October 2004 until the bullet struck his left cheekbone.

The AK-47 shell lodged between the Marine corporals skull base and his top vertebra, fracturing his jawbone and missing vital nerves and the brain by millimeters, hospital officials said. The Des Moines, Iowa, resident returned to the States to recover, and now hes seeking to raise awareness of what wounded American troops as the national spokesman for the Coalition to Salute Americas Heroes. Daughenbaugh was guest of Canadian Club and the IndyCar Series at Richmond International Raceway, receiving a ride in the Indy Racing Experience two-seater around the 0.75-mile bullring. He spoke at a fund-raising dinner/auction sponsored by Canadian Club later in the evening. When everything started turning sideways and the Gs kicked in, I was shocked, he said of the laps with driver Davey Hamilton. It was more than I expected. Daughenbaugh became involved with the Coalition to Salute Americas Heroes about 18 months ago. Now hes doing more than ever and loving it. The message is that a lot of our guys are coming back with injuries you dont hear about, he said. You hear about the killed and everyone coming back without injuries, but the ones you dont hear about are the wounded. Some of the dilemmas they face are beyond most peoples grasp. We pick up when troops come back. One of the recent programs the coalition has added is one for post-traumatic stress (psychiatrists and psychologists devote one hour a week to provide counseling to the soldiers). Im motivated to do more to spread the word and hopefully get as many people to help as I can. As citizens prepare to celebrate the Fourth of July holiday, Daughenbaugh stresses that servicemen and servicewomen around the world are helping to preserve Americas freedoms. I am extremely proud of what our troops are doing in Iraq and Afghanistan, he said. Regardless of someones opinions are on the war, America couldnt be what it is today without men and women sacrificing every day. Im very proud to have won the uniform that defends Americas position in the world.

Cunningham hopes to build momentum: Moments after Alex Lloyd pulled into Victory Circle at Iowa Speedway on June 23, the man he had followed for 105 of 115 laps came in and offered his sincere congratulations.

Wade Cunningham led the first 105 laps of the Iowa 100 from the pole in the No. 27 Automatic Fire Sprinklers, Inc., car before Lloyd ducked to the inside heading into Turn 1. I ran as narrow as I could, said Cunningham, the 2005 series champion who narrowly missed his fifth career Indy Pro Series victory. We were flat out the whole way. You know, Alex was obviously quicker than me. I would see that. I used everything I had to keep him behind me. He stayed there and stayed there, and I don’t think there was much more I could have done other than being in the steward’s office right now. He worked hard for that pass and he had it, and I don’t think I could have done anything more. Despite finishing second for the 11th-time in 32 starts, Cunningham remained upbeat about the weekend. Its been a long journey back to front, said Cunningham, whose previous best finish this season was a second at St. Petersburg in April. Weve had some mechanical and contact issues. We had three DNFs (out of the previous four races). This is our first finish in a while, or good finish. So just happy to get that and get on a roll before the next four in a row. The season, which is at the halfway point, shifts into high gear with a doubleheader weekend July 7-8 at Watkins Glen International. In a span of 10 weeks, the series will conduct eight races five on road courses and three on ovals. Of the five remaining venues where the Indy Pro Series raced last year, Cunningham finished in the top five at each. *** The 2007 IndyCar Series season continues with the SunTrust Indy Challenge on June 30 at Richmond International Raceway. The race will be telecast at 7:30 p.m. (ET) by ESPN and broadcast by the IMS Radio Network. The IMS Radio Network broadcast also is carried on XM Satellite Radio and www.indycar.com. The sixth season of Indy Pro Series competition continues with the Corning Twin 100s on July 7-8 at Watkins Glen International. The race will be telecast by ESPN2 at 5 p.m. (ET) on July 12. ESPN2s coverage of the Iowa 100 will be telecast at 5:30 p.m. (ET) on July 3

by Mary Champion
9/14/2009 Monday, Sept. 14 Tickets for the May 30, 2010 Indianapolis 500 went on sale Monday, September 14th. To commemorate the occasion, Johnny Rutherford took to the Speedway in the bright yellow #4 Pennzoil Chaparral/Cosworth with which he won his third Indy 500 on May 25, 1980. Wearing the same helmet he wore in 1980, Rutherford suited up and took the car, which is permanently housed in the Speedway Hall of Fame Museum, on to the Speedway for a couple of laps. After coming off the track, Rutherford commented, It has a few more creaks and groans then it had 30 years ago, but it was a real treat to drive it again. Tickets for the 2010 race, which is part of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Centennial Era, commemorating 100 years from the time the track was constructed in 1909 to the first running of the Indianapolis 500 in 1911, start as low as $20 and are available three different ways.

To purchase tickets online, visit the tickets section of indianapolismotorspeedway.com. Tickets may also be purchased by phone at 317-492-6700 or 800-822-INDY (4369), or in person at the IMS Administration Building at the corner of Georgetown Road and 16th Street in Speedway, Indiana.

Online order can be placed at any time. Phone order and in-person sales hours are from 8 a.m.5 p.m. (Eastern Time) Monday-Friday. To order tickets for groups of 20 or more, contact the IMS Group Sales Department at 866-221-8775 for more information.

by Mary Champion
5/24/2009

This is a brief review of each day’s activities at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway leading up to the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday, May 24.

Official Indianapolis 500 Finish May 24, 2009 1 # 3 Helio Castoneves 200 Laps Running 2 # 4 Dan Wheldon 200 Laps Running 3 # 7 Danica Patrick 200 Laps Running 4 # 8 Townsend Bell 200 Laps Running 5 #12 Will Power 200 Laps Running 6 # 9 Scott Dixon 200 Laps Running 7 #10 Dario Franchitti 200 Laps Running 8 #20 Ed Carpenter 200 Laps Running 9 #15 Paul Tracy 200 Laps Running 10 #27 Hideki Mutoh 200 Laps Running 11 #36 Alex Tagliani 200 Laps Running 12 # 7 Tomas Scheckter 200 Laps Running 13 #99 Alex Lloyd 200 Laps Running 14 #16 Scott Sharp 200 Laps Running 15 # 6 Ryan Briscoe 200 Laps Running 16 #41 A.J. Foyt 200 Laps Running 17 #67 Sarah Fisher 200 Laps Running 18 #24 Mike Conway 200 Laps Running 19 #43 John Andretti 200 Laps Running 20 #23 Milka Duno 199 Laps 200 Laps Running 21 #14 Vitor Meira 173 Laps Contact 22 # 2 Raphael Matos 173 Laps Contact 23 #18 Justin Wilson 160 Laps Contact 24 #13 E.J. Viso 139 Laps Mechanical 25 #00 Nelson Philippe 130 Laps Contact 26 #17 Oriol Servia 98 Laps Mechanical 27 #11 Tony Kanaan 97 Laps Contact 28 #08 Robert Boornbos 85 Laps Contact 29 #44 Davey Hamilton 79 Laps Contact 30 #26 Marco Andretti 56 Laps Handling 31 #02 Graham Rahal 55 Laps Contact 32 #21 Ryan Hunter-Reay 19 Laps Contact 33 # 5 Mario Moraes 0 Laps Contact

Sunday, May 24: IT’S RACE DAY!!! The big day has finally arrived! After three weeks of sweat, tears and toil by the drivers, teams, officials, media and others, it’s the day of the Indianapolis 500, the day many race fans wait for the other 364 days of the year.

The pre-race ritual is as sacred to many Indy fans as is the race itself. The expected traditions continued today as Florence Henderson sang “God Bless America,” “Taps” was played, Jim Nabors sang “Back Home Again in Indiana,” an enormous number of balloons were released in the infield, and Mari Human George announced, “Ladies and Gentlemen Start Your Engines! After the cars all started and rolled off the line they were expected to be in formation in eleven rows of three by their third time at the start/finish line and receive the green flag. The first attempt was ruled “no start” as the cars were not aligned to official’s satisfaction. Two laps later the race was declared green. Before the first lap was completed, Marco Andretti and Mario Moraes touched wheels between Turns 1 and 2. Moraes hit the SAFER Barrier in Turn 2 and slid along the wall down the backstretch. Andretti continued on to the pits with front-end damage to the car. After extensive repairs to the car, Andretti returned to the race on lap 69, a number of laps down to the leader. As is often the case in racing incidents, each driver claimed the other was at fault. Moraes stated, “I know the 26 hit me, OK? I was in front. I was holding my line, and he just hit me. I don’t know from where.” Andretti countered by saying, “That kid (Moraes) is in way over his head with where he is now. I’m sitting next to him, and he just drives up into me. There was no one in sight of him. I should have known better.” On lap six, the green flag came out with polesitter Helio Castroneves leading. The next lap, Dario Franchitti ducked under Castroneves for the lead. Franchitti continued to lead, with Castroneves second, until the yellow came out on lap 21 when Ryan Hunter-Reay ran high in Turn 4 and brushed the SAFER barrier with the right front. He then did a three-quarter spin across the track, hit the inside wall with the left rear of the car and slid to a stop in pit lane. Under the subsequent yellow, the entire field made pit stops. When the green reappeared on the 28th lap, Franchitti still led but Ryan Briscoe has taken over the second position. Briscoe slipped by Franchitti for the lead on lap 54, and was leading when the yellow banner appeared on lap 56 after Graham Rahal hit the SAFER Barrier in Turn 4 with the right side of the car. He then slid along the wall about halfway down the front straightaway before coming to a stop. As most of the field pitted under the yellow, Justin Wilson did a half-spin entering his pit and stopped in pit lane. The crew had to use the quick-jack to get the car into the pit stall after the rest of the traffic had left the pits. At lap 60, under caution, the top five were Briscoe, Scott Dixon, Franchitti, Tony Kanaan and Castroneves. At the green on lap 63, Briscoe led but was passed by Dixon and Franchitti on the following lap. Briscoe dropped back to ninth after he reported his tires were losing grip. As the laps rolled on, Dixon widened his lead over his Target Chip Ganassi Racing teammate, Franchitti. Dixon was leading Franchitti by .2945 of a second at lap 80. On lap 83, The yellow came out again when Davey Hamilton hit the Turn 4 SAFER Barrier with the right side of the car at the exit of Turn 4. As the caution came out, the leaders were Dixon, Franchitti, Kanaan, Raphael Matos and Castroneves. During pit stops, Franchitti won the race off pit lane. At lap 86, under caution, the top five were Franchitti, Dixon, Kanaan, Castroneves and Matos. The race went green on lap 90, and on lap 91, Dixon ducked under Franchitti to regain the lead. Kanaan, who was running third at the time, brought out the next yellow when the right front of the car veered into the backstretch wall. The car continued down the track, hitting the SAFER Barrier in Turn 3, and again hitting the SAFER Barrier in Turn 4, both times with the front of the car. The car finally came to a stop in Turn 4. The yellow again provided an opportune time for pit stops and almost the entire field pitted under the yellow following Kanaan’s crash. Following pit stops, the running order under caution on lap 101 was Dixon, Franchitti, Will Power, Matos and Castroneves. The green reappeared on lap 109, with Dixon holding a slim lead over Franchitti. Although the length of his lead varied, by lap 130, Dixon led Franchitti by over half a second. His lead was erased on lap 132 when Nelson Philippe white-walled the SAFER Barrier exiting Turn 4. He continued on to the pit lane and climbed out of the car. Several mishaps occurred during lap 134 pit stops. Matos had a 39-second pit stop due to a wheel nut being stuck in the air gun. Franchitti’s stop was long due to the fuel hose being stuck in the fuel intake on the car and Vitor Meira had a disastrous pit stop as the car caught fire during refueling. The fire was extinguished and Meira was able to continue in the race, but a large amount of fuel was spilled on pit lane. The leaders, under caution, at lap 135 were Dixon, Castroneves, Power, Paul Tracy and Dan Wheldon. Townsend Bell was running sixth after starting 24th and Ed Carpenter was seventh after starting 17th. When the green came out on lap 141, Dixon was just inches ahead of Castroneves. On the next lap, Castroneves ducked under Dixon to take the lead going into Turn 1. In just a few laps, Castroneves had opened up a fairly substantial lead. On lap 157, Power passed Dixon to take second. Power was still trailing Castroneves when the next yellow appeared on lap 161 as Justin Wilson spun in Turn 1 and hit the SAFER Barrier with the right side of the car. During the pit stops on lap 163, Dixon encountered trouble as the team had a problem putting the right rear wheel on the hub. On lap 167, under green, Castoneves was ahead of Briscoe and was steadily pulling away. The most serious incident of the day occurred on lap 174. Matos and Vitor Meira locked wheels entering Turn 1. Meira made heavy contact with the SAFER barrier in Turn 1 with the front of the car. The car went onto its right side and slid through the turn along the wall before landing on its wheels and coming to rest at the entrance of Turn 2. Matos made contact with the safer barrier in Turn 1 with the right side of the car and came to rest mid-track. Very few cars pitted during the caution, but Briscoe pitted for fuel, putting him out of the contention for the win. The green came out for the final time on lap 183. Castroneves led Danica Patrick by .2661 of a second as Patrick and Dan Wheldon dueled side-by-side for second. Wheldon grabbed second from Patrick on the next lap. Meanwhile, Castroneves steadily pulled away from Wheldon and went on to win his third Indianapolis 500. Wheldon was second while Patrick came home third, her best “500” finish. Castroneves celebrated the win by climbing the front stretch fence, his patented victory move, in spite of official’s efforts to prevent the climb. Following a barrage of joyous tears and a drink of milk, Castroneves was finally able to talk about the win. “This is incredible,” he said. “I think my tears speak for everything. What a great team. I just have to thank, first of all, the Lord for giving me this opportunity, to be strong, to have a family that I have. I have to thank Roger (Penske), Tim (Cindric), my guys, Phillip Morris, all the associates (sponsors), Verizon, everybody because they gave me my life back. I’m here today because of those guys, and obviously, the fans. You guys don’t understand. You guys kept me strong. You guys are the best. I’m honored to have fans like you. Thank you so much. Let’s celebrate now.” Kudos must be given to Townsend Bell. Bell is only a part-time driver on the Indy Car circuit. He has never has a full time “ride”. His team, KV Racing Technology, was on the “short” program. He qualified on the third day of qualifying, started 24th in the field and through a steady, consistent run, finished fourth. The additional safety factors built into the cars, and the driver’s protective equipment, also must be acknowledged. There were several very nasty accidents during the race, but the only driver with serious injuries was Vitor Meira. He was transported to Methodist Hospital with fractures in the L-1 and L-2 vertebrae. As of the latest information received, he is not expected to need surgery.

Saturday, May 23: The only activities at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway today were an autograph session featuring the Indianapolis 500 drivers, a press conference featuring the rookies in the race, and the ceremonial drivers meeting.

The autograph session drew a large crowd, some of whom were in line as early as 7:00 a.m. To get as many autographs as possible. In a change from past years, the Chase Rookie-of-the-Year press conference, in which the rookie-of-the-year candidates are introduced, was not held in the Economaki Press Conference Room, but on the Coke Zero Stage in the Speedway Plaza, making the conference open to the public for the first time. Rookies Raphael Matos, who is the fastest rookie in the field, will start 12th, Robert Doornbos, who will start 23rd, Mike Conway, who will start 27th, Nelson Philippe, who will start 31st and Alex Tagliani, who will start 33rd were introduced and asked a few questions. The consensus of all five was that they are happy to be here and all except Matos commented that it was not nearly as easy as it appeared to be. Doornbos accentuated this point by noting that four of the five had crashed during the month. In contrast to the struggles of the other rookies, Matos commented that the month had gone quite smoothly for him and that qualifying on the first weekend had taken a lot of stress off of him. Robert Doornbos, who crashed twice in the month prior to qualifying for the race, had previously competed in Formula One at the track. He commented on the contrast of F-1 to qualifying for the Indy 500. “It’s more special to be here in an Indy Car than in Formula 1,” he said. “The scariest part of the month was when I went around the track with Arie (Luyendyk) in a pace car at the beginning of the month. The side mirror of the car was about two inches from the wall.” Tagliani had run in the now-defunct CART series since 1990, had some Indy Car rides last year and is now with Conquest Racing for the 2009 season. “Tag” as he is known, is very happy to be in the Indy 500. “When I was in CART, I didn’t realize what I was missing not running Indy. I now realize how big this race is,” he said. During the ceremonial driver’s meeting, all 33 drivers were introduced and given rings in honor of starting in the prestigious Indianapolis 500. Several awards were presented and Indy Racing League Competition and Racing Operations President, Brian Barnhardt, gave final instructions to the drivers. Following the drivers meeting, the drivers boarded buses to be transported to downtown Indianapolis to participate in the “500 Festival” parade. Tomorrow, Sunday, May 24, is the climax of the last three weeks, the INDIANAPOLIS 500!

Ceremonial Drivers Meeting. [Russ Lake Photo]

Rookie Drivers Press Conference. [Russ Lake Photo]

Friday, May 22: The track opened on Carb Day (as it is now known) with a final one-hour practice session for the Indy Cars. This was the last time they would be on the track until the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday, May 24.

All 33 qualified cars were out on the track during the session. The only slight miscues were recorded by Mario Moraes, who was given a drive-through penalty for puttinng all four tires over the white line at pit exit, and by Hideki Mutoh, who left his pit box with the air hose attached and stopped in pit lane. When the practice session ended, polesitter Helio Castroneves was fastest with a speed of 223.920 mph. He was followed by his Penske Racing teammate, Will Power, who set a lap at 223.560 mph. Mario Moraes, who has been impressive this month and will start on the inside of the third row, clocked in at 222.951 mph. The command to start engines for the 40-lap Firestone Freedom 100 Indy Lights race, was given at 12:30 p.m., and the green flag was given to the 22-car field at approximately 12:36 p.m. At the start, polesitter Wade Cunningham took the lead. At the end of the first lap Cunningham led, with Sebastian Saavedra second, Ana Beatriz third and J.R. Hildebrand fourth. For the next five laps, Hildebrand, Cunningham and Saavedra traded the top three positions. The yellow came out on lap seven when Martin Plowman did a quarter spin to the left entering Turn 1, making heavy contact with the SAFER Barrier with the rear of the car. His car clipped that of Pippa Mann, who then brushed the SAFER Barrier exiting Turn 1. Mann continues to the pit lane with flat right side tires. Both drivers were okay. Under the yellow, Cunningham continued to lead, followed by Hildebrand, Saavedra, Beatriz and Jay Howard. At lap 12, the green reappeared and Hildebrand, Cunningham and Saavedra continued to swap the lead. On the 17th lap, Hildebrand passed Saavedra for the lead going into Turn 1. Several positions behind them, Beatriz and Gustavo Yacaman touched wheels. Beatriz did a quarter-spin to the left and hit the inside wall head on. Yacaman brushed the SAFER Barrier with the right rear of the car, spun across the track and came to a stop in Turn 2. Yacaman was unhurt in the incident, while Beatriz was assisted from her car. She suffered a cut on her chin. X-rays of her left elbow and right knee were negative. Under the 10-lap caution the top five were Hildebrand, Saavedra, Cunningham, Mario Romancini, who had moved up from 18th starting position and Howard. Hildebrand still led as the yellow came out on lap 31, when Charlie Kimball and Mike Potekhen made contact. Both continued on to pit lane. Back under green on lap 34, Hildebrand led Romancini by .1412 of a second. Working the 39th lap, Saavedra touched the wall in Turn 1 and Cunningham slid under Hildebrand for the lead entering Turn 3. At the white flag, Cunningham led Hildebrand by .2115 second. On the final lap, Saavedra brushed the wall exiting Turn 2. Coming to the line, Cunningham took the checkered by just .1046 of a second over Hildebrand. The win by Cunningham, the 2005 series champion, was the first time there has been a repeat winner in the Freedom 100, as Cunningham also won the pole and the race in 2006. Hildebrand finished second, followed by Romancini, Howard and Saavedra. Cunningham talked about his win. “The whole race was to and fro, he said. “I got to the front early and knew I couldn’t lead all 40 laps, so I fell back because I didn’t want to be leading at the end. I knew I had a fast car, and it was a matter of being in the right place at the right time.” In the final event of the very busy day, the #3 Penske Racing Team entry, driven by Helio Castrneves defeated the #26 Andretti Green car driven by Marco Andretti in the finals of the Pit Stop Challenge. It marks the fourth consecutive year Team Penske has won the pit stop challenge. Tomorrow, Saturday, May 23, there will be no on-track activities. The only activities at the track will be the annual press conference featuring the “500” rookies, and the ceremonial drivers meeting. Finish of Firestone Freedom 100 May 22, 2009 1-#11 Wade Cunningham 40 Laps 2-#26 J.R. Hildebrand 40 Laps 3-#5 Mario Romancini 40 Laps 4-#37 Jay Howard 40 Laps 5-#27 Sebastian Saavedra 40 Laps 6-#21 James Davison 40 Laps 7-#28 Daniel Harrington 40 Laps 8-#49 Jesse Mason 40 Laps 9-#36 Pablo Donoso 40 Laps 10-#18 Junior Strous 40 Laps 11-#32 Brandon Wagner 40 Laps 12-#9 Jonathan Summerton 39 Laps 13-#35 Charlie Kimball 31 Laps 14-#24 Mike Potekhen 30 Laps 15-#2 Andrew Prendeville 29 Laps 16-#7 James Hinchcliffe 25 Laps 17-#20 Ana Beatriz 16 Laps 18-#44 Gustavo Yacamen 16 Laps 19-#6 Ali Jackson 16 Laps 20-#55 Rodrigo Barbosa 13 Laps 21-#16 Pippa Mann 7 Laps 22-#15 Martin Plowman 6 Laps

Winner Wade Cunningham takes checkers ahead of J.R. Hildebrand and Mario Romancini. [Russ Lake Photo]

Winner of the Firestone Freedom 100, Wade Cunningham. [Russ Lake Photo]

Late in the race, Wade Cunningham (11) leads Sebastian Saavedra (27) and Jay Howard (37). [Russ Lake Photo]

Thursday, May 21: The biggest Indy Car news of the week came on Monday, when it was announced that Alex Tagliani would replace Bruno Junqueira as the driver of the #36 Conquest Racing entry.

Because of the change, the #36 will move to 33rd starting position from the 30th position, while drivers Milka Duno, Nelson Philippe and Ryan Hunter-Reay will all move up one position. Junqueira was philosophical about the change. “I really enjoyed working with Conquest Racing. They gave me a really good car, and hopefully I can work with them again in the future. It’s a shame that Alex got bumped out of the field at the end. I knew coming into this that Alex is Conquest’s primary driver and that if something happened to the first car that I would likely give him my place, and I completely understand it,” Junqueira stated. Tagliani, who will be making his first “500” start, was grateful for the opportunity. “I want to first of all say thank you to Bruno for being so understanding and to the team for making this decision,” he said. “We have been building this long-term relationship for a while now, and I’m more than thrilled to be able to pursue that by taking part in my first Indy 500.” Track activity resumed today as the Indy Lights took to the track for practice and qualifying for Friday’s Freedom 100. The Indy Lights took to the track under sunny skies and light winds for their first practice session at 9:00 a.m. The session ran until 9:45, with no major incidents. Series Rookie Charlie Kimball was fastest in the session with a speed of 192.402 mph. Second quickest was Sebastian Saavedra with a speed of 191.853 mph,, followed by J.H. Hildebrand with a speed of 191.800 mph. The second practice session ran clean and green from 11:45 a.m. To 12:30 p.m. Saavedra was fastest in the session at 190.535 mph, folloed by Hildebrand at 190.222 mph and Pippa Mann at 190.183 mph. Speeds were down in the second session due to the track being considerably hotter by the start of the second session. The track temperature at the start of the first session was 81 degrees, while at the start of the second session, the track temperature had risen to 113 degrees. Qualifying for the Indy Lights began at 3:00 p.m. At that point the track temperature was 129 degrees. All 22 cars qualified without any on-track incidents. When all was said and done, series veteran Wade Cummingham was on the pole with a record average speed of 190.177 mph and a combined two-lap time of 1 minute, 34.6485 mph, eclipsing Jamie Camara’s combined two-lap time of 1 minute, 34.8715 seconds, 189.870 mph, set in May 2005. Saavedra also broke the previous record and will start outside of the front row with an average speed of 190.023 mph. Tomorrow will be an extremely busy day at the track as it is Carb Day. The last hour of Indy Car practice prior to the Indy 500 will take place from 11:00 a.m. To noon. The Firestone Freedom 100 Indy Lights race will begin at approximately 12:30 p.m. And will be followed by the annual pit stop contest. The day will wind up with a concert in the Spedway infield. The Firestone Freedom 100 line-up Row 1 #11 Wade Cunningham 190.177 mph #27 Sebastian Saavedra 190.023 mph Row 2 #26 J.R. Hildebrand 189.866 mph #20 Ana Beatriz 188.813 mph Row 3 #15 Martin Plowman 188.653 mph #37 Jay Howard 188.641 mph Row 4 #35 Charlie Kimball 188.564 mph #16 Pippa Mann 188.413 mph Row 5 #28 Daniel Harrington 188.412 mph #21 James Davison 187.868 mph Row 6 #2 Andrew Prendeville 187.839 mph #7 James Hinchcliffe 187.735 mph Row 7 #44 Gustavo Yacaman 187.303 mph #18 Junior Strous 186.942 mph Row 8 #24 Mike Potekhen 186.891 mph #48 Jesse Mason 186.873 mph Row 9 #32 Brandon Wagner 186.863 mph #5 Mario Romancini 186.785 mph Row 10 #9 Jonathan Summerton 186.387 mph #6 Ali Jackson 186.119 mph Row 11 #36 Pablo Donoso 186.017 mph #55 Rodrigo Barbosa 185.269 mph

Fast Qualifier for the Firestone Freedom 100, Wade Cunningham. [Russ Lake Photo]

Charlie Kimball. [Russ Lake Photo]

Sunday, May 17: Today was the final day of qualifications for next Sunday’s Indianapolis 500. This day is known as “Bump Day,” a day in which any car with a speed faster than an already qualified car can “bump” their way into the field.

Any cars that qualify today and bump out slower cars ahead of them will start at the rear of the field in the order of their speeds. The slowest car in the field at the beginning of the day was Nelson Philippe with a speed of 218.032 mph. During the hour of scheduled morning practice, speeds were up considerably from the previous day. Milka Duno was fastest with a speed of 221.586, eclipsing her Saturday qualifying speed by over three mph. Promptly at noon, Nelson Philippe’s time was withdrawn and Philippe re-qualified at 220.754 mph, which about two and one-half mph faster than his Saturday qualifying speed. Shortly after Philippe’s run, Milka Duno also withdrew her Saturday time and re-qualified with a speed much faster than her previous speed. The third qualifier of the day was Bruno Junqueira, who made his first appearance on the track in this morning’s practice session. Junqueira qualified with a speed that was more than fast enough to bump John Andretti from the field. Practice re-opened, a number of cars hit the track, most practicing race set-ups and a few still trying to get enough speed to qualify for the race. As the afternoon progressed, five cars and drivers withdrew their times and re-qualified. In addition to Phillipe and Duno, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Mike Conway and E.J. Viso also withdrew their qualified cars and re-qualified at significantly faster speeds. Ironically, this means that since Andretti was actually bumped by Junqueira, he has technically been bumped four more times, as each time a car was withdrawn, it would put Andretti back in the field. When the withdrawn cars re-qualified, they again bumped Andretti out of the field, thus his same qualifying time has been bumped from the field on five different occasions. Andretti emerged as the big story of the day. After Mike Conway withdrew and requalified, Andretti went out on his first qualifying attempt of the day. He completed one lap at a speed much too slow to make the field and pulled in. Following a practice session, he made another attempt. This time he completed all four laps with an average sped of 220.282 mph. The average was just .131 mph too slow to bump Ryan Hunter-Reay out of the field, after Hunter-Reay had already withdrawn and re-qualified once. After two drivers pulled off after making just one timed lap on qualifying attempts too slow to make the race, just a few minutes were left in qualifying. At this point, Andretti went back on the track for his third and final allowed qualifying attempt of the day, Andretti put together four laps with an average speed off 221.316 mph, enough to bump Hunter-Reay out of the field. Following Andretti’s run, there were only two minutes left on the clock when Hunter-Reay went back out on the track in an attempt to bump Alex Tagliani out of the field and get himself back in. His four-lap average was 220.597 mph, just .044 mph faster than Tagliani’s run. He was in the field and Tagliani was out. The 6:00 p.m. Gun went off on Hunter-Reay’s second lap, making his run the last of the day. This put Hunter-Reay in the race with the slowest speed in the field, completing the field of 33 qualifiers. Tomas Scheckter was the fastest qualifier of the day with a speed of 221.496 mph. The entire 33-car field is the sixth closest in history in speed, with a differential of just 4.267 mph from the fastest, Helio Castroneves at 224.864 mph, to the slowest, Ryan Hunter-Reay, with a four-lap average speed of 220.597 mph. The track is now closed until Wednesday 20, which is 500 Festival Community Day. On Wednesday, there will be Indy Car pit stop practice, and Indy Lights and Indy Car driver’s autograph sessions, plus other activities. On Thursday, May 21, the Indy Lights will take to the track for practice and qualifying for Friday’s Freedom 100 Indy Lights race. Indianapolis 500 Starting Lineup Row 1 #3 Helio Castroneves 224.864 mph #6 Ryan Briscoe 224.083 mph #10 Dario Franchitti 224.010 mph Row 2 #02 Graham Rahal 223.954 mph #9 Scott Dixon 223.867 mph #11T Tony Kanaan 223.612 mph Row 3 #5 Mario Moraes 223.331 mph #26 Marco Andretti 223.114 mph #12 Will Power 223.028 mph Row 4 #7 Danica Patrick 222.882 mph #99 Alex Lloyd 222.622 mph #2 Raphael Matos 223.429 mph Row 5 #15 Paul Tracy 223.111 mph #14 Vitor Meira 223.054 mph #18 Justin Wilson 222.903 mph Row 6 #27 Hideki Mutoh 222.805 mph #20 Ed Carpenter 222.780 mph #4 Dan Wheldon 222.777 mph Row 7 #41 A.J. Foyt IV 222.586 mph #16 Scott Sharp 222.163 mph #67 Sarah Fisher 222.082 mph Row 8 #44 Davey Hamilton 221.956 mph #06T Robert Doornbos 221.692 mph #8 Townsend Bell 221.195 mph Row 9 #17 Oriol Servia 220.984 mph #19 Tomas Scheckter 221.496 mph #24 Mike Conway 221.417 mph Row 10 #43 John Andretti 221.316 mph #13 E.J. Viso 221.164 mph #36 Bruno Junqueira 221.115 mph Row 11 #23 Milka Duno 221.106 mph #00 Nelson Philippe 220.754 mph #21T Ryan Hunter-Reay 220.597 mph

Ryan Hunter-Reay made the field with the final run of 2009 qualifications for the Indianapolis 500. [Russ Lake Photo]

John Andretti takes the checkered flag on his final qualifing attempt. [Russ Lake Photo]

Tomas Scheckter, Fastest of the Day. [Russ Lake Photo]

Saturday, May 16: An hour of practice was scheduled to begin at 10:15 prior to today’s qualifying, which was set to begin at noon, but wet track conditions after heavy overnight rain kept the dryers on the track past the scheduled start of practice.

The problem with the yard of bricks that closed the track early yesterday has been fixed. Brian Barnhart commented on the brick problem. “There’s four or five bricks that have come loose, the mortar has come loose on it. We need to make sure it’s right for tomorrow’s qualifying. I think that’s a first for us around here. We’re awfully proud of the Yard of Bricks around here, and I think that’s the first time it’s caused a delay in practice.” The loose bricks proved costly for Thursday’s fastest driver, Mario Moraes. “Unfortunately, on my last lap, I went across the start/finish line and sucked up a brick, which damaged my car and ended my day,” he said. “I feel bad for the crew because they are going to have to do some extra work tonight.” The practice session before qualifying finally began at 11:08 a.m. The session was interrupted by light mist twice before it was completed at 11:54 a.m. Townsend Bell was the fastest in the session with a speed of 223.580 mph followed By Oriol Servia at 222.746 mph and Robert Doornbos at 221.409. All three drivers have yet to qualify for the race. Servia was first in line to qualify when the rain began in earnest just minutes before qualifications were to start. By mid-afternoon, the skies cleared and the wind came up. The track was dried and qualifications began at 3: 31 p.m. In the next forty minutes, ten cars made qualification attempts. Eight cars qualified and two attempts were waved off as the teams did not feel they were fast enough, leaving three spots open in the field. The track then re-opened for practice. At 5:37 p.m., the yellow came out for track inspection prior to qualification attempts. At 5:40 p.m., as John Andretti took to the track for a qualifying attempt, there were just 20 minutes left in the day. Following his run, two more cars qualified in quick succession, filling the field. In the next run, Milka Duno bumped Buddy Lazier from the field. This left Nelson Philippe as the slowest in the field. At 5:58, Stanton Barrett took to the track for the final attempt of the day. Barrett’s first three laps were fast enough to bump Philippe, but his speed fell on the fourth lap and Philippe was in the field for now as his four-lap average speed was 218.032 mph. Barrett’s four lap average was 217.998 mph, just .034 mph slower than Philippe, leaving Philippe “on the bubble,” going into Sunday, the final day of qualifying, on which the slowest speeds are progressively bumped out of the field. Robert Doornbos received a $5,000 check for being fastest on the third day of qualifying with a speed of 221.692 mph. The provisional field line-up after the third day of qualifying: Row 1 #3 Helio Castroneves 224.864 mph #6 Ryan Briscoe 224.083 mph #10 Dario Franchitti 224.010 mph Row 2 #02 Graham Rahal 223.954 mph #9 Scott Dixon 223.867 mph #11T Tony Kanaan 223.612 mph Row 3 #5 Mario Moraes 223.351 mph #26 Marco Andretti 223.114 mph #12 Will Power 223.028 mph Row 4 #7 Danica Patrick 222.882 mph #99 Alex Lloyd 222.622 mph (Start second day qualifying.) #2 Raphael Matos 223.429 mph Row 5 #15 Paul Tracy 223.111 mph #14 Vitor Meira 223.054 mph #18 Justin Wilson 222.903 mph Row 6 #27 Hideki Mutoh 222.805 mph #20 Ed Carpenter 222.780 mph #4 Dan Wheldon 222.777 mph Row 7 #41 A.J. Foyt IV 222.586 mph #16 Scott Sharp 222.163 mph #67 Sarah Fisher 222.083 mph Row 8 #44 Davey Hamilton 221.956 mph (Start third day qualifying) #06T Robert Doornbos 221.692 mph #8 Townsend Bell 221.195 mph Row 9 #17 Oriol Servia 220.984 mph #34 Alex Tagliani 220.553 mph #19 Tomas Scheckter 220.212 mph Row 10 #24 Mike Comway 220.124 mph #13 E.J. Viso 219.971 mph #21T Ryan Hunter-Reay 219.502 mph Row 11 #43 John Andretti 219.442 mph #23 Milka Duno 218.040 mph #00 Nelson Philippe 218.032 mph

Nelson Philippe. [Russ Lake Photo]

Robert Doornbos. [Russ Lake Photo]

Robert Doornbos and a big $5,000 check for being fastest on the third day of qualifying. [Russ Lake Photo]

Friday, May 15: The track opened for practice promptly at noon. A number of cars, both qualified and unqualified soon took to the track. There was a sense of urgency to get on the track, as showers were predicted for later in the afternoon. This was the last full day of practice for the month and most of the teams wanted to get as much track time as possible.

Rookie driver Mike Conway was medically cleared to drive. He suffered bruised lungs in an incident in practice on Sunday, May 10. Tomas Scheckter, a veteran of the last seven “500’s” is now driving the MONA-VIE entry out of the Dale Coyne Racing stable. His best finish in the Indy 500 was fourth in 2003. The primary Dale Coyne Racing entry, driven by Justin Wilson, qualified on Sunday, May 10 and is currently on the outside of the fifth row. By mid-afternoon, 31 cars had been on the track, of which 13 were unqualified. This means there will be stiff competition for the eleven open spots in the field. The anticipated rain never materialized and the teams were able to get in almost a full day of practice. The story of the day came at 5:33 p.m. When the track went yellow, sending all cars into the pits. It turns out there was no problem on the track, but with the track itself. In the traditional yard of bricks at the starting line, some of the bricks had broken up and come loose. After close examination by Brian Barnhart, the president of Indy Racing League (IRL) competition and racing operations, and other track and IRL officials, the loose bricks were determined to be a safety hazard. The track was closed for the day, so repairs could be made and tomorrow’s track activities could go on as scheduled. Defending Indy 500 champion, Scott Dixon, turned in the fastest speed of the day with a lap of 222.799 mph. Townsend Bell, with a speed of 222.139 mph, drove the fastest unqualified car of the day. Rookie Robert Doornbos was back on the track for a few laps yesterday, but got up to speed today with a lap of 220.804. Doornbos crashed on both Friday and Saturday of last week, severely damaging both his main and back-up cars. During the abbreviated day, 2036 laps were turned on the track by 31 cars. For the second day in a row, there were no on-track incidents. One yellow was necessitated by a tow-in of a car that ran out of fuel on the course, but all other yellow were for debris and track inspection, including the one that closed the track for the day. Saturday’s activities are expected to start on time, with a practice session from 10:15 to 11:15 a.m. And qualifying for positions 23-33 in the field beginning promptly at noon.

Tomas Scheckter. [Russ Lake Photo]

Robert Doornbos. [Russ Lake Photo]

Mike Conway. [Russ Lake Photo]

Track Examination. [Russ Lake Photo]

Hole in the Bricks. [Russ Lake Photo]

Brain Barnhart and the Brick Chips. [Russ Lake Photo]

Thursday, May 14: Despite torrential downpours and 70 mph winds during the early morning hours, and minor damage to some pit equipment, the track was dried and ready to open at noon when practice was scheduled to begin.

Quite a few cars were out on the track early and several car and driver combinations made their first appearance on the track. Among those making their first appearance on the track today were drivers Townsend Bell, Oriol Servia and 1996 Indianapolis 500 winner, Buddy Lazier. These drivers and teams are participating in what is known as the “short program.” These teams pay to lease an engine from Honda for only the second week of practice and qualifications, giving them a chance to get into the Indianapolis 500 for a lower cost than for teams that are “full month” entries. (All teams lease their engines from Honda.) These teams also receive a lower tire allotment from Firestone. They receive 24 sets of tire for practice, qualifying and the race, while the “full month” teams receive 36 sets. Other cars out for practice were working to achieve several different goals. Some who did not qualify last weekend were working up to speed for this weekend’s qualifying attempts. Meanwhile, some teams in fear of getting bumped from the field were trying to go faster than their qualification times, and some cars safely in the field were practicing race set-ups. It was an incredibly busy day at the Speedway as a total of 1,937 laps were turned by 33 different car and driver combinations. It was an incident free day as well as the only yellows to appear were for track clean up and inspection. When all was said and done, 20-year-old Mario Moraes has the day’s fastest speed at 222.739 mph. He qualified seventh fastest on Pole Day with a speed of 223.351 mph. The fastest non-qualified driver was Servia with a speed of 221.353 mph. “I’m very, very happy,” said Servia. “It’s the first time I’ve been in a car in five months. The car felt great from the first lap. “It’s a great team (Rahal Letterman Racing) and a great first day. From top to bottom they’re really prepared, ” Servia added. Tomorrow should be a very busy day at the track, if the weather cooperates. Rain is in the weather forecast, but if there is any track time available, teams will take advantage of it, as it is the final full day of practice prior to the last two days of qualifying for the Indy 500.

On track action: Oriol Servia. [Russ Lake Photo]

On track action: Townsend Bell. [Russ Lake Photo]

On track action: Buddy Lazier. [Russ Lake Photo]

Meet the Press: Oriol Servia and Mario Moraes. [Russ Lake Photo]

Sunday, May 10: The track opened under sunny skies with cool temperatures and light wind, ideal conditions for fast speeds.

The opening practice session was marred by two incidents. Two minutes after the track opened for practice, rookie Mike Conway spun in Turn 1 and hit the SAFER Barrier with the right rear of the car. Shortly after the track re-opened following Conway’s incident, Alex Tagliani spun in virtually the same place and hit the SAFER Barrier with the left rear of the car. Tagliani was unhurt but Conway was admitted to Methodist Hospital with bruised lungs. He was awake, alert, and listed in good condition. When qualifying opened at noon, ten cars qualified with no interruption of the qualifying line. However, Vitor Meira’s run was disallowed after his car failed tech inspection, leaving two spots open in the field for today as only 11 spots are filled on each of the first three days of qualifying. After a brief practice session, Dan Wheldon qualified leaving one spot open in the field before bumping would begin. Shortly after 2:00 p.m., Ed Carpenter made a qualifying run filling the allotted eleven positions for the day. From this point on cars would either be bumped or could be withdrawn and re-qualified. The final incident of the day occurred in practice at 4:45 p.m. As John Andretti did a quarter-spin in Turn 1 and made heavy contact with the SAFER Barrier with the right rear of the car. The car then did a three-quarter spin back to the left and made secondary contact with the wall with the right front of the car. The car was heavily damaged. Graham Rahal did a quarter-spin to the left in Turn 1 to avoid Andretti. He did not make any contact and stopped on the backstretch with flat right side tires. Both drivers were uninjured. Rahal commented on the incident. “With John’s incident there at the end, I just had to react as quickly as I could. When I was told the yellow came out I was going to go high, then I saw the debris. Stuff was flying everywhere. The car basically exploded when he hit, so I tried to go to the high side and right. When I went to the high side, he started to roll backwards into my path. I was going to T-Bone him basically, so I turned hard left and hit the brakes as hard as I could. It locked up both the rears as I did and that’s why I spun. It was only a half a second after it happened before I got to the scene and we’re just lucky it wasn’t uglier than it was.” In the course of the day, four cars were bumped and three were withdrawn. In the bumping process, Scott Sharp’s effort to qualify for the Indy 500 emerged as the most dramatic story of the day. Scott Sharp made his first qualification attempt at 3:46 p.m. And bumped another car from the field. Sharp was not satisfied the time would hold up and withdrew the car from the field. (Each car is allowed three qualifying attempts per day.) He did not make another qualification attempt until 5:12 p.m. On that attempt, he was faster than his first effort and again bumped another car from the field. It was critical that Sharp qualify today as he is committed to race in another series next weekend. At 5:36 p.m. Sharp was bumped from the field. Time was now of the essence as the track closes at 6:00 p.m., but if a car is on the track at that time a qualification run may be completed. As 6:00 p.m. Approached, Sharp was fourth in the qualifying line, but the three cars in line in front of him graciously yielded their spots so Sharp could make his run. The 6:00 p.m. Gun went off as Sharp went into the first turn after leaving the pits. His run was successful and he bumped E.J. Viso from the field. Ironically, Viso was the front car in line that yielded his position so Sharp could make his final qualifying run. There are now 22 cars qualified for the May 24th Indianapolis 500. The track is now closed until Thursday, May 14, when practice will resume for the second weekend of qualifying, May 16-17. The provisional field line-up after the first day of qualifying: Row 1 #3 Helio Castroneves 224.864 mph #6 Ryan Briscoe 224.083 mph #10 Dario Franchitti 224.010 mph Row 2 #02 Graham Rahal 223.954 mph #9 Scott Dixon 223.867 mph #11T Tony Kanaan 223.612 mph Row 3 #5 Mario Moraes 223.351 mph #26 Marco Andretti 223.114 mph #12 Will Power 223.028 mph Row 4 #7 Danica Patrick 222.882 mph #99 Alex Lloyd 222.622 mph (Start second day qualifying.) #2 Raphael Matos 223.429 mph Row 5 #15 Paul Tracy 223.111 mph #14 Vitor Meira 223.054 mph #18 Justin Wilson 222.903 mph Row 6 #27 Hideki Mutoh 222.805 mph #20 Ed Carpenter 222.780 mph #4 Dan Wheldon 222.777 mph Row 7 #41 A.J. Foyt IV 222.586 mph #16 Scott Sharp 222.163 mph #67 Sarah Fisher 222.083 mph Row 8 #44 Davey Hamilton 221.956 mph

Raphael Matos was the fastest qualifier on day two. [Russ Lake]

Scott Sharp made the final qualification attempt of the day and successfully put himself into Indianapolis 500. [Russ Lake Photo]

Saturday, May 9: Practice began at 9:00 a.m., as scheduled, under cloudy skies with winds gusting to 30 mph.

The first incident of the day occurred at 9:20 a.m. When Robert Doornbos did a three-quarter spin going out of Turn 1 and the front of the car made heavy contact with the SAFER Barrier in Turn 2. The car slid along the wall and came to a stop on the backstretch, heavily damaged. It was Doornbos’ second wreck in as many days, leaving the Newman/Haas/Lanagan team with no backup cars as it was the team’s backup car that was wrecked today. There were no further incidents in the practice session, which ended at 11:00 a.m. The track opened for qualifications promptly at noon. Eleven cars qualified immediately, technically filling the eleven positions to be filled today. The positions filled were reduced to ten after Justin Wilson’s car did not pass inspection. After an hour of practice, Dario Franchitti qualified, once again filling the field. For the rest of the afternoon the track alternated between practice & qualifying. Two incidents marred the afternoon. 1995 Indianapolis 500 winner, Dan Wheldon, did a quarter spin in Turn Two and hit the wall, and rookie Nelson Philippe spun between turns one and two and hit the wall. Both drivers were unhurt. As the day went on, weather conditions improved slightly and qualifying speeds increased, creating a situation in which several cars were bumped and several cars were withdrawn in an attempt to improve qualification speeds. Thing got a little wild in the final hour as a number of cars withdrew and attempted to re-qualify at a faster speed. For some, the move was successful but it backfired for Ryan Briscoe. Briscoe withdrew from the field when he was second-fastest in an attempt to get the pole. His speed on his second attempt was a tick slower than his first four-lap average but he managed to retain the second starting spot. When the 6:00 p.m. Gun sounded Helio Castroneves sat on the pole with a four-lap average speed of 224.864 set on his second qualifying attempt after withdrawing a speed of 223.949 mph. Qualifying resumes tomorrow, Sunday, May 10, when positions 12-22 in the field will be filled. The provisional field line-up after the first day of qualifying: Row 1 #3 Helio Castroneves 224.864 mph #6 Ryan Briscoe 224.083 mph #10 Dario Franchitti 224.010 mph Row 2 #02 Graham Rahal 223.954 mph #9 Scott Dixon 223.867 mph #11T Tony Kanaan 223.612 mph Row 3 #5 Mario Moraes 223.351 mph #26 Marco Andretti 223.114 mph #12 Will Power 223.028 mph Row 4 #7 Danica Patrick 222.882 mph #99 Alex Lloyd 222.622 mph

2009 Indianapolis 500 Pole Winner Helio Castroneves. [Russ Lake Photo]

A happy Helio Castroneves strides down pit lane. [Russ Lake Photo]

Helio Castroneves on track at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. [Russ Lake Photo]

Helio Castroneves on his second qualifying run, the one that gets him the pole. [Russ Lake Photo]

Friday, May 8: Practice began on schedule at noon under threatening skies.

Traffic was immediately heavy on the track as teams worked to get in as many laps as possible should the expected rain come early. The track went yellow for the first time 12:21 when A.J. Foyt IV touched the Turn 2 wall. The first serious incident of the day occurred a few minutes later when rookie Robert Doornbos, who had been posting top ten speeds the last two days, hit the SAFER barrier in Turn 2 with the right side of the car. The car slid all the way down the backstretch, coming to a stop at the entrance to Turn 3. The car was heavily damaged, but Doornbos was unhurt. Practice continued until 2:30 p.m. When Scott Sharp did a quarter-spin to the left coming out of Turn 1, then did 1 & 1/2 spins to the right, making heavy contact with the Turn 2 SAFER Barrier with the right side of the car. Sharp climbed out of the car uninjured. The rest of the day, track action was periodically interrupted by light rain with about an hour of down time in the late afternoon. The track was green for the final hour of practice but the fastest speeds of day had been set prior to the late afternoon rain. A total of 33 cars were on the track today and ran a total of 1301 laps. Ryan Briscoe was fastest today with a speed of 225.981 mph, followed by Helio Castroneves at 225.438 mph, who was second quickest for the second day in a row. The only three drivers over 225 mph are Briscoe, Castroneves and Marco Andretti who was fastest yesterday. The Penske cars of Briscoe and Castroneves are considered the favorites to take the pole when qualifications open at noon tomorrow and the first 11 spots in the field will be filled.

Ryan Briscoe was fastest on Friday, running a lap at 225.981 mph. [Russ Lake Photo]

Thursday, May 7: Following yesterday’s washout, the remainder of Rookie Orientation was scheduled for 9:30 – 10:30 a.m. But due to fog and mist, the cars did not get on the track until 9:53 a.m. For a running yellow.

Shortly after the track opened, Stanton Barrett passed the final two phases of his Rookie Orientation As the weather cleared, the track became a busy place as a total of 32 cars made practice runs. The first incident of the year took place at 2:19 p.m. When Ryan Hunter-Reay did a half-spin exiting Turn 2 and made contact with outside wall, coming to a stop on the backstretch. He was unhurt in the incident. When the track closed at 6:00 p.m., Marco Andretti had the fastest speed of the day at 225.478 mph. Close behind Marco was Helio Castroneves with a speed of 225.237 mph. “We were able to stay flat out all the way around. It’s super close out there and I think it will be even closer as we go along,” Andretti stated. “Tomorrow (Fast Friday) will tell more of the story (of trying to qualify for the pole.) We’re looking to find another mile-an-hour tomorrow,” he added. Castroneves credited his team for his quick run today. “The Team Penske boys did a super job on the car. Saturday (Pole Day) will be very exciting.” Tomorrow, the final day of practice prior to pole qualifying, will run from noon to 6:00 p.m.

Marco Andretti set the Fast Time of the day on Thursday. [Russ Lake Photo]

Helio Castroneves had the second fastest time of the day on Thursday. [Russ Lake Photo]

Stanton Barrett passed his Rookie Orientation. [Russ Lake Photo]

Wednesday, May 6: Only 47 minutes of track time was available today as rain and a wet track surface kept the majority of cars off the track. Only three cars made track appearances: rookies Nelson Phillippe and Stanton Barrett and veteran Alex Lloyd who was taking refresher laps. Phillippe passed the final phase of his Rookie Orientation Program before the track was closed for the day at 2:47 p.m.

Tuesday, May 5: On-track activities at the track began with an Indy Light Practice from 9:00 a.m. To 2:00 p.m. This is the only time the Indy Lights will be on the track until Thursday, May 21 when practice and qualifying will take place for the following day’s Freedom 100 race. Twenty-one drivers took to the track for the five-hour practice session. Series rookie Sebastian Saavedra had the fastest practice speed with a lap at 191.278 mph. Follow the Indy Lights practice session, six rookies took to the track for the first of two sessions of the Indianapolis 500 Rookie Orientation program. Mike Conway, Robert Doornbos, Raphael Matos and Alex Tagliani complete all four phases of the Rookie Orientation Program (ROP), which consists of demonstrating consistent driving through four speed ranges beginning at 200 mph and increasing in 5 mph increments. Nelson Philippe completed three phases of ROP while Stanton Barrett completed two phases. In addition to the rookies, drivers Paul Tracy, Scott Sharp and Alex Lloyd completed “refresher” laps. A second ROP session is scheduled from 9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. Tomorrow, while the full field will take to the track for the first general practice from 2:00 – 6:00 p.m.

Monday, May 4: No on-track activity.

May 1 – 3: The opening event of the month at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) was a hot air balloon festival. Highlights included a balloon glow on Friday and Saturday nights (May 1 – 2) and balloon races on Saturday and Sunday mornings (May 2-3). This event marked the beginning of the Centennial Era at the track, which will run from 2009 through 2011. The first competitive event at the track was a ballooning competition on June 5, 1909.

by Steve Zautke
5/13/2007 Excitement is what Brian Barnhart (Indy Racing League President and Chief Operating Officer) wanted on Pole day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Helio Castroneves and Tony Kanaan delivered. Dario Franchitti was a marked man as he sat on the pole for most of the day after qualifying at a four-lap average of 225.191 mph. Enter habitual pole contender Team Penske and Sam Hornish, Jr. Hornish made two attempts at Franchitti. On lap two of his first attempt, Hornish exited turn two so high, the camera on the wall could not see light between the tire and the wall. Hornishs lap was in the mid-223 down from 225.2 that Hornish needed causing Hornishs overall average to fall below Franchitti. Hornish went quicker on laps three and four but ended up at 225.145 mph. Team Penske immediately withdrew Hornishs time to take another shot at Franchitti. Hornish went for broke as laps one, two and three were all faster than Franchitti. However, exiting turn three of his last lap Hornish ever so slightly slides the car sideways. With that bobble, Hornish lost his chance at the pole. Hornish was slower than his first attempt. Franchitti at that point was still on the pole. However, Team Penske had one more bullet in its gun. Castroneves with penultimate qualifying attempt took the pole position from Dario Franchitti and Andretti-Green Racing late on Pole Day at Indianapolis. However, Castroneves had to survive Tony Kanaan trying to take the pole position back for AGR. Nevertheless, Castroneves and Team Penske prevailed, taking home $100,000 in winning the AAMCO Transmission Pole Award for the 91st running of the Indianapolis 500. Dario Franchitti who was the 11th driver to take a time early on Pole Day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway qualified with a four-lap average of 225.191 mph good enough for pole until 5:52pm when Helio Castroneves out sped the speedy Scotsman. Castroneves qualified with a four-lap average of 225.817 mph. However, it wasnt over just yet. The next qualifier was Tony Kanaan who was making his second attempt. Kanaan was faster than Castroneves on laps one, two and three. However, exiting turn three on his last lap, I got loose coming out of three Kanaan noted, adding, I got up to speed too fast. That slip in turn three is all Castroneves needed to keep the pole. Castroneves crew waited on pit lane expecting the worse. When word came over the PA that Kanaan just missed, they cheered loudly as they pumped their fists in the air as they congratulated each other along with Castoneves as the disappointment in the AGR pits 30 feet away was evident. “Today was a great team effort and a great way to start. But we’re going to have to keep working. Like Rick Mears always says, you have two races here — the pole run and the race,” Castroneves noted, winning his second pole for the 500. Franchitti commented, Obviously, a long wait here. I hated it. Im glad the fans enjoyed it. They were getting into it. When one guy would get close, they would all cheer. When Helio would be out there, they would cheer. They had a great time, I think. It kept everybody on edge of their seats all day. The guys going for the pole, also the bumping process. I really think it was a success. But what a horrible stressful day, though. The front row for the Indianapolis 500 will consist of Helio Castroneves winning Team Penskes record fourteenth pole for the Indy 500, incidentally it goes with their fourteen 500 wins. Andretti-Green drivers Tony Kanaan will line up second in the #11 7-Eleven AGR Dallara-Honda and Dario Franchitti third in the #26 Canadian Club AGR Dallara-Honda. Scott Dixon and Dan Wheldon of Target-Chip Ganassi Racing were considered by many to be the two of the favorites for the pole ended up in the second row sandwiching Team Penske driver Sam Hornish, Jr. Wheldon conceded the pole after making a second attempt, Id love to get pole here one day. Im going to have to come back to do that. But the important thing is the race, and looking forward to that. Ryan Briscoe, Danica Patrick, Marco Andretti, Tomas Scheckter and Michael Andretti all were successful in being first day qualifiers. Others who came close were Jeff Simmons, Ed Carpenter and Darren Manning in the ABC Supply / A.J. Foyt Racing #14. On second day qualifying it was A.J. Foyt IV driving the Vision Racing #22 that started the bumping process when he bumped Marty Roth from the field. Under the new qualifying rules, Positions 1-11 in the field were available to the fastest qualifiers yesterday. Once the 11 spots were filled, bumping occurred for the remainder of the day to determine the pole winner and fastest 11 qualifiers. Today, Positions 12-22 are available. Once those spots are full, bumping will occur only for those spots only the remainder of the day. Roth became the 12th fastest-first bumped when Foyt qualified faster. About an hour after Foyt, Sarah Fisher driving the Dreyer-Reinbold AAMCO Transmission Dallara-Honda bumped her way into the top-22 when her 221.960mph average bumped Jon Herb and the Racing Professionals car from the field. Immediately after Fishers run, 2004 Indy 500 winner and teammate to Fisher, Buddy Rice went out to qualify. Buddy one of two Buddys to ever race in the 500 bumped out the other one-1996 Indy 500 winner Buddy Lazier. Rices run of 222.826 put Al Unser, Jr. another 500 winner on the bubble. Unser wasnt confident that his time would hold up. Were awfully close to the bottom there and come 5, 6, we could be back out here. Like Ed Carpenter said yesterday, Im not taking off my uniform. Well see what happens. A.J. seems to be pretty confident that will hold, but its so close. Ive been in this spot before. Were going to pay very close attention to what these guys behind me do because I think its too close. We put four good laps together. Now we just need to get some downforce on it and see how it reacts to that. There was definitely no white-knuckling in the qualifying run, and I aint gonna have it there, either. We tried a little bit less wing this morning, and it makes the back end a little bit too light for my comfort, and so we put it back in there and we were searching for more speed and I just wasnt confident enough in everything to put that much on the line for 1 or 2 mile an hour when the best we can do is 12th to day. Like my dad said, two, three, four cars in front of you, where you start aint gonna make any difference. I got a ton of people in front of me already. Well get it in the show, get comfortable with it. Unser is enjoying his time with the ABC Supply / A.J. Foyt Racing Team, A.J. has been super with me. Its been great. He is the big guy no matter what anybody says, he is the king. At Indianapolis, there are certain people that youd be honored to drive for, and A.J. Foyt is one of those people. And Im just tickled to death to be able to drive his 50 car for his 50th anniversary, and Im the 50th driver hes ever had. All the 50s are lining up. In another five years, Ill be 50, and hopefully Ill still be driving. Everything they say about A.J., his temper and everything, it aint true. Hes been super with me. If someone gets a little sideways in the garage, he just sets them straight, thats all. So far, Ive been watching my Ps and Qs to where Im not getting sideways. Scott Sharp driving the Patrn Rahal-Letterman car was the fastest of the second day qualifiers. Sharp qualified with a four-lap average of 223.875mph. Were pretty good, we almost got in last night. This was just a great run by the Patrn team. The tracks really good, but the cars just perfect. Sharp said after his run. Rahal-Letterman teammate Jeff Simmons was next fastest with a four-lap average of 223.693. ABC Supply A.J. Foyt Racing driver, Darren Manning is next fastest with an average speed of 223.471. Ed Carpenter, Kosuke Matsuura, Foyt IV and Vitor Meira also made qualifying runs and were in the top-11. Manning felt he got as much as he could out of his ABC Supply / A.J. Foyt Racing Dallara-Honda, Weve just been making so many baby steps with the setup. I just wish we had this car yesterday, and then we would have been in the show. I think were happy with the qualifying attempt. (Hows your month been overall?): Its been good. We didnt get out until late, because this is a totally brand-new car. Its a fast car. We spent a lot of time back at the workshop for two or three months really rubbing on the bodywork, the fit of the suspension and everything, which is the attention to detail that you really have to do nowadays. Im happy. If youve got a comfortable car out there at Indianapolis in qualifying for 10 miles, youre not going fast enough. So you kind of hold your breath for as long as you can and hang on to the thing. You dont like doing that too often. Lazier, Herb and Roth were bumped from the field. However it was Herb that came back to bump Unser, Jr. from the field. A bit later, Buddy Lazier came back and bumped Herb-again. Herb became one of the few drivers (the first other than Bump Day) to be bumped twice on the same day. Its disappointing to be out, again. They tell me we had a fuel pickup problem that last lap that might of hurt us a little bit, as well as the push we had. Youre hoping youre OK, but those guys (Sam Schmidt Motorsports) have a great team and Buddy (Lazier) is a champion, so its no surprise. (What do you think about this qualifying format?): You know, its more exciting. Otherwise, I wouldnt be in this position. Id be qualified wherever I was and then would have to worry about it the last day. It makes it a little more interesting. I think its a good thing for the fans. The feel good story of the day is Davey Hamilton. Hamilton has been out of a racing car since June, 2001 when his feet were extensively injured in a grisly crash at the Texas Motor Speedway. Hamiltons car spun in oil when the car in front of him blew its motor. The car spun into the wall with the nose of the car penetrating the catch fencing causing the front two bulkheads to separate from the tub exposing Hamiltons lower extremities. Hamilton commented on his qualifying run, “It’s the best. I can’t really believe it’s happening, to be honest with you. I honestly didn’t really think I had the opportunity to come back and do this. I kept fighting and fighting, and got Hewlett-Packard to believe in me and believe in my story.” (About the emotions of qualifying): “I was a bit nervous, to be honest with you. It’s been six years since I’d been in that line. We had a great race car, but you never know until you get out there. Vision Racing has done such a great job giving me a good car all week. I think every time I’ve been out there I’ve been flat out, so the car has been great.” (About how the car handled): “(With) the car, we’ve been working on race setup all week from the suspension to everything. It’s just race stuff. The other guys have some things for qualifying. I didn’t really need that. I didn’t want it. I just wanted to get used to the race car and fine-tune that thing. I tell you what, I was a little surprised we ran 222 (mph). I thought we could sneak into it, but I still looking for a high 221 (mph).” (About what Tony George said to him): “There’s a lot of emotions going on here. It was about the third day of about two years of hospital stays, he (Tony George) was in there, and he knows the story and knows what I’ve went through. The whole team realizes it, and I think they’ve seen it in person and seen it first-hand. It’s so emotional for all of us just to know it was a tough road. It was a tough road for all of us. They’ve been supportive all the way.” (About whether he thought he’d make it back): “Not at that time. At that time, I was still worried about having legs and hoping I would walk again. As time (passes) and you wish on something and you get it, then you want more. That’s kind of where I was. First it was to save my legs, then to walk and get stronger. It was a four-year process doing that. The last two years I’ve been ready, but it’s been hard getting the funding and the proper situation. It was an emotional roller coaster, that’s for sure.” Indy 500 qualifying will continue next week. For third day qualifying the remainder of the field is available. Once those spots are full, bumping will occur for those spots only the remainder of the day. On Sunday-Bump Day, any qualifying attempt on the fourth day that is faster than a qualified entrant in the starting field will bump the slowest qualifier, regardless of the day of qualification. The bumped entrant is removed from the field, but has the opportunity to bump its way back into the starting field as time allows. 91st Indianapolis 500 Starting Line-up Row 1 Pos. 1Helio Castroneves (W) Car # 3 :: D/H/FSpeed/Time: 225.817/2:39.4214 Pos. 2Tony Kanaan Car # 11 :: D/H/FSpeed/Time: 225.757/2:39.4634 Pos. 3Dario Franchitti Car # 27 :: D/H/FSpeed/Time: 225.191/2:39.8642 Row 2 Pos. 4Scott Dixon Car # 9 :: D/H/FSpeed/Time: 225.122/2:39.9136 Pos. 5Sam Hornish Jr (W) Car # 6 :: D/H/FSpeed/Time: 225.109/2:39.9227 Pos. 6Dan Wheldon (W) Car # 10 :: D/H/FSpeed/Time: 224.641/2:40.2557 Row 3 Pos. 7Ryan Briscoe Car # 12 :: D/H/FSpeed/Time: 224.410/2:40.4208 Pos. 8Danica Patrick Car # 7 :: D/H/FSpeed/Time: 224.076/2:40.6596 Pos. 9Marco Andretti Car # 26 :: D/H/FSpeed/Time: 223.299/2:41.2186 Row 4 Pos. 10Tomas Scheckter Car # 2 :: D/H/FSpeed/Time: 222.877/2:41.5238 Pos. 11Michael Andretti Car # 39 :: D/H/FSpeed/Time: 222.789/2:41.5880 Pos. 12Scott Sharp Car # 8 :: D/H/FSpeed/Time: 223.875/2:40.8041 Row 5 Pos. 13Jeff Simmons Car # 17 :: D/H/FSpeed/Time: 223.693/2:40.9352 Pos. 14Ed Carpenter Car # 20 :: D/H/FSpeed/Time: 223.495/2:41.0777 Pos. 15Darren Manning Car # 14 :: D/H/FSpeed/Time: 223.471/2:41.0950 Row 6 Pos. 16Buddy Rice (W) Car # 15 :: D/H/FSpeed/Time: 222.826/2:41.5612 Pos. 17Kosuke Matsuura Car # 55 :: D/H/FSpeed/Time: 222.595/2:41.7290 Pos. 18AJ Foyt IV Car # 22 :: D/H/FSpeed/Time: 222.413/2:41.8607 Row 7 Pos. 19Vitor Meira Car # 4 :: D/H/FSpeed/Time: 222.333/2:41.9196 Pos. 20Davey Hamilton Car # 02 :: D/H/FSpeed/Time: 222.327/2:41.9238 Pos. 21Sarah Fisher Car # 5 :: D/H/FSpeed/Time: 221.960/2:42.1914 Row 8

Pos. 22Buddy Lazier (W) Car # 99 :: D/H/FSpeed/Time: 221.380/2:42.6165 Key: C/E/T: Chassis/Engine/Tire, D: Dallara, P: Panoz, H: Honda, F: FirestoneR: 500 Rookie, W: 500 Winner