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.