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DRAMA
BUILDS FOR INDIANAPOLIS 500 QUALIFYING AS RAIN WASHES OUT SECOND DAY OF
PRACTICE
INDIANAPOLIS, Thursday, May 8, 2008 – For the first time since 2006,
rain forced the cancellation of a second consecutive day of on-track
activity at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The lack of track time
adds to the drama and tension as teams prepare for qualifying for the
Indianapolis 500.
A key moment in the month-long pursuit to become the Indianapolis 500
champion comes May 10 when drivers compete for the top 11 starting
positions for the 92nd running of the 500-Mile Race,
including the PEAK Motor Oil Pole Award presented by AutoZone and it’s
$100,000 prize.
But, for the 11 driverss who don’t qualify on Pole Day, there’s still
hope. Three times in the last 10 years, the winner has come from
outside the top 11 spots.
Eddie Cheever Jr. drove to Victory Lane from the 17th
starting position in 1998. Helio Castroneves won from 13th
in 2002, and Dan Wheldon started 16th when he won in 2005.
“Your primary goal at this race is to win the race,” said Wheldon, who
led 30 laps in 2005. “You can get very caught up in qualifying, and
it’s a very proud achievement for everyone on the team to be on pole
for the race. You have to make a very disciplined approach to that and
understand that if your car is not necessarily a pole contender, you
can waste a lot of tires trying to do that.”
The bigger key, according to Castroneves, Cheever and Wheldon, is to
have a good race car.
“Not only was I back there (in 17th),” said Cheever, who is
part of the ABC broadcast team this May. “But in the first corner, I
got hit from behind and almost spun.”
Despite the early setback, Cheever was able to get to the front and
take his first lead on Lap 68.
“It was just one of those races where apart from a really bad first
corner everything went right,” Cheever said. “We didn’t have to change
the car at all. Owen Snyder had done a really good job on the setup. We
had one pit stop problem where I thought I was told to go, but I
wasn’t, and we almost ripped the fuel tank out of the car. But the car
was just good.
“I always thought it was wise to take the lead at the last possible
moment and save your car, but I found myself in front. The pace was
good, the car was running well, and everything just kind of fell my
way.”
Wheldon climbed into the top 10 by Lap 28 and into the top five on Lap
55. However, he didn’t take the lead until Lap 150.
“I had a great race car and was able to get to the front very, very
quickly,” said Wheldon, who also led laps in 2004 and 2006. “That’s how
it works around here. In the race, you don’t necessarily have to have
the fastest race car to get to the front. You need a car that handles
good in traffic, because you’re not going to avoid traffic around this
place. And you need something that is consistent. The track changes,
the temperature changes, so it’s got to be consistent in all
conditions.”
Castroneves cut things the closest. He didn’t take the lead in the 2002
Indianapolis 500 until Lap 177, leading the final 24 laps on his way to
becoming a two-time winner at Indy.
Even though they’ve proved it’s possible to win from the middle of the
33-car field, the drivers would prefer to start up front.
“It’s always good (to qualify the first weekend), because you don’t
want to spend that next week thinking about qualifying – you want to
think about racing,” Castroneves said. “You want to make sure you
prepare yourself for the race the next week. Whatever happens after
that, you need to be able to adapt to those circumstances.”
Said Cheever: “I think the front row is definitely the place to be when
you’re starting the 500. Other than the fact that it’s a lot of fun to
be on the front row leading up to the race, there’s less possibilities
of getting caught up in somebody else’s accidents. Every row that you
go back into the field, the multiple of you having a possible
race-ending accident goes up dramatically.”
***
Roth Racing has hired IndyCar Series veteran Larry Curry as chief
engineer. Curry comes to Roth Racing from Vision Racing, where he was
the team manager.
As chief engineer, Curry will not only oversee the setups for the Nos.
24 and 25 race cars driven by Jay Howard and Marty Roth, respectively,
but also will set about restructuring the engineering department.
MARTY ROTH (Roth Racing, Owner/Driver):
“Having a person of Larry’s experience join our organization,
especially as the month of May and the most important race of the
season is upon is, should be a huge boost to us all. Although we
realize that changing team personnel at the season’s fifth race may put
us slightly behind the 8-ball as we head into the first weekend of
qualifying at Indy, we feel that the knowledge and leadership that
Larry brings to the team will only make us better as we continue to
develop our program and strive to become more competitive at each race.
Our team has made huge strides this year. We’ve added a second car with
Jay Howard, who passed his rookie orientation on Sunday, and at the
last race in Kansas we posted the best-ever qualifying effort in team
history. We fully expect that as the season progr esses we will
continue to develop and run further toward the front.”
LARRY CURRY:
“I had a great three-and-a-half years at Vision
Racing, and I want to thank Tony George for his support over the years.
I now look forward to a long tenure with Roth Racing and to the
challenges of helping to build the team into a competitive, first-class
organization.”
***
Gil de Ferran, the 2003 Indianapolis 500 champion, will return to the
Indianapolis Motor Speedway May 9 for the first time since 2004.
De Ferran, who served as a racing commentator for ABC in 2004, recently
formed de Ferran Motorsports after serving as sporting director for
Honda Formula One.
***
Team Moore Racing announced on May 8 that
rookie Pablo Donoso will join the Firestone Indy Lights team beginning
with the Firestone Freedom 100 on May 23 at the Indianapolis Motor
Speedway.
Donoso will be teammate to veteran driver Jeff Simmons. Donoso, 23,
will take his first laps with TMR at a test session May 9 at The
Milwaukee Mile. The Chilean has run the first four races of the season
and sits 19th in points with a best finish of 12th at Kansas
Speedway in April.
MARK MOORE (President, Team Moore Racing): “Everyone at TMR is excited to have Pablo
join our team. It’s been our goal to grow to a two-car team, and now we
have the opportunity with two extremely talented drivers behind the
wheel.”
***
Indiana University men’s basketball coach Tom Crean visited with
Panther Racing co-owner John Barnes today in Gasoline Alley. Crean is
married to the sister of Panther co-owner Jim Harbaugh, a former
quarterback with the Indianapolis Colts.
TOM CREAN (Men’s Basketball Head Coach,
Indiana University): “There
is a lot of excitement to be here and to see John again. We’ve talked,
but it’s the first time I have seen him since I have been the Indiana
coach. We’ve known each other a long time. Our family, the Harbaughs
and the Creans, have incredible respect for him. It’s a lifelong
friendship and to know now that we are going to have a lot more time to
be together, and knowing that he is going to be a part of the scene
with us at Indiana, means a lot.” (About seeing new faces in
Bloomington): “It’s just like John said, we have to learn how to do
things differently and that it all comes together, while making sure
everybody is doing it for the good of what racing is and for how much
people enjoy it. It’s the same at Indiana. There is an uphill battle,
and I think everyone know s that. My kids haven’t even moved to
Bloomington yet, and they know that. You have to have a family
atmosphere that transcends everything. I think that is where the former
players come in more than anything else. Recruiting is obviously
incredibly important. Establish who are team is going to be, that is
important. I’m telling you, having our former players back, feeling
good about this, and interacting and feeling like they our a part of
it, that’s really huge. That’s been one of the great thrills about
being here. I know it’s been just a little over a month, but one of the
great things has been getting to know these guys, getting them on the
phone, seeing them in person. I’m looking for a long-standing
relationship with them because they have had such a long-standing
relationship with IU.” (About his first trip to IMS): “This is the
first time I have been to the Speedway. What is amazing to me is how
immaculate this place is . I was over in the Penske garage, and it’s
spotless. ! You come in here and see everything so green, I mean, I
know it’s raining, but you can tell this place is well kept. You don’t
know how huge this place is until you come here. It’s impressive.”
JOHN BARNES (Co-owner, Panther Racing):
“There is no place I would rather be than the Indianapolis 500 and here
with Tom and all the guys. He is going to do such great things for IU,
and we are so excited.” (About unification of open-wheel racing): “I
always say two things happen in the spring in Indiana: The grass turns
from brown to green, and there are talks about reunification. I didn’t
put much credence in it, but Tony (George) put a lot of work into this.
There are a lot of good teams coming in, and we have had good teams
here in the past. It’s going to be an uphill battle for those guys to
learn how to run on ovals. It’s all one happy family, and we don’t care
who they bring in, we’ll race against them.”
***
Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels will visit the Indianapolis Motor
Speedway on Friday morning to help kick off this year’s Vision Racing
Wellness Tour.
Daniels will be on hand at 10:45 a.m. at
MotoGP Garage 33, adjacent to the Pagoda Plaza, to assist Robert
Huffstodt, president and CEO of Polymer Technology Systems, Inc.,
makers of the CardioChek home cholesterol test system, Vision Racing
driver Ed Carpenter and team owner Laura George in launching the
Wellness Tour. Since 2005, Governor Daniels has focused on improving
the health of Hoosiers through his INShape Indiana statewide fitness
initiative.
The Vision Racing Wellness Tour will allow race fans to receive free
cholesterol and glucose screenings at IMS, courtesy of Vision Racing,
CardioChek® home cholesterol test system and Kroger.
Screenings will be conducted in MotoGP Garage 33 and will be available
from 11 a.m.- 4 p.m. Friday, May 9; Saturday, May 10; Saturday, May 17;
Wednesday, May 21 and Friday, May 23, and from 8 a.m.-noon Sunday, May
25.
***
Sarah Fisher Racing announced that Milwaukee-based Direct Supply, Inc.,
the nation’s leading supplier of equipment and e-commerce solutions to
long-term healthcare communities, will sponsor the No. 67 Honda-powered
Dallara driven by IndyCar Series veteran Sarah Fisher in the
Indianapolis 500.
Direct Supply, which returns as a sponsor at the Indianapolis 500 for
the third time, is new to SFR and Fisher, 27, of Commercial Point,
Ohio. Fisher, who became the first female to start from the pole
position in an IndyCar Series race, mirrors Direct Supply’s corporate
values in commitment, success and drive.
SARAH FISHER (No. 67 Team ResQ/Gravity
Entertainment): “I’m honored to have Direct Supply’s support
of our team. Working with Bob Hillis and the entire group at
Direct Supply has been great thus far, and we look forward to helping
grow their business.”
***
The 500 Festival staged a remote Mini-Marathon at Balad Air Base in
Iraq. More than 800 runners participated, with another 100 serving as
volunteers. The 500 Festival provided the participants with bibs,
medals, start and finish line banners, training gear and Gatorade.
***
INDYCAR SERIES END-OF-DAY QUOTES:
BUDDY RICE (No. 15 Dreyer & Reinbold
Racing): (About the
weather): “I don’t think it would be Indy if you didn’t have weather. I
think that’s what makes this place so unique – you never know what
you’re going to get. This track – its layout, the rules, the atmosphere
– everything is unique. It wouldn’t be the month of May if we didn’t
have some down time due to weather. The whole thing about this place is
speed. If you can find a couple of tenths of a mile per hour by sitting
there and looking at the car and cleaning it up and doing what you can,
you’re going to do that. I don’t think any down time is necessarily
good because I think all of us up here would just as soon be out there
running right now and having to work late with the teams to make our
cars faster. But at the same time, it’s just part of the month. This is
a long, long month, but we’re all excited for the weekend and ready to
get going.” (About how the team has run so far): “We rolled off the
trailer on Tuesday in the top 10, and basically we were there for most
of the time until we stopped running for a bit in the middle of the
heat. We went back and made some changes and came back in the afternoon
and jumped back up in there. For us to be rolling off the trailer the
way we are, we’re in pretty good shape now. It benefits the teams and
the personnel and the people who have been here. But I think it’s
definitely different. It’s interesting to have 33 cars starting the
month versus 20 or 22 like we’ve had in the past. To try to get clean
laps and try to run open, it’s just not going to happen. We’ll have to
see what happens with qualifying. It’s going to be fast, and the
weather’s going to dictate how fast we run.”
JAIME CAMARA (No. 34 Sangari):
“It’s really too bad
that it rained again today. Yesterday didn’t bother me too much, but I
was really looking forward to getting back into the car today to
continue our preparation for qualifying this weekend. It sets us back
on track time, but it’s the same for everybody. I think the weather
should be better tomorrow, so hopefully we can get out there.”
ENRIQUE BERNOLDI (No. 36 Sangari Conquest
Racing): “Obviously we
need the track time to continue our development of the car, and this
rain just isn’t helping. It makes for long days just sitting around
waiting. I’m not used to this. I met with my engineer and then played
some computer chess.” (Did you win?) “Of course.”
JUSTIN WILSON (No. 02 McDonald’s Racing Team):
“It's definitely a
challenge coming here and not getting to run as much as we'd like
before qualifying. I think this couple of days has given us a chance to
catch up on some of the work that we're struggling to fit in just
because of the tight schedule. The team is back there working hard,
making everything as close to perfect as we can get it before we go out
there. Hopefully, we'll get a chance to get out there tomorrow, but if
not, we'll go after it on Saturday. Right now, the guys are back
working on the McDonald's car, and they're just fine-tuning everything,
setting everything up again, checking all the wing measurements,
checking all the suspension components, the dampers we've changed
slightly throughout the week, so everybody is flat out. The
engineers are studying the data to make sure that what we think we've
learned is as right as we can get it before we can go back out on track
again and validate that. The teams that are new here are going to be a
step behind, but we've used these two days to catch up on some of the
work that we're struggling to fit in. It's not as bad as if we were
sitting around, twiddling our thumbs. We've used the time wisely. You
spend the time polishing the car and cleaning up the edges. Anything
you can do to get that tenth of a mile an hour which is going to make
the difference on Saturday and Sunday.” (About trimming the car out):
“We started that on Tuesday. Sunday was pretty much, not full
downforce, but higher downforce to get comfortable with the track and
the car and get experience. Throughout Monday and Tuesday, we started
trimming it back and trimming it back, and I think now we're at a
similar level to everyone else now. I think the next step for us is
going to be to try to get the car a little more drivable and a little
more consistent where we can keep it going like that during the race
with turbule! nt air.& rdquo; (About racing heroes): “I don't
remember Jim Clark's racing, but I've seen a little bit of video
footage. Obviously he was a great driver and regarded as one of the
best. Actually, my two heroes were Nigel Mansell in Formula 1 when he
came across here and more recently Dario (Franchitti). I first got to
know Dario when I first started racing cars at 16 years old. I followed
his career, and he was somebody that I admired. I like the way he
drove, and I like the way he raced. To get to become, not really
friends, but we know each other enough to speak to each other on
occasion, and I know his brother very well. He's definitely one of my
idols, and he's obviously a great driver and someone that I've admired
for a long time.” (About racing at Indy with past karting rivals):
“Myself and Dan (Wheldon) used to race karts together when we were 8
years old. Darren Manning was actually my teammate in karts when I was
11, 12 years old, and I've known them for ma ny years. I competed with
Darren in Formula 3000, and we both went on. He was a test driver in
Formula 1, and I did a couple of tests. I think I did one more year and
then came across. It's just how it all worked out. Dan decided early on
that he wanted to come across here and race. He started out, I think,
in Formula 2000 over here. It's just coincidence that we all ended up
here, and I think (E.J. Viso) was saying earlier, I don't think we all
planned for it to work out and race over here, but the merger happened,
which I think we're all pretty happy about, and everybody is getting
the chance to come here and race and all racing against each other
again.”
WILL POWER (No. 8 Aussie Vineyard-Team
Australia): “It was
good that KVRT Aussie Vineyards–Team Australia got a lot of miles in
during the first three days. It really helped us because the last two
days have been raining, and we haven’t had any track time, which is so
important to a new team, especially one like us that has two rookie
drivers. I think the rain has helped us a little bit, because the
established teams have not run as much as we have here, and when we get
out on Friday the track is going to be green and have less grip. At
this point, we need all the advantage we can get. The down time has
also allowed the crew to make some changes to the car that we have been
discussing. Overall, there are some advantages to the wet weather and
some disadvantages.”
ORIOL SERVIA (No. 5 KV Racing Technology):
“We have mixed
feelings about the rain we had yesterday and today. It has been
good and bad at the same time. The disadvantage is that we need to get
as many miles as we can here at Indy so we can learn as much as
possible about the KV Racing Technology car before qualifying. But at
the same time, we went through a lot of tires our first two days of
practice, and the down time will help us manage the tires we have left.
We are looking forward to tomorrow. The weather is supposed to be good,
and we have a few things we want to try which should give us the speed
we need to achieve our goal, which is to qualify the first weekend.”
E.J. VISO (No. 33 PDVSA HVM Racing):
“Regarding the team,
we are a small team working really hard. I consider this a puzzle. Each
day we are finding a new piece, and at the end it’s all about how many
pieces we have found for the whole puzzle. It’s about putting them all
together for qualifying. There are all new rules. Everything is new for
me here in the States, especially in this series. All the rules are
completely different, so I am learning them and choosing the limit of
the rules to find that 100 percent advantage of what we can get for
this event.” (About the atmosphere of Indianapolis, including running
the Mini-Marathon): “Everything is different here for me. I just loved
running the Mini, and it was a great opportunity to be my first time
inside the track. I was running with so many people who are the people
that are going to watch me race. It was cool, and I’m getting used to
the place. My team has raced here, as well. It’s been a great
atmosphere, and I love it so far. I’m looking forward to starting the
action.” (About if fellow Venezuelan Milka Duno’s efforts in the Indy
500 had any influence on him): “Everything happened in a strange way in
the past two months. I was almost signed for the championship in Champ
Car, and IndyCar was not in my plans. I’m sure that Justin (Wilson) and
other drivers who are rookies here probably did not have it in their
plans. Everything happened so quick. Milka (Duno) has been here for a
while in the States. I came here by myself, and she is not a part of my
plans or anything like that.” (About the rain delays): “In the first
two or three testing days, we were saving tires because tires are one
of the things we were going to run out of quicker. Now we have more
tires since we were going to test yesterday and today, and we cannot do
it anymore. Not testing is very productive because we work and ! check
an d study all the data. This time is also important for us. For the
new teams, we are in a weaker position that we need to work a bit
harder. We’re trying to trim the cars as much as possible and do
whatever we can do to catch these guys.” (About superstitions): “On a
normal day for testing or racing, yeah, I have some lucky charms. My
last helmet is painted with lucky charms from all around the world. I
always have a few in my pocket, some small lucky charm things, like
coins and papers from my family and some different things. They keep
changing from year to year.” (About idols growing up): “From Venezuela,
there are not many drivers. I think the only known one was Johnny Cecotto. He is still the youngest
world champion in motorbikes at the age of 16. Being a world champion
in bikes, he then went to cars and was really good. He got into a big
accident at Brands Hatch (at the
British Grand Prix) back in 1983. His teammate was Ayrton Senna, and at that point he was up
in the points, so he was a really good driver. He’s one of the people I
really admire, and he started from zero, no help, nothing, and just got
up there. From the European guys, one of my idols is Alain Prost. He’s one of those drivers
that every lap they run, they are always to the limit in everything.
That’s what racing drivers are about - being in the limit. We need to
be there, and he is a great driver.”
***
A total of 35 cars are
currently at the Speedway and have passed technical inspection.
Thirty-four drivers have been on the track to date and have turned
2,701 laps this month. A total of 96 IndyCar Series and Firestone Indy
Lights drivers have passed physicals at the Clarian Emergency Medical
Center.
***
© Suburban Journals of Chicago Inc.
by Dan Peters
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