The winning Porsche 919 charged through the field. [Photo by Porsche Motorsport]
by Jack Webster & Eddie LePine
It was a Le Mans 24 Hours for the ages. It seemed like the race that no one was destined to win.
Toyota set the pace, shattering the existing track record in qualifying and starting two of their three cars on the front row. Porsche, with two entries, looked to be struggling to keep up for the 24-hour contest, as the fastest of their 919 Hybrids was over two seconds back on the grid.
Would Toyota send the Conway/Kobayashi/Sarrazin car out as the very fast rabbit for everyone else to chase? Would Porsche use their superior pit strategy to stay in the hunt?
The best laid plans, as they say….
After the first hour, it was Toyota, Toyota, Porsche, Porsche, and Toyota atop the charts. It stayed that way until Hour 5, when the #2 Porsche 919 of Bernhard, Bamber and Hartley experienced problems with one of the electric motors on their Hybrid and lost 18+ laps in the pits for repairs.
Things then stabilized until Hour 9, when the #8 Toyota was also delayed by Hybrid problems, and they spent close to 2 hours in the pits making repairs.
Then, within 6 laps of one another in the 10th hour of the race, both the #7 and #9 Toyotas were retired. #7 with no power and #9 with a hydraulic leak and small fire after blowing a tire. Both cars nearly made it around the circuit to get back to the pits, but fell short.
Meanwhile, Porsche looked to be in the catbird seat, with the #1 car of Jani, Lotterer and Tandy holding a 9 lap lead over a P2 car for the overall win. The #2 Porsche, after their early troubles, was also running like clockwork, slowly moving up the charts, but at the halfway point, they were still 18 laps behind the lead Porsche and holding onto 16th position overall.
Again, things seemed to settle down into a rhythm, with the lead Porsche running a conservative pace, the #2 car still running without problems, and the remaining Toyota so far behind as not to be a factor in the race.
Then as fate would have it in this most unusual of Le Mans races, the lead Porsche, with Andre Lotterer behind the wheel, suddenly lost oil pressure and came to a stop, with under four hours remaining in the race. Unbelievably, the Jackie Chan DC Racing Oreca, an LMP2 class car, was now leading Le Mans overall. However, the blistering pace of the now healthy Porsche 919 #2 began to pay off and by the beginning of the 23rd hour of the race, they took the overall lead and held onto it to take the victory.
It just goes to show you that in racing you should never give up, for at one point the winning car was running as low 55th place overall, some 18+ laps behind the leader of the race.
Overall, it was an outstanding race, with spirited battles throughout the contest (in GTE-Pro, Aston Martin defeated Corvette on the final lap of the race! – but that is another story).
However, one must question where the LMP-1 Hybrid class is heading in the future. For the huge amounts of money that both Porsche and Toyota are spending on their teams, only to have the majority of their cars fail to finish at Le Mans surely must give them pause. One must also wonder how long Toyota will continue to spend money only to keep coming up short at Le Mans. They are leading the FIA-WEC World Championship, but the only race that really mattered to them was Le Mans – everybody knows that. And Porsche – if Toyota falls by the wayside, what reason would they have to continue and race against themselves?
There is talk (there is always talk) of additional manufacturers joining the LMP1 ranks, but if those manufacturers watched Le Mans and saw the problems both Porsche and Toyota had with these ultra complex Hybrid cars it is hard to imagine them lining up to join the fray without first taking a very hard look at risk vs. reward.
One huge bright spot at Le Mans was the entry in the LMP2 class, which attracted 25 cars. Most of these cars ran strongly during the race and 8 of the top 10 finishing positions were LMP2 cars. Perhaps the ACO and FIA will take a look at the success IMSA is having in the US with their DPi class and make the rational and correct decision to make IMSA DPi and LMP2 the top class at Le Mans and in the World Championship. Given the current state of affairs in the LMP1-Hybrid category, it seems that such a move would be the way to go.
As we stated in an article we wrote for RacingNation.com when Audi announced their withdraw from LMP-1 last year:
“It seems inevitable, more likely sooner than later, that the IMSA DPi formula will be welcomed by at least the ACO so the US teams can participate at Le Mans, for in the recent past upwards of 20% of the grid at Le Mans has been composed of US teams.”
After this year’s Le Mans race, it seems like a good time to reassess the situation.
For everybody.
Jack Webster has been shooting motorsports since the early 1970’s, covering Formula One, CanAm, F5000, TransAm, GrandAm and American Le Mans races, among others. In addition to his photography, he has also worked on racing teams, both in IMSA and IndyCar, so has a complete knowledge of the inner workings of motorsport. Both his photography and writing can be seen here on racingnation.com. Eddie LePine has been involved in motorsports for over 30 years as photographer, columnist, and driver. Eddie also is now a retired racer (well, retired unless a good ride pops up). You can usually find Eddie in the paddock area, deep in conversation with a driver.
Chip Ganassi Racing the car Tony Kanaan and Kyle Larsen will be driving. [Eddie LePine Photo] Action Express team of JC France. [Eddie LePine Photo] Wayne Taylor’s team getting ready for the test. [Eddie LePine Photo] Corvette getting ready for the test this weekend at Daytona. [Eddie LePine Photo]
It certainly was a short off-season, as it seems like just yesterday that the final race in the American Le Mans Series was held at Road Atlanta. Since then, the new TUDOR Sports Car Championship series has been in high gear, finalizing the 2014 schedule and rules for their inaugural season.
The Roar before the 24, an extended test session held at Daytona International Speedway in preparation for the 2014 Rolex 24 at Daytona, got underway this week with a lot of new cars and drivers anxious to take to the track and get prepared for the big race, which happens in just 3 short weeks.
I ran into Richard Westbrook, who is driving the Spirit of Daytona Corvette prototype. Richard took a wild ride at Daytona when his car suffered tire failure on the banking, resulting in a number of flips down the front straight.
Fortunately, he was uninjured and he is back and raring to go. He feels really good about his car for the race, which he will be sharing with Mike Rockenfeller, the newly crowned DTM Champion for Audi among others.
Tuesday at Daytona was pretty much set up and photo day, and I will be returning to the track on Thursday as the serious work of race prep and testing gets properly underway and will be reporting on what transpires.
Needless to say, this years Rolex 24 at Daytona looks to be one of the most interesting and competitive races in recent memory.
Eddie has been involved in motorsports for over 30 years as photographer, columnist, and driver. Eddie also is now a retired racer (well, retired unless a good ride pops up).
Several Top IndyCar Drivers Already Have Participated
Milwaukee, WI (May 16, 2011) – SportsRadio1250 and the RacingNation.com website are proud to announce the popular Open Wheel Focus podcast has returned for their second season and is now available on iTunes.com
Motorsports historian Steve Zautke of RacingNation.com joins Matt Regashus of WSSP Sportsradio1250 Radio to talk open wheel racing on the entertaining Open Wheel Focus Podcast. As the racing season heats up this summer, so does Open Wheel Focus podcast.
Drivers such as Indianapolis 500 winners, Bobby Unser, Mario Andretti and current IZOD IndyCar drivers Simona De Silvestro, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Vitor Meira, Pippa Mann and others already have joined Matt and Steve on the podcast to offer their unique perspective on the competitive IndyCar Series.
Zautke is a veteran of Sparky’s Final Inspection, a NASCAR-based radio show that airs on Saturday afternoons on SportsRadio1250 during the racing season.
WSSP’s Regashus is a native of Indiana and has been an IndyCar fan his entire life who offers his unique perspective on the racing scene. Each podcast will feature a guest from the world of motorsports and offers a unique perspective on the world of IndyCar, Formula 1 and even some sprint car and midget auto racing.
Steve Zautke, a Milwaukee, WI native, was raised in the sport of auto racing. His father, Bill, was a movie photographer that shot racing footage at tracks such as the Milwaukee Mile and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the 1960’s and 1970’s Steve’s first professional job in racing was as an Emergency Medical Technician at tracks such as Angell Park and Hales Corners Speedway (1988-1991). Steve has also worked for the Milwaukee Mile as videographer, in media relations and historian (1993-2011). Steve also has worked as a reporter for Racing Information Systems (RIS) and has written features for ‘Vintage Oval Racing’ and ‘Victory Lane’ magazines. Most recently, Steve has written a book on Road America for Arcadia Publishing. ( http://www.amazon.com/Road-America-Nascar-Library-Collection/dp/1467111457 ) Steve co-hosts “Sparky’s Final Inspection” a motorsports-based radio show with hosts, Steve “Sparky” Fifer and “NASCAR Girl” Summer Santana on Sports Radio 1250AM in Milwaukee and is also available on the internet at www.Sportradio1250.com. A member of the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame Induction Committee, Steve follows all types of racing from the dirt tracks to Formula One.
May 27, Speedway, Ind. – The word that puts fear in any drivers mind is ?fire.? The one word that is feared by fans, television producers and race promoters is ?rain.? At 7:53 a.m. rain began falling over the city of Speedway, Ind. Fortunately, the rain subsided at 9:43 a.m. and track drying procedures began taking place. The good news was the track appeared to dry shortly after 12 noon local time and the Indianapolis 500 started at its scheduled time of 1 p.m.
Just over five hours later a new winner was crowned. For the first time since 1965 a Scottish driver took the victory laurels in the Indianapolis 500. Dario Franchitti driving the Canadian Club Andretti-Green Racing #26 Dallara-Honda won the 91st running of the Indianapolis 500. Franchitti won the rain-shortened race over Scott Dixon in his Target-Chip Ganassi Racing #9 Dallara-Honda and fast qualifier Helio Castroneves in his Team Penske #3 Dallara-Honda.
Franchitti described his month at Indy this year as a ?roller-coaster ride,? and Sunday it was one. A cut in the tire occurred after the race was red flagged. That forced Franchitti to make an unscheduled pit stop after the race restarted. However, the off-sequence stop proved to be a helpful tool in victory. ?I can hardly believe it. Who would have thought it? Can you believe it? The reason we went for that strategy was because we cut a tire on some debris. We had to make a pit stop?I can?t believe it. It?s the Indy 500!? A soaked Franchitti remarked in a wet victory lane with equally soaked wife, actress Ashley Judd alongside.
Under cloudy skies and a temperature of 65, television actor, Patrick Dempsey and this year?s Pace Car driver led the field to the green flag with pole sitter and Team Penske driver Helio Castroneves at the point. Castroneves? day started off ominously when his car would not fire when ?Ladies and Gentleman start your engines? command was given. However as the cars reached Turn three on the initial parade lap, Castroneves? crew got the car fired and the Brazilian driver was on his way.
Castroneves lead the field through turn one on the initial lap as fellow front row starter Tony Kanaan chased Castroneves and made a pass for the lead on the frontstretch. Castroneves returned the favor on lap 3 and the two dueled for the first ten laps. With Kanaan taking the lead on lap 1, it became the sixth consecutive Indianapolis 500 Kanaan had led.
On lap 11, debris in Turn 3 caused the yellow to come out for the first time. On lap 13 the entire field came to pit lane and made pit stops. Castroneves led the field out of the pits with Kanaan, defending race champion, Sam Hornish, Jr., Dan Wheldon and Dario Franchitti following.
The field returned to green flag conditions on lap 16. On lap 18, Kanaan passed Castroneves on the front stretch to take the lead. Kanaan and Castroneves once again dueled for the lead as another player entered into the mix. Andretti-Green Racing?s second-year driver, Marco Andretti passed Hornish for second place on lap 35.
The first caution flag for a crash occurred on lap 37 when Roberto Moreno driving the Chastain Racing Panoz-Honda pushed high and into the SAFER barrier exiting Turn 1. The car continued against the wall through Turn 2 and ended up on the inside of the track nearly at the exit of Turn two suffering moderate damage to the right-side of the car. Moreno waved to the crowd as he exited the car, however did complain of back pain and was transported to the hospital for a precautionary x-ray. Before he was transported, Moreno commented, ?The car had a bad wiggle all over the place. It was very tough. When I got to Turn 1, we just went straight. I couldn?t do anything.?
On lap 40, the leaders made their way to pit lane as Marco Andretti won the race off pit road followed by Scott Dixon, Hornish, Kanaan and Castroneves. However, Castroneves returned to pit lane to check if he took enough ethanol sending him towards the rear of the field.
Lap 52, saw John Herb make contact with the SAFER barrier in Turn 1. Herb?s Racing Professionals entry slid through the short chute and ended up at the exit of Turn 2 with heavy damage. Once again the leaders made their way to pit road on lap 54. However, Kanaan, Jeff Simmons and Buddy Rice did not pit.
On lap 66, rookie Milka Duno got herself in trouble as she approached the first turn following Darren Manning and Richie Hearn. The CITGO SAMAX Dallara-Honda appeared to get crossed up and spun into the wall with the front of the car. Duno escaped uninjured but her car suffered moderate damage. On the restart on lap 72 Hornish led as Franchitti passed Dixon for second place. Two laps later, Vision Racing?s Tomas Scheckter made a strong moved as he moved Dixon to fourth. Franchitti passed Hornish for the lead on lap 74.
Lap 80, Franchitti, Hornish, Scheckter and Dixon separate themselves from surprise fifth place runner, Jaques Lazier. Lap 83 Hornish has a flat left-rear tire and had to pit. It was a hairy ride as many cars had to dodge the day-glow orange and white #6. It appeared Scheckter and Hornish made contact as Scheckter?s car had damage to right front wing when Hornish moved Scheckter towards the inside wall on the front straight.
Lap 89, leader, Franchitti made a green flag pit stop handing the lead to Dixon. Lap 90 saw Michael Andretti lead when Dixon pitted. Michael?s son, Marco found himself running second, however later on that same lap Michael made his green flag pit stop giving the lead to Marco.
Lap 99, John Andretti running Panther?s Racing third car pushed high coming to Turn two and slammed into the SAFER barrier. The yellow Camping World #33 came to a rest on the backstretch with extensive damage to the right-side.
At the halfway point the question if they were going to run on Monday became a moot point as the race became official on lap 101. With many teams telling their drivers that the rain was twenty minutes or so away several teams have started to discuss how they could stretch their fuel. After pit stops it was Marco Andretti in the lead with Kanaan and Patrick following as they were going to take the green flag on lap 106, however they had to run one more lap under caution.
Lap 107 rookie, Phil Giebler made hard impact with the turn one wall with the rear of his car. Giebler left the car under his own power and escaped injury.
Lap 112 it started to rain just about as the field was going to go green. The red flag was displayed on lap 113. With Tony Kanaan in the lead, the question was, will the race continue?
After extensive lap drying operations, the hearty crowd saw the green flag fly after a three hour rain delay at 6:03 p.m.
Lap 117 Marco Andretti passed Kanaan for the lead. Kanaan returns the favor on the backstretch to lead 118. Andretti-Green Racing looked strong on lap 120. Kanaan leading with teammates Danica Patrick (passing Marco on the previous lap) following.
Lap 123 two familiar names enter into the fray as Dan Wheldon passes Castroneves for fourth place. One driver on the move is Dario Franchitti who had to make a pit stop to replace a leaking tire after the red flag. Franchitti moved from mid-pack up to 5th place by lap 135. A lap earlier, part-time driver got Marco Andretti?s wrath when Hearn held up Andretti enabling Wheldon to pass for third place. Hearn got into the ?marbles? high in Turn 3 and skated through Turn 4 as his tires picked up tire debris. Hearn had complained on his radio that he couldn?t get out of the way. Lap 136 saw many of the drivers making green flag pit stops. As pit stops cycled through, Dario Franchitti pitted on lap 143 handing the lead over to Jaques Lazier who had not pitted as of lap 144.
After all the green flag pit stops cycled through by lap 147, it was AGR driver, Tony Kanaan in the lead. Hornish, Franchitti, Patrick and Castroneves followed. Lap 150 saw Marty Roth hit the SAFER barrier between Turns 1 and 2 hard with the right-side of his car. Roth escaped injury as many teams started to become concern with reports that rain could be fifteen minutes or so away.
Lap 155 under caution saw the leaders make pit stops with the exception of Franchitti, Dixon, Briscoe and Sharp. On the restart (lap 157) saw the save of the year as Jaques Lazier hit the outside wall coming out of Turn 4 in front of Kanaan. Kanaan locked up the brakes and did a half-spin, locking all four tires and narrowly missing the inside wall.
Restart on lap 162 with rain approaching, coming down the backstretch Marco Andretti found himself sliding upside down at over 100 mph after touching wheels with Wheldon. As Marco?s car hit the grass the car dug in and flipped on its bottom. It appeared, Andretti moved to his right and did not see Wheldon who was moved over as far as he could against the outside wall. Andretti?s right rear tire touched Wheldon?s left-front causing the NYSE Dallara-Honda to spin and catch wind and lift the car on its top. Andretti stayed in the car a few moments as safety workers surrounded the second year driver. However after a few moments, Andretti emerged gingerly from the wreck. Marco knew he dodged a bullet, ?I?m going to be bruised, but to come out of that bruised, I?m going to be happy. I?m very lucky, for sure. I was upside down for a long time. I?m so lucky. My mirror was broke, so I had no idea who was outside me, whoever it was. I think it might have been Dan (Wheldon). I apologize. I lost the balance. It rained, we went out, and I was nowhere. The NYSE car was definitely a contender in the beginning.?
Wheldon commented after the Marco Andretti incident, ?I?m fine. I?m just I was running on the outside of him (Marco Andretti). Unfortunately, he hit me. Thank goodness he?s all right. It didn?t seem anything we did today worked very well for us. It was just one of those days when we couldn?t seem to do anything right. We were definitely trying hard. But everybody has tried very hard. It?s just unfortunate day for us. I?m very disappointed. That?s the way this place works sometimes. I wanted to win the Indianapolis 500, but now we?ll focus on the championship. We have Milwaukee coming up. Thankfully that?s coming up pretty soon so we can just move on.?
As the field assembled under yellow, several drivers reported to their spotters that they could see rain falling. On lap 165 Indy Racing League officials red-flagged and called it official on the conclusion of lap 166. Franchitti received the checkered and red flag ahead of Scott Dixon and Helio Castroneves. Sam Hornish, Jr. and Ryan Briscoe rounded out the top-5.
Danica Patrick ran up front most of the day, however after a late pit stop and rain ending the race early for the AGR Motorola driver. Patrick who ended up in eighth place commented, “I had a fast car, and it was a good day except for some bad luck at the end. Then the rain came, and I was in the wrong place. Another year of frustration where I really thought I had a chance to win. It’s frustrating. I’m glad that in all the mix-up at the end, with fuel stops and the rain, that one of our guys won and not some one else.?
Scott Dixon?s second place finish was his best in the Indy 500. However Dixon was not happy with how his race went. ?What a day. Everybody is the same, we sat around, and the rains come like three times and then finally at the end of the race. Just frustrating, no flow to the race, a lot of back markers causing a lot of crashes, restart after restart. It’s one of those days where you feel you haven’t even raced, sort of like being on the freeway and watching people smash into each other. Yeah, I’m disappointed. Finishing second is definitely great and means a lot coming this high up the grid at such a great place and against such great competitors. But just a frustrating day, in general, and frustrating for the guys at Team Target, the amount of work they put in, all of them. And we just came up second. You know, one of those days.?
Earlier in the race, eventual winner Dario Franchitti was looking forward to his best friend, Tony Kanaan winning the biggest race. However Franchitti was ecstatic with his result at the end of the day. ?What can I say? I’m in shock at this point, I must say. I’m definitely in shock. We started off the first stint of the race. I was really struggling with the car with understeer. Progressively we just worked on it, through each pit stop made it better. I was really happy with it. When the red flag came out, one of those bittersweet moments there. I’m looking, seeing Tony leading the thing and looking like he’s going to win it. I’m thinking, I think my car is good enough here, but at the same point my best friend’s leading this race, my other two teammates second and third. You know, it’s looking like a pretty good day for us, isn’t it, at that point??
Results Sunday of the 91st Indianapolis 500 IndyCar Series event May 27 at the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway, with order of finish, starting position in parentheses, driver, chassis-engine, laps completed and reason out (if any):
Race Statistics Winner’s average speed: 151.774 mph Time of race: 2:44:03.5608 Margin of victory: Under caution Cautions: 11 for 55 laps
Lead changes: 23 among 9 drivers
Lap leaders: Kanaan 1-2, Castroneves 3, Kanaan 4-13, Castroneves 14-17, Kanaan 18-26, Castroneves 27-40, Marco Andretti 41-46, Dixon 47-53, Kanaan 54-68, Dixon 69-71, Hornish 72-73, Franchitti 74-88, Dixon 89, Michael Andretti 90, Kanaan 91-100, Simmons 101, Marco Andretti 102-107, Kanaan 108-116, Marco Andretti 117, Kanaan 118-136, Franchitti 137-143, J. Lazier 144-145, Kanaan 146-154, Franchitti 155-166
Point standings: Dixon 184, Wheldon 183, Franchitti 181, Castroneves 171,Kanaan 151, Hornish 151, Scheckter 130, Sharp 110, Patrick 109, Meira 103.
Steve Zautke, a Milwaukee, WI native, was raised in the sport of auto racing. His father, Bill, was a movie photographer that shot racing footage at tracks such as the Milwaukee Mile and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the 1960’s and 1970’s Steve’s first professional job in racing was as an Emergency Medical Technician at tracks such as Angell Park and Hales Corners Speedway (1988-1991). Steve has also worked for the Milwaukee Mile as videographer, in media relations and historian (1993-2011). Steve also has worked as a reporter for Racing Information Systems (RIS) and has written features for ‘Vintage Oval Racing’ and ‘Victory Lane’ magazines. Most recently, Steve has written a book on Road America for Arcadia Publishing. ( http://www.amazon.com/Road-America-Nascar-Library-Collection/dp/1467111457 ) Steve co-hosts “Sparky’s Final Inspection” a motorsports-based radio show with hosts, Steve “Sparky” Fifer and “NASCAR Girl” Summer Santana on Sports Radio 1250AM in Milwaukee and is also available on the internet at www.Sportradio1250.com. A member of the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame Induction Committee, Steve follows all types of racing from the dirt tracks to Formula One.
During a press conference, Robert Wickens exuded confidence about his road to recovery from spinal cord injuries sustained in August, 2018. [Joe Jennings Photo]
By Joe Jennings
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – NTT IndyCar Series driver Robert Wickens, who sustained severe injuries in a high-speed crash at Pocono Raceway in August, 2018, returned to the environment he loves the most–the race track–for the first time since his accident. The likable Canadian joined his Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports team for the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, the race he came so close to winning a year ago.
During a lull in the action, Wickens visited the media center to discuss his recovery and respond to questions posed by reporters. “It is nice to be back in an environment I am familiar with,” he said with a smile. “Being back at a race track makes me feel a lot better and I want everyone to know I am doing well. I am getting some stuff back and getting better each day but it is a long road. You feel like you are on a long 100-mile road trip which is a straight line all the time. We are making progress one step at a time but with spinal injuries, you never know when a day comes that you won’t progress any more. I just want to get as healthy as I can.”
Commenting on the outpouring of support, he added, “I expected a lot but it has gone way out of what I expected. Entering pit road, the fans were cheering my name, which was very cool, plus the team personnel all welcomed me. It has been fantastic and helped motivate me. There are days when you don’t want to put it all the hours (of therapy), you think about the long-term goal of getting back into an Indy car.”
Wickens has display remarkable spirit and determination, which has impressed his doctors and therapists. “I am working my butt off doing everything I can. My whole philosophy in life is the harder you work, the better the results you will get. If you are the hardest worker out there, you won’t get beat. And that’s the way my parents brought me up. The doctors tell me to take it easy at times, so I am trying to find a balance – working 4 to 6 hours a day 6 days a week.”
Wickens has been assured by his team that a seat will be available to him when he’s ready. He knows about the odds but his grit propels him forward. He has taken a few steps and getting a muscle flick was a big motivator for him. “They have told me that the most progression will be made in the six to 12 months, and I am at the beginning of it. I hope I didn’t progress too soon.”
He heaped huge praise on his fiancé, Karli (Woods), and his goal is to be able to walk down the aisle with her on their wedding day. He knows he won’t be dancing but he acknowledged his dancing talents were always non-existent.
Another motivational force has been team co-owner Sam Schmidt, who has had to deal with adversity ever since his accident years ago. Schmidt has arranged for and provided guidance throughout the ordeal of his driver.
Asked why he is so motivated to get back into racing, he answered quickly, “That’s all I know. From a young age, I knew what I wanted to do (race), which is what I told my parents. My parents laughed at me and thought it was like wanting me to go to Mars. I didn’t want a 9 to 5 drive; I wanted to hustle race cars.”
He looks up to Alex Zanardi, who has made a remarkable comeback after losing both legs in a grueling crash. “Anything is possible and I want to get back into racing at the same level I left off from. I don’t just want to be another driver in the field.”
Wickens knows the road ahead will have rough patches but he firmly believes he is up for the challenge. “I want to finish this journey, not just for myself but for the whole motorsport community. And I don’t want it to fall short in any way.”
NEWTON, Iowa (Saturday, July 7, 2018) – Will Power climbed a step closer to a legend in Verizon P1 Award qualifying for the Iowa Corn 300.
The Team Penske driver completed the fastest two-lap trip around Iowa Speedway among the 22 Verizon IndyCar Series entrants on Saturday to win the 52nd pole position of his 14-year Indy car career. The reigning Indianapolis 500 winner and 2014 series champion moved within one pole position of tying the great A.J. Foyt for second place on the all-time list.
Driving the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, Power earned his second straight Verizon P1 Award at Iowa Speedway and third career pole position at the 0.894-mile oval with an average speed of 182.391 mph.
“It wasn’t easy, but the car was great,” said Power, whose 34 race wins are tied for eighth on the all-time chart. “You really have to drive it. It was quite difficult over all the bumps, but we tested here (last week) and unloaded well (this weekend). Yeah, it’s the start of a good weekend. I’ve had a couple of bad ones and I want a really good weekend this weekend.”
Power has finished 18th and 23rd in the two most recent races this season, sliding from first to fifth in the championship standings. He hopes to turn things around in Sunday’s race and earn his first win at the track, though no pole sitter has won in the same year at Iowa in 11 previous Indy car races.
“I love this place,” added Power, who has qualified in the top three in 10 of the 11 Verizon IndyCar Series races this season and started in the top 10 in 21 straight races dating to last season. “It’s a real tough little bullring oval and, man, I’ve been trying to win this (race) for so long. So, obviously, starting the race in a good spot.”
Team Penske, which has won four straight poles at Iowa and seven overall, dominated qualifying by taking three of the top four spots. Josef Newgarden, the 2016 Iowa winner when he drove for Ed Carpenter Racing, qualified second in the No. 1 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet at 181.160 mph. Simon Pagenaud will start fourth after qualifying at 180.313 mph in the No. 22 Menards Team Penske Chevrolet.
Andretti Autosport’s Ryan Hunter-Reay prevented Team Penske from sweeping the top three spots in qualifying. Hunter-Reay qualified an Iowa-best third in the No. 28 DHL Honda at 180.681 mph.
“We just missed it a little bit, but good job by the team,” Hunter-Reay said. “The (No.) 28 car was decent. We got a little bit light overall. I couldn’t commit to full throttle leaving the corner, just a bit too much understeer.
“It’s unfortunate to not be on pole, but when we miss it and we are still starting P3, it’s not too bad. Tomorrow is where all the points are paid, and I think we can get the DHL team a fourth Iowa Corn 300 win.”
Andretti Autosport has won seven Iowa races with five different drivers. Hunter-Reay has three of those victories, coming in 2012, ’14 and ’15.
Scott Dixon, the championship leader after 10 races with a 45-point lead over Hunter-Reay and Alexander Rossi, qualified sixth in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda (179.526 mph).
A final 60-minute practice is scheduled for 6:45 p.m. ET and will stream live on RaceControl.IndyCar.com, youtube.com/indycar and the INDYCAR Mobile app.
Live coverage of Sunday’s Iowa Corn 300, the 11th of 17 races on the 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series schedule, begins at 2 p.m. ET Sunday on NBCSN and the Advance Auto Parts INDYCAR Radio Network that includes XM 209 and Sirius 217.
Alexander Rossi made it look easy in the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach as he handily romped in the annual NTT IndyCar Series visit to the 1.968-mile, 11-turn street course in this colorful southern California city.
Driving the NAPA AUTO PARTS Honda, Rossi led all but five circuits of the 85-lap race, ending up with a 20 second margin of victory and winning the race for the second consecutive year.
And he gave his Andretti Autosport team its 200th all-time victory.
Said Rossi, “You never think (you’ll dominate the race). We knew it was going to be a really hard-fought battle. The NAPA AUTO PARTS crew gave me such a great race car. This is the 200th win for Andretti Autosport, so what better way to do it than in that type of fashion here at Long Beach (and) here in California. It’s an amazing day. I have a great car and a great crew behind me. I couldn’t do it without them, so hat’s off to them. This is a special one. I just found out my grandfather died yesterday, so I wanted to dedicate this (win) to him and obviously Michael (Andretti) for 200th win.”
Starting from the pole for the second time, Rossi took off at the drop of the green flag and steadily pulled away from the other 22 competitors.
Lap one saw a three-car brush-up in the fountain area with Jack Harvey’s car momentarily ending up in a flower bed. Rookie Marcos Ericsson was penalized for causing the incident. Spencer Pigot was also involved but was able to continue.
This incident brought out the race’s only caution flag.
Rossi’s foes tried various strategies but none worked for catching the leader. However, the positions behind the fleet leader were up for grabs all the way to the checkered flag, to the delight of the sunbaked crowd.
Finishing second was Josef Newgarden with champion driver Scott Dixon gaining third on the last lap after a bout with Graham Rahal.
Newgarden said, “It’s tough when you’re not able to compete at the very, very front. We were at the front, but you want to be competing for first (place). That’s disappointing, but we gave it our all today and thought we had a pretty good race, for the most part. The Hitachi car was fast, it was just a touch off what other cars had. Alexander (Rossi) did a nice job; congrats to Andretti Autosport.”
Commented Dixon, “It was unfortunate with the Graham Rahal incident. I think he overshot Turn 8 and then quickly tried to turn in reaction, and you know the rule is you can’t come back to defend if somebody’s already there, and that’s what happened. I was on (overtake) and hit his rear tire and had to lift off. I lost my momentum and that also turns the overtake off, as well. It was just one of those things. Had he not reacted there we would have (passed him) anyway. But it’s racing, hard racing.”
Rahal ran third for a lengthy spell only to have an issue in one corner on the final go-around, allowing Dixon to catch up. In trying to fend off Dixon, Rahal attempted to block him only to have officials set him back to fourth to his dismay.
“It’s not that tough (of a pill) to swallow; we were going to lose the spot anyway,” Rahal said. “My front (tires) were absolutely gone. Those were used reds (Firestone alternate tires). We should have gone to new blacks (Firestone primary tires) there at the end. My tires were absolutely shot. I had no braking grip whatsoever, but I moved right as quick as I could out of the corner and then I gave him a lane. By the rules you’re allowed to make your move, which I did on the exit of the corner. That was it. We’re just going to have to discuss it (with the officials). Look, I’m not like upset about it. We had a good day.”
Ryan Hunter-Reay held on for fifth.
Rounding out the top-10 were Simon Pagenaud, Will Power, Barber victor Takuma Sato, James Hinchcliffe and rookie Felix Rosenqvist.
Power seemed to be headed for a podium finish until going off in Turn 1 while battling Dixon and others.
Dixon also had another issue when his team had a problem with its fueling mechanism, causing an 18-second pit stop and a loss of important track positions.
At the finish, all but rookie sensation Colton Herta was running.
May 2011 marks the 100th anniversary of the first Indianapolis 500. Many special activities are planned for the month but this column will be a brief summary of the daily happenings at the track leading up to the Indianapolis 500 itself.
Sunday, May 22 – Even though the second day of qualifications was predicted to only have a 30% chance of rain, the weather forecasters lied, as a cloudburst and intermittent light showers plagued the Speedway throughout the day.
When pre-qualifying practice opened at 9:00 a.m., it was announced that race veteran Patrick Carpentier had replaced Scott Speed in the seat of the #20 Dragon Racing Fuzzy’s Vodka entry.
The ride for Carpentier ended abruptly at 9:51 when he did a half-spin in Turn 1 and the left side of the car hit the SAFER Barrier. The car slid sideways and backward through the short chute, stopping in Turn 2. Carpentier climbed out of the car with assistance, but was later cleared to drive by the medical staff.
Practice finished without further incident and the cars not already in the field prepared for qualifications. There were nine spots still available in the field and once those spots were filled, bumping would begin.
Just as qualifying opened, there was a warning on the PA system that heavy rains, wind and lightning were approaching and for the fans to be ready to take cover.
The first car out to qualify was Ana Beatriz, followed by Graham Rahal. Just as Rahal finished his run, light rain began to fall, which quickly turned into a deluge and shortly thereafter, although the track and the pits were soaked, the sun began to shine.
Although track drying was underway, an intermittent light rain continued to fall, but by 2:25 p.m., qualifying resumed.
After Mike Conway finished his run at 2:51 p.m., the 33 spots in the field had been filled and the bumping began.
To this point, the four-car Andretti Autosport tem had been struggling to get up to speed after putting none of the team cars in the field on Saturday, all being too slow to make the top 24.
At the time the field was filled, only the cars driven by Mike Conway and Ryan Hunter-Reay had qualified for the race.
In the last two runs before the rain began to fall again, Marco Andretti qualified by bumping another car, and Mike Conway was the last car bumped before the rain began again at about 3:10.
More light rain shut the track down from about 3:10 to 4:43, leaving just over an hour and 15 minutes of potential qualifying time available.
When the track re-opened, Danica Patrick qualified with a speed that put her safely in the field.
After several waved-off and unsuccessful qualifying attempts, Alex Lloyd, who had qualified and then been bumped, successfully qualified for the “500,” bumping Marco Andretti back out of the field.
In the interim, after being bumped, Mike Conway made two more unsuccessful qualifying attempts, using up the three attempt that were allotted to the car for the day, leaving him out of the Indy 500 starting line-up.
On the last qualifying run of the day, Marco Andretti made a bonsai run to get into the race, bumping his teammate Ryan Hunter-Reay from the field as time expired.
When the proverbial smoke cleared, the Andretti Autosport cars of Marco Andretti and Danica Patrick were in the field, while their teammates Mike Conway and Ryan Hunter-Reay were on the outside looking in.
During the day, several cars were bumped, some of whom made it back into the field, while some did not.
Paul Tracy, who missed last year’s race was the fastest qualifier of the day, while second-year driver, Ana Betriz will start 33rd and is the slowest car in the field.
The Indianapolis Motor speedway is now closed until, Thursday, May 26, when the Firestone Indy Lights will be on the track for practice and qualifying for Friday’s Freedom 100 Firestone Indy Lights race.
Provisional Indianapolis 500 Line-up Row 1 1 – #77 Alex Tagliani 227.472 mph 2 – # 9 Scott Dixon 227.340 mph
3 – # 2 Oriol Servia 227.168 mph
Row 2 4 – #99 Townsend Bell 226 867 mph 5 – #12 Will Power 226.773 mph
Row 7 19 – #41 Bruno Junqueira 224.691 mph 20 – #22 Justin Wilson 224.511 mph
21 – #88 Jay Howard 224.483 mph
Row 8 22 – #07 Tomas Scheckter 224.433 mph 23 – #82 Tony Kanaan 224.417 mph
24 – #78 Simona de Silvestro 224.392 mph
Row 9 25 – #23 Paul Tracy 224.939 mph 26 – # 7 Danica Patrick 224.861 mph
27 – # 6 Ryan Briscoe 224.639 mph
Row 10 28 – #26 Marco Andretti 224.628 mph 29 – #83 Charlie Kimball 224.499 mph
30 – #38 Graham Rahal 224.380 mph
Row 11 31 – #19 Alex Lloyd 223.957 mph 32 – #36 Pippa Mann 223.936 mph
33 – #24 Ana Beatriz 223.879 mph
Alex Tagliani held up one finger to designate his starting position in next Sunday’s Indianapolis 500, while he stands beside his happy car owner, Sam Schmidt. [Russ Lake Photo]
On the final run of the day, Alex Tagliani (#77) took the checkered flag, completing the qualification run, which put him on the pole for the 100th anniversary Indianapolis 500. [Russ Lake Photo]
The 2011 Indy 500 front row starters. Alex Tagliani (center), earned the pole, while Scott Dixon (left) was second quick and Oriol Servia (right) will start on the outside of the front row. [Russ Lake Photo]
The announcer’s stand at the start-finish line of the Speedway has been christened the Tom Carnegie Announcer’s Stand. Here, part of Carnegie’s family looks at the plaque on the stand honoring Carnegie. [Russ Lake Photo]
Sebastian Saavedra (#34) was given the green flag from the starter’s stand and by today’s honorary starter, Bob Kenagy, son on the late track announcer, Tom Carnegie, whose real name was Carl Kenagy. [Russ Lake Photo]
Takuma Sato (#5) qualified tenth for the Indianapolis 500 and will start inside of the fourth row. He just missed the “Fast Nine,” all of whom had a shot at the pole. [Russ Lake Photo]
Proud car owner A.J. Foyt stood with his team manager, Larry Foyt (left), and his driver, Vitor Meira after Meira qualified in the 11th starting position for the Indy 500. [Russ Lake Photo]
During the “Fast Nine” qualifying session, Dario Franchitti (#10) was given the green flag as he started on his attempt to capture the pole. [Russ Lake Photo]
Ed Carpenter has established a tradition, that in addition to posing for post-qualifying pictures with his crew, he also has a photo taken with his family. With him are his wife, Heather, and his children, Makenna and Ryder. [Russ Lake Photo]
Saturday, May 21 – Well it’s finally here: Pole Day 2011, also known as Tom Carnegie Day, as the day honors the late, revered, track announcer, Tom Carnegie, who passed away this past winter at the age of 91. He was the voice of the Indianapolis 500 for 61 years. His famous phrases, “And He’s On It” and “It’s a New Track Record!” are phrases known and loved by fans of the Indy 500 throughout the world.
After a very wet week of practice, the threat of showers is in the forecast for today and it may have an effect on what speeds the teams deem acceptable to qualify for the race.
The first 24 positions in the field will be filled today, with the final nine positions to be filled in qualifying on Sunday. If a driver is not among the fastest 24 in the initial qualifying line, the team has up to three attempts to “bump” their way into the fastest 24 first-day qualifiers.
At 4:00 p.m. the first qualifying session will end and the fastest 24 drivers of the day will be in the field. At 4:30 p.m., the “Fast Nine, ” the fastest nine drivers in the field will each make at least one qualifying attempt and the fastest speed of that session will be the pole winner.
There was practice scheduled between 8 and 10 this morning, with the green officially coming out 8:08 a.m.
Just eight minutes into the session, the first incident of the day occurred when Ryan Briscoe went into Turn 2, did a quarter-spin to the left in Turn 2 and hit the SAFER Barrier with the rear of the car, then did a three-quarter spin and with the left side of the car made secondary contact with the SAFER Barrier before sliding across the track and stopping in the infield grass.
Briscoe bruised his knees in the incident but was cleared to drive.
Simona de Silvestro, who was cleared to drive after burning her hands in an incident on Thursday, ran some practice laps prior to qualifications.
Following opening ceremonies, Sebastian Saavedra was the first car out to qualify at 11:02 a.m.
The second incident of day occurred at 11:40 a.m. when on his fourth qualifying lap, rookie driver Ho-Pin Tung did a quarter-spin to the left in Turn 1 and hit the SAFER Barrier with the rear of the car. The car then slid backward through the short chute between Turns 1 and 2, brushed the SAFER barrier in Turn 2 and came to a stop.
Tung was assisted from the car and was transported to Methodist Hospital for further evaluation. A later report was that he had suffered a minor concussion and will not be cleared for seven days, effectively putting him out of the “500.”
When qualifying resumed, the field filled quickly as the 24 spots in the field available today were filled by 1:05 p.m. and then bumping began.
A light rain halted action for about five minutes at 2:00 p.m., but qualifying quickly resumed. The original qualifying line was completed at 2:08 p.m. when Ed Carpenter qualified as the 39th driver to make a qualifying attempt.
At that point, second and third attempts to qualify were made by several drivers, some making it into the field and others making uncompleted attempts.
The session was scheduled to end at 4:00 p.m., but at 3:34, a heavy shower started, bringing action to a halt.
The track was dried enough that it was determined that, beginning at 5:25, each driver in the “Fast Nine” would get one qualifying attempt for the pole. The nine are, in order, Alex Tagliani, Scott Dixon, Dario Franchitti, Dan Wheldon, Townsend Bell, Ed Carpenter, Will Power, Oriol Servia and Buddy Rice.
The drivers went out in reverse order with the ninth qualifier out first.
The second driver out was Oriol Servia who set a four-lap average speed of 227.168 mph. This was good enough for the pole until Scott Dixon, who was the eighth out topped the speed charts with a four-lap average of 227.340 mph.
There was some drama when Dario Franchitti who went out right before Dixon and is his Target Chip Ganassi teammate, had posted three laps at over 227 mph, but on the fourth lap he slowed and coasted to the pits out of fuel.
The miscalculation probably cost him a place on the front row. Because he did not complete his run, he was automatically relegated to the ninth starting position.
The was also a fuel miscalculation on Dixon’s car, but it did not have the same disastrous effect as Dixon did not run out of fuel until he came out of Turn 4 on his final lap.
After Dixon had knocked Servia off the pole, it was down to one car left to make a run, the Sam Schmidt Motorsports, Bowers & Wilkins car driven by Alex Tagliani.
To the delight of the fans left in the stands, and many others, Tagliani put together four excellent laps, which averaged 227.472 mph, good enough to put him on the pole.
Following qualifying and the trackside ceremonies, Tagliani and car owner Sam Schmidt made an appearance in the media center interview room.
Both were tired, especially Sam Schmidt, who has suffered more than his share of heartache in racing, especially his accident while testing in 2000, which left him paralyzed, but were still smiling.
Schmidt was trying to explain just how special today’s achievement was. “I’m rarely at a loss for words, but this has been difficult ever since it happened to put it into words. I mean in California I grew up watching Rick Mears and just dreamed about coming to this place and then was fortunate – my dad was actually a team owner here for the Donald Davidsons of the world in 1978 and ’79, and they didn’t have any great success, and then started coming here, drove here in ’97 and ’99. It’s truly huge. Whether it’s the 100th anniversary, whether it’s the adversity that this team has overcome and Alex has overcome personally, whatever, I mean, it’s just really, really large,” he said.
Tagliani gave most of the credit for winning the pole to his team. ‘This is the car I drove here last year,” he said. “It was fast. It unloaded fast. If you feel that you have a shot to be on the pole for the 100 (anniversary), you’re not going to go out there and draft people and put yourself at risk. And Rob Edwards, the manager, and with Sam, they said, past 5:00 you guys pull back in the garage because it’s going to get crazy out there, lots of tows, and we just followed the plan, and I think that’s why we’re here tonight,” he explained.
Tomorrow, qualifying starts at noon and runs until 6:00 p.m. The final nine positions in the field will be filled and then the bumping will begin, with faster cars “bumping” already qualified cars out of the field. With all the unusual things that happened today, tomorrow is shaping up to be an interesting day.
Helio Castroneves (#3) set the fastest practice lap of the day at a speed of 228.611 mph. [Russ Lake Photo]
Helio Castroneves was smiling broadly in the post-practice press conference after setting the fastest lap of the day. [Russ Lake Photo]
Alex Tagliani, who has been quick throughout the month, and was the second-fastest driver in Friday’s practice session, seemed relaxed and ready for qualifying tomorrow. [Russ Lake Photo]
Team Penske president, Tim Cindric (center), drew a qualifying position number for Helio Castroneves. Versus head announcer for the IZOD IndyCar Series telecasts, Bob Jenkins (right) was announcing the qualifying positions. [Russ Lake Photo]
The #17 Automatic Fire Sprinklers, Inc. car, which is driven by Raphael Matos, was being towed through Gasoline Alley from the garage to the pits for practice. [Russ Lake Photo]
A nice crowd was on hand in the sunny weather for the final day of practice prior to qualifying for the Indianapolis 500. [Russ Lake Photo]
Friday, May 20 – Some of the smaller and lesser-known teams had dominated the speed charts for the practice sessions held prior to today. That was also the case today until the last hour of “Fast Friday”, when the “big boys” came out to play.
When practice closed at 6 p.m., Team Penske driver, Helio Castroneves stood at the top of the field with a lap at 228.611 mph., while his Team Penske teammates Ryan Briscoe and Will Power, stood fourth and seventh respectively, on the speed charts.
Alex Tagliani who has been quick all month, had the quickest speed of the day until Castroneves turned in his quick lap, dropping Tagliani’s speed to the second-quickest of the day at 228.327 mph.
Target Chip Ganassi Racing driver Scott Dixon was third fastest at 228.181, with Ryan Briscoe fourth at 228.029 mph, which was just .001 faster than Bertrand Baguette, who showed up in the top tier of speed charts for the first time this year.
Ed Carpenter was the sixth, and last, driver over 228 with a speed of 228.017 mph.
“We did a lot of laps today,” Castroneves said. “I wanted to make sure I was happy with the race car. As soon as we felt happy with the race trim, race setup, we decided to go for it (a quick lap).”
“Qualifying tomorrow will be very tight. I can see that my teammates will be strong ones, and there are other fast guys out there too,” he added.
“We feel we are strong, but on the charts, there are a lot of cars that are strong. It’s very difficult to get a good read,” Tagliani commented.
Simona de Silvestro, last year’s Indy 500 Rookie of the Year, who burned her hands in an accident at the track yesterday, has not yet been medically cleared to drive. Her medical status will be re-evaluated on a daily basis.
The draw for the qualifying order for tomorrow’s Pole Day run was conducted shortly after the track closed. Tagliani’s car was drawn as number four, the first of the month’s fast cars to go out.
The were only 24 minutes of yellow flag time during the six-hour practice session today, all for track inspection and debris on the track. During the practice session, 39 cars ran a total of 2,254 laps. With only 33 cars making the field, it is shaping up to be a very busy and exciting weekend of qualifying.
Qualifying will start tomorrow at 11:00 a.m., with the initial session to qualify 24 cars running until 4:00 p.m. At 4:30, the “Fast Nine” will go out on the track for an all-out shoot-out for the pole, which will last until the track officially closes at 6:00 p.m.
Two crew members make adjustments on Tomas Scheckter’s machine as he sits in the car, waiting to return to the track. [Russ Lake Photo]
A.J. Foyt Enterprises driver, Vitor Meira (right) looks at charts held by a team member, as team owner A.J. Foyt (second from right) looks on, while Foyt’s other driver, Bruno Junqueira, sits in his car waiting to go out on the track. [Russ Lake Photo]
Driver Justin Wilson took time to relax while he was in the pits. [Russ Lake Photo]
A.J. Foyt Enterprises team manager, Larry Foyt, sits on the team’s scoring stand watching the action in the pits. [Russ Lake Photo]
Dario Franchitti, who celebrated his 38th birthday today, sits in his Target Chip Ganassi Racing car waiting to take to the track for practice. [Russ Lake Photo]
Scott Dixon (#9) and Davey Hamilton (#11) ran side-by-side during today’s practice session. [Russ Lake Photo]
KV Technology-Lotus teammates Tony Kanaan (left) and E.J. Viso were in deep discussion on pit road. [Russ Lake Photo]
Thursday, May19 – The weather finally cooperated and the green flag waved on practice promptly at noon, as scheduled.
A number of cars took to the track almost immediately for practice. Just 10 minutes into the session Ed Carpenter, who was the fastest on the opening day of practice, turned a lap at 224.134 mph.
Practice was interrupted just 25 minutes in when Simona de Silvestro, who was on her fifth practice lap, spun due to apparent mechanical failure. The car became airborne during the spin and violently crashed into the third turn fence. The car came off the fence, sliding sideways and went upside down on the track on fire and with fire trailing behind it as it came to rest still upside down, virtually destroyed.
As a testament to the safety features in today’s cars, she was assisted from her virtually destroyed machine and walked to the ambulance. However, she was transported to Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis where she was treated for second-degree burns on her right hand and lesser burns on her left hand, and was later released.
The crash, however, precipitated a 36-minute yellow flag period due to massive track clean up, and the need to repair the fence.
After the track went green, the cars once again streamed onto the track. Fortunately, there were no more incidents during the day and the only subsequent yellows were for debris on the track and one tow-in.
At 1:36 p.m. Alex Tagliani ran a lap at 26.541 mph, which held up as the fast lap until he bettered his own lap with a speed of 227.652 mph, at 4:59 p.m. the fastest lap of the month to that point.
The activity level really picked up during “happy hour,” the final hour of practice between 5 and 6 p.m. as several laps over 227 mph were recorded.
When practice closed at 6 p.m., three drivers were in the 227 mph bracket and a number were in the 226 mph bracket.
Team Penske driver, Will Power, turned in the quickest speed of the day with a lap at 227.778 mph, while Tagliani, who continues to be the surprise of the month thus far, was second quick with his lap at 227.652 mph.
Power’s Penske’s teammates Ryan Briscoe and Helio Castroneves clocked in third and fourth, respectively, with speeds of 227.217 mph and 226.927 mph.
Townsend Bell, who is in a one-off ride with Sam Schmidt Motorsports was fifth quick with a lap at 226.927 mph, while JR Hidebrand, who continues to be the fastest rookie, turned in a lap at 226.527, the sixth quickest lap of the day.
Despite the lengthy yellow after de Silvestro’s crash, a total of 2,394 laps were turned in on the track by 40 cars.
Tomorrow is “Fast Friday,” the final day of practice before qualifications on Saturday and Sunday.
With 40 cars practicing today and a full day of practice anticipated tomorrow, and only 33 spots available in the field, the competition to get into the race will be tremendous, and several teams will leave the track on Sunday night, disappointed after not making the race this weekend.
Tony Kanaan (right), suited up and hoping to go out for practice talked with his former boss, Michael Andretti. The track had indicated one minute to go to the start of practice when the rain once again began to fall. [Russ Lake Photo]
Surrounded by spectators, Penske Racing Pesident Tim Cindric (second from left), team owner Roger Penske and driver Ryan Briscoe studied the prototype 2012 Dallara Aero kit which was on display at the track. [Russ Lake Photo]
Rookie teammates Ho-Pin Tung and Scott Speed were smiling on pit lane in spite of the fact that persistent bad weather once again kept them for practicing. [Russ Lake Photo]
A.J. Foyt Enterprises, ABC Supply sponsored, drivers Bruno Junqueira (left) and Vito Meira talk while in the pits shortly before rain returned to the Speedway. [Russ Lake Photo]
Mario Andretti talked with his grandson, Marco Andretti. [Russ Lake Photo]
Driver Raphael Matos took advantage of track down time to relax on the pit wall. [Russ Lake Photo]
Bertrand Baguette posed next to his mount, The RACB/Aspiia RLL Special of Rahal Letterman Lanigan LLC Racing. Baguette, who was a rookie in the 2010 “500” and on The IZOD IndyCar circuit, has this ride only for the Indy 500.. [Russ Lake Photo]
Wednesday, May 18 ? Frustration is mounting at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway as yet another complete day of practice was lost to inclement weather. At one point, drivers were strapped in their cars and the track was one minute from going green, when the rain began again.
Especially hard hit by the loss of practice time are the rookies and the drivers with one-off rides, as they need maximum practice time to get the proper feel of the track and their cars.
Rookie driver Scott Speed, who took his first laps in an IndyCar during the Rookie Orientation Program, summed up the situation: “As a rookie, having less track time is definitely not the best thing in the world. It definitely makes things a little more difficult. We’ll do our best to take it in stride. I think we’ll be OK with it. We have a lot of resources here. There’s nothing extra we can really do to prepare for the race. At this point it’s all about track time. I mean, we’re just waiting,” he said.
The weather forecast for tomorrow is good, so it is anticipated the track will be a very busy place when practice opens at noon.
The Shell V-Power/Pennzoil Ultra Team Penske team took advantage of the time available in the pits to practice pit stops on the #3 car driven by Helio Castroneves. [Russ Lake Photo]
A group of school children crowded up against the fence of Gasoline Alley between the pits and the garage area, anxiously waiting to get Danica Patrick’s autograph. [Russ Lake Photo]
This painting by well-known artist Thomas Kinkade features the Ray Harroun 1911 Indy 500 winning car, the 2010 winning car of Dario Franchitti and other historical and modern details. [Russ Lake Photo]
The #5 KV Racing Technology-Lotus driven by Takuma Sato sits on pit lane as the team practices pit stops. All three KV Technology-Lotus entries for the “500” are painted in a 1960’s Lotus British Racing Green. [Russ Lake Photo]
The checkered flag was waved at 4:05 p.m. as the rain began to fall, signaling the end of practice at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. [Russ Lake Photo]
Wednesday, May 17 – Although there were two hours and 44 minutes of green flag pra
Al Unser, Jr. #42 and Buddy Lazier #17 line up on the first row for the inaugural Indy Legends Pro-Am Race at Brickyard Vintage Racing Invitational. [Steve Zautke photo]
by Indianapolis Motor Speedway
INDIANAPOLIS, Sunday, June 8, 2014 – Two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Al Unser Jr. and his amateur partner, Peter Klutt were the winners of the Charity Indy Legends Pro-Am race this afternoon on the recently reconfigured 2.43-mile road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
The Sportscar Vintage Racing Association served as the sanctioning body of the three-day Brickyard Vintage Racing Invitational where more than 700 racecars competed in 12 different race groups on the IMS road course. The event, which also featured exhibition runs on the famed 2.5-mile IMS oval, gave race fans the opportunity to meet drivers, get close to historic racecars and speak with knowledgeable car owners. The Brickyard Vintage Racing Invitational marked the first time that a vintage racing series has ever competed at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
As the feature event of the inaugural Brickyard Vintage Racing Invitational, the Charity Indy Legends Pro-Am race teamed former Indianapolis 500 drivers with amateur partners during a 45-minute race. The cars used in the Charity Legends Pro-Am race were 1963 to 1972 vintage Chevrolet Corvettes and Camaros, and Ford Mustangs.
Unser Jr. and Klutt won the race while sharing the driving duties in Klutt’s No. 42C 1969 Chevrolet Corvette, with six-time Indianapolis 500 starter and four-time top-10 finisher Eliseo Salazar and his partner Gary Moore finishing second in Moore’s No. 98B 1965 Mustang GT350. Rounding out the podium in third place was two-time Indianapolis 500 starter Willy T. Ribbs, who drove the No. 5 1972 Corvette owned by his driving partner Ed Sevadjian.
“It feels great,” Unser Jr. said. “I just want to thank Tony Parella [Sportscar Vintage Racing Association President and CEO] for inviting us, and also Peter Klutt for a beautiful car. That Corvette was just gone and it handled super. It’s great to be back here at Indy.” “It’s a dream of a lifetime,” said Klutt. “To drive with Little Al and have him drive our car is really cool, and to drive in an event here is amazing. Tony [Parella] is really bringing vintage racing in North America to a new level and it’s really good to see.
“I started the race and then the strategy was that when a yellow came out, I would come in and we’d do the change. It came out early and that was good; I had one of the best drivers in the world to bring her home.”
With his runner-up finish today, Salazar posted his third top-five finish at IMS to go along with impressive Indianapolis 500 finishes of fourth in 1995 and third in 2000. “I had never experienced vintage racing before. I was invited three weeks ago and they wanted to pair me with Gary, and it was truly a great experience,” Salazar said. “Anytime you come back to Indy it’s great, and we had fun. We improved our lap times a lot since yesterday and I’m really happy.” “It’s a dream come true and a fantastic pairing,” said Moore. “We had a lot of things to deal with with the car, but we stayed with it and it was a lot of fun.”
In placing third in today’s race, Ribbs had to quickly acquaint himself with a 1972 Corvette that he had no idea he was going to drive until earlier today.
“I got the call this morning in my hotel about what car I was going to drive, and you’re not going to get any practice and you’re going to have to go right out and learn it during the race, and that’s what we did,” Ribbs said.
“It was surreal sitting on the straightaway at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway listening to the national anthem and the whole experience was an honor,” said Sevadjian. “To be fortunate enough to be on the podium with past champions and drivers I’ve watched since I was a kid was a neat program.”
Other former Indianapolis 500 drivers competing in the Charity Indy Legends Pro-Am included 1996 winner Buddy Lazier, Scott Goodyear, Dick Simon, Lyn St. James, Mark Dismore, Johnny Parsons Jr., Alex Lloyd, Pete Halsmer, Robby Unser, Rocky Moran, Jaques Lazier, Robby McGehee, Spike Gehlhausen, Billy Roe, Scott Harrington, Rick Treadway, Tom Bagley, Bob Lazier, P.J. Chesson and John Martin.
For additional information on the Sportscar Vintage Racing Association visit: http://www.svra.com.
Serving as the grand marshal of the Brickyard Vintage Racing Invitational was 1963 Indianapolis 500 winner Parnelli Jones, who drove the pace car for the Charity Indy Legends Pro-Am race.
Indianapolis, Ind. ? Winning the Indianapolis 500 continues to be one of the biggest accomplishments in motorsports and with the victory, the driver gains worldwide recognition. For 2007 race winner Dario Franchitti, his world changed dramatically as soon as he pulled into rain-soaked victory lane.
Since becoming the 2007 champion, Franchitti has been besieged with requests for interviews and the pace will quicken when he hits the road for a fast-paced media tour. Sunday the Scotsman didn?t finish his last interview until 11 p.m., and he was at it again at eight hours later. In between, he celebrated the victory with his teammates and friends from Scotland.
Less than a day after he won the rain-shortened Indianapolis 500, Franchitti said the enormity of his accomplishment was just starting to be absorbed. ?I am not sure it has sunk in yet,? he said during a slow-paced, four-lap van ride around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway with eight journalists.
?The win is huge for me personally,? he said. ?It will take a while to fully digest.? During a photo shoot with the victory, Franchitti took the opportunity to closely inspect the faces already on the winner?s Borg-Warner trophy. ?When you see the names on it, it is amazing to think that I am going to be on it. It is a real honor.?
When rain fell for the second time on Sunday, Franchitti was shown the checkered flag on the 166th lap, except he never saw it because of the rain. ?It was raining like crazy and I couldn?t see the checkered flag,? he said. ?I was about 100 yards past the finish line when I realized what had happened; I went nuts in the car. It was so wet and seeing all of the team on the wall was such a relief. It was a great feeling.?
Speaking about the race, Franchitti said the start went well. ?The last thing I remember before getting in my race mode was seeing Chuck Yeager standing in front of the car. That was pretty cool. Going through turn one was nice and clean and everyone stayed out of trouble.? He noted the car had under steer tendencies in the early going but it had been remedied by the time the rain stopped the race on the 113th lap.
He indicated that being in front of the pack gives a driver time to think, but in traffic, you have to set-up to pass the drivers ahead of you. ?What we are finding with those new regulations, you have to set the guy up a lap or two in advance. It is not something where you just come up and pass them.?
Franchitti said he didn?t really have any close calls. ?During one restart, everyone seemed to brake hard going into first turn, and I almost hit the guy in front of me. That was the only real moment I had.?
Pointing to passing points on the track, Franchitti described when and where passes overtaking could be done. He also pointed out Tony Kanaan?s skid marks and described his spin. ?It was a typical TK maneuver; tremendous car control.?
Asked how the tire and skid marks on the track, the winner said he tried not to notice these blemishes. ?There?s always that comfort factor of seeing the SAFER wall,? he noted. ?When you think of the things Tony George has done and all the money that he has spent, you have to tip your hat to the guy.?
As the van rolled to a stop near the finish line, Franchitti reflected on his accomplishment. ?Personally, it means a huge amount to me. This is the biggest race we do. It is an amazing race, and it is so special to win it. You look at a guy like Michael (Andretti), who is one of the best drivers I have ever raced against, and things just never went his way. When you get the chance for it to be your day, you have to take it.?
Even though Franchitti will be basking in the spotlight for the foreseeable future, he can?t wait to return to the cockpit. He races again at The Milwaukee Mile next weekend. ?We are on a roll, and I am ready to go,? he stated firmly. ?When your cars are as good as they are, you just want to get in and drive them.?
With the enthusiasm and charisma he exudes, Franchitti will be a tremendous asset for the sport in the year ahead.
Chip Ganassi Racing the car Tony Kanaan and Kyle Larsen will be driving. [Eddie LePine Photo] 
Action Express team of JC France. [Eddie LePine Photo] 
Wayne Taylor’s team getting ready for the test. [Eddie LePine Photo] 
Corvette getting ready for the test this weekend at Daytona. [Eddie LePine Photo]
FeaturedIndyCar SeriesRobert Wickens
