STARSHIP SUBS,
Soups, Catering, and
more...
BOOKS, DVDS, CD,
you name it and it's Here
Deals and more deals.
Dan Peters Sports Editor
Car Racing Writer
Oak Park Journal
The Start of the Race for the 88th Running of the Indy 500 © Oak Park Journal photo by Dan Peters Buddy Rice Makes It a "Clean Sweep" at Indianapolis
Sunday, May 30, 2004 – Buddy Rice made it a clean sweep at the Brickyard this May when he charged to victory in the 88th Indianapolis 500. Rice, driver of the No. 15 Rahal-Letterman Argent/Pioneer Panoz G Force/Honda/Firestone, also won the MBNA Pole Award and his crew claimed the victory in the Checkers/Rally’s Indy 500 Pit Stop Challenge on "Carb Day" May 27. The race ended under caution when rain hit the speedway stopping the race for good on Lap 180. Officials made the right call... moments after the race was stopped, severe weather hit the speedway, with heavy rain , wind and damaging winds. Several Tornados were spotted near the town of Speedway, but the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was not damaged. “The least amount of mistakes,” said Rice, who joined Bobby Unser as the only drivers to win the pole, pit stop contest and race in the same year. “We had to go through some diversions. We had an issue with one of the pit stops, but hey, these guys have been fighting all year. We had a couple other of these deals won, but we had little mishaps that weren’t our fault, so this is great.” Rice, is the first American-born winner of the famed 500 since 1998, when Eddie Cheever won the May classic. This was also his first Indy Racing League Indy Car Series victory and Honda’s first win at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Buddy also became the 17th Indianapolis 500 winner
to win from the pole, and the first since Arie Luyendyk in 1997. He
“My God, what a job Buddy did today,” said late-night
talk show host David Letterman, who co-owns Rahal-Letterman Racing with
1986 Indianapolis 500 winner Bobby Rahal. “He was just coming after it,
coming after it, coming after it. My thanks to Bobby (Rahal) and Scott
(Roembke, team manager) and Honda and Argent and all these people that
really worked hard. It’s just a thrill to be part of this.”
Letterman went on to say “You’re 16th, and your heart sinks a little bit, but Buddy’s heart didn’t sink. He just kept gnawing at it and gnawing at it and running everybody down. The car was the strongest one in the field all the day. He opened up the early lead. Then we sit out an hour and a half for rain. Nothing phased him. Nothing phased the car. It was bound to happen, you know. Two-hundred laps, 400 laps – I think it’s still Buddy … I don’t think the rain was the factor. I’m disappointed it didn’t go 200. For Buddy, I know he would like a full race, but I don’t think it would have been a factor. The guy who was supposed to win this race won regardless of the weather.” When asked About being the owner of the winning car: “I don’t belong here, for heaven’s sake. What am I doing here? It’s unbelievable. It’s very nice. You know, you’re a kid, and you dream about this. And the race is so much a part of your life. To get to go to the race is a big deal. To be in the race … but to win it, that’s just nuts. I’ve had dreams where I’m driving and always something happens, and Bobby asks me to get out of the car.” Michael Andretti, Co-owner, Andretti Green Racing: “Buddy had too much car at the end for us. It’s a little disappointing, but yeah, we’ll take second, third and fourth. It’s not too bad, and we’re still in the lead for the championship. I think we might have opened it up a little bit with Tony and Dan. We were competitive; we just weren’t quite quick enough.” Andretti Green Racing secured the next three spots, with Tony Kanaan finishing second, Dan Wheldon third and Bryan Herta fourth. Bruno Junqueira rounded out the top five for as Honda claimed the first seven positions. “(Rice) was much stronger,” Kanaan said. “I don’t think
I had the car to pass him. He was much faster, and he had a better
Wheldon, who recorded his seventh-straight top-five finish, maintained his IndyCar Series points lead over Kanaan by one point, 158-157. “It’s fantastic to come in third at the Indianapolis 500,” he said. “When you work so hard and miss it by so little, it’s kind of disappointing in a way. But you know, Buddy Rice had a really strong month, and other than somebody on our team, you couldn’t have a better winner other than him. “It’s great for Honda. All of us were strong today.
It was a
The race start was delayed for 2 hours, 11 minutes because of persistent morning rain showers. Rain also red-flagged the race on Lap 29 for 1 hour, 47 minutes because of rain. Previously, only the 1926 and 2001 races were restarted on the same day after a rain delay. The 1926 race was temporarily halted because of rain on Lap 71 and was declared officially over when rain again stopped the race at the 400-mile mark. In 2001, the race was red flagged on Lap 155 because of rain. It resumed under yellow after a 16-minute, 34-second delay. Buddy Rice averaged 138.518 mph. The race was slowed by eight cautions for 56 laps. (Lots of rain...)
|
