Dixon tops rain-shortened practice at Indy
Indianapolis, IN - May 15, 2008
By: IndyCar PR
Pole sitter Scott Dixon paced an abbreviated practice session for the Indianapolis 500, lapping the historic 2.5-mile oval at 222.834 mph.
Twenty-nine drivers made the most of 30 minutes of green flag time to complete 390 laps. Following a four-hour, 56-minute rain delay, the session that was scheduled to run from noon-6 p.m., finally opened under running yellow conditions at 4:56 p.m. Following a brief red flag for a heavy mist, the green flag was shown at 5:19 p.m. More rain brought out the checkered flag at 5:49.
Dixon, who won the pole for the 500-Mile Race with a four-lap qualifying average of 226.366 mph, was followed by Target Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Dan Wheldon, who turned a lap at 222.810. Andretti Green Racing drivers Marco Andretti, Hideki Mutoh and Danica Patrick were third-, fourth- and fifth-fast, respectively.
John Andretti, who took over the No. 24 Roth Racing entry May 10, was fastest among 23 drivers who have not qualified for the race. Andretti's fastest lap was 221.386 mph.
Practice is scheduled from noon-6 p.m. on May 15-16. Third Day Qualifying is scheduled for May 17, and Bump Day is slated for May 18.
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Entry update: The No. 21 Playa Del Racing entry has been withdrawn. The No. 88 Gardner Trucking American Dream Motorsports entry has been added with Phil Giebler as the driver of the Panoz chassis.
Giebler finished 29th in last year's Indianapolis 500 start, earning Chase Rookie of the Year honors in his only IndyCar Series start. The California native is a veteran of 19 Firestone Indy Lights starts, recording seven top-five finishes, including a victory at Homestead-Miami Speedway in 2004.
Former Indiana Boxing Commissioner William Kelsey and Arizona businessman Eric Zimmerman purchased majority ownership of Playa Del Racing and have changed the team's name to American Dream Motorsports.
The two have entered cars in the IndyCar Series, Champ Car World Series and NASCAR intermittently since 1997. This will be their first full-time racing endeavor.
PHIL GIEBLER: "It's hard to put into words what it means to return to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Indy 500. I had a huge learning curve in my rookie run last year, but I plan on this being a much better year. To say Indy is all I've thought about for the last 12 months would be an understatement."
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Entry update: Roger Yasukawa will drive the No. 98 CURB Records/hhgregg/Real Power Dallara/Honda/Firestone for CURB/Agajanian/Beck Motorsports.
Yasukawa, 30, is a veteran of five Indianapolis 500s from 2003-07 and has posted two top-10 finishes. Overall, he has 38 IndyCar Series starts with a eight top-10 finishes.
Beck Motorsports has competed in the Indianapolis 500 since 1995, posting four top-10 finishes despite often arriving at the Speedway well after Opening Day.
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Legendary motorcycle daredevil Robbie Knievel will attempt to jump over 20 Hummer vehicles during the pre-race activities for the June 7 Bombardier Learjet 550k IndyCar Series event at Texas Motor Speedway.
Knievel, son of daredevil icon Evel Knievel, successfully jumped the entire IndyCar Series starting field on Oct. 6, 2001 at Texas Motor Speedway.
Knievel, 46, has successfully completed 250 jumps, 20 of which resulted in world records. His career has been highlighted by the Caesars Palace fountain jump in 1989, the building-to-building jump in 1999 and the Grand Canyon jump in 2000. He performed in his first show with his father, Evel, at Madison Square Garden at the age of 8 and by 12 he was on tour.
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Medical update from Dr. Michael Olinger, senior medical director for the Indy Racing League: #16 Alex Lloyd is cleared to drive. Lloyd was transported to Methodist Hospital for precautionary X-rays May 9 after his car made heavy contact with the SAFER Barrier in Turn 1. A CT scan showed no fractures.
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Indianapolis 500 veteran PJ Jones scored his first hole-in-one Monday at Brickyard Crossing Golf Course. Jones aced the 298-yard, par-4 14th hole, using a Taylor Made R5 driver.
Jones' drive hit just short of the green and rolled into the hole.
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Pacific Coast Motorsports, which fields an Indianapolis 500 entry driven by rookie Mario Dominguez, has launched a revamped Web site at www.pcmracing.com.
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Team owner Dale Coyne spoke about changes to the team's personnel following the injury suffered Friday by crew chief Chuck Buckman in a pit road accident.
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Veteran crew chief/engineer Larry Curry spoke about his new role as chief engineer for Roth Racing, which he joined this month. Roth Racing is fielding cars at Indianapolis for owner-driver Marty Roth and veteran John Andretti.
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After pulling out of this year's shuttle services, IndyGo announced May 2 that a waiver now permits Park and Ride service to the Indianapolis 500 on May 25.
In February, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) unveiled new guidelines detailing how public transportation agencies can support local events. The guidelines are designed to limit public subsidized services from unfairly competing with private sector charter services. Public transportation agencies could face federal penalties and loss of revenue for noncompliance.
Roundtrip shuttle tickets for the Indianapolis 500 cost $15. Children age 2 and under ride free. Tickets will be available at all boarding locations the day of the Indianapolis 500. Advance ticket purchases may be made in person at the IndyGo Customer Service Center located in the Indianapolis City Market.
The express shuttle service will transport passengers to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway beginning at 9 a.m., four hours before the official start of the race. Boarding locations include two locations in downtown Indianapolis and the airport.
Passengers can board the buses at the following locations:
Downtown
•Illinois and Market - near Monument Circle
•IUPUI Lot 73 - off of Michigan and Blackford Streets
Indianapolis International Airport
•Main Terminal - lower level, Terminal Drive
•International Arrival Parking - located on Banner Avenue and Pierson Drive
Passengers will be dropped off on Main Street near Gilman Street, which will also serve as the pick-up location after the race. Shuttle service will continue for three hours after the official end of the race.
Some of the shuttle locations charge individual parking fees. For information about parking fees, please visit www.indydt.com (downtown locations) or www.indianapolisairport.com (airport location).
For more information about IndyGo's routes and services, contact the Customer Service Center at (317) 635-3344 or stop by the center in the Indianapolis City Market. Details are also available online at www.IndyGo.net.
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Sarah Fisher Racing (SFR) today announced a partnership with Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI), an urban research and academic health sciences campus with 21 schools and academic units, that includes sponsorship of Sarah Fisher's No. 67 Honda-powered Dallara for the upcoming Indianapolis 500.
The sponsorship of Sarah Fisher Racing is a collaborative effort between the IU School of Liberal Arts, the Purdue School of Engineering and Technology and the IUPUI campus administration.
Fisher was one of the first students in the Engineering Dual Degree Program, a joint effort between Purdue School of Engineering and Technology, IUPUI and Butler University. Fisher has been a helping hand with the School of Engineering and Technology, as well as several units on campus, and has made personal appearances to meet and talk with undergraduate students.
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Roger Yasukawa, announced today as driver for CURB/Agajanian/Beck Motorsports, used the rain delay today to complete a photo shoot with new sponsor hhgregg. Yasukawa posed in his No. 98 CURB Records/hhgregg/Real Power Dallara/Honda/Firestone outside of his garage while dozens of fans looked on, taking shots of their own.
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Jaques Lazier, who made six starts in the Indianapolis 500 from 2000-07, was in the garage area looking for a drive.
"If it pays off, great, if it doesn't, that's the way it works, but we've been working pretty hard on it this past week and a couple of months before that, working sponsorship, said Lazier. "It's tough right now, and we've definitely got a lot more interest. When the unification occurred, there was a lot more interest from corporate America, but it's still awfully tough right now. Everybody's wallets are pretty thin, and it's tough to allocate funds right now. But there's a few opportunities that still exist out here. Obviously, weather is playing a big part out here.
"There's some teams out here that are struggling that may be saying on Saturday, 'Hey, we need to get our car in the field,' and may be looking for someone with a little more experience. If that's the case, there's not a whole bunch of people here that don't have a ride who have much more experience than me. You've got to stay optimistic and keep beating the path, and hopefully after two pairs of shoes, it will work out. It's always great to be here during the Month of May, no matter how you look at it. It's always fun to talk to old friends and to joke around about whether we're going to be able to make it out today, and if you do, do you really want to make it out anyway.
"The track is going to be cold, and if you can go out a lot of people are going to go out at the same time, so it's going to be chaotic out there. I don't think you can learn that much, but at the same time you have to look at the big picture, and the big picture is that the 25th might be the identical conditions as you run today. Even if you only go out there for 20 laps or something and just kind of get an idea of the kind of car you have and the setup you have, the engineers today are so darn good that they can come back over here and look at what they did and say, 'You know, next time the conditions are like this, I would do this to the car to make it a little bit better and more comfortable for the driver.' So, yeah, there's benefit to going out in these kinds of conditions, but you can go from hero to zero and it not be anybody's fault. You're just fighting a very cold track."
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Alex Barron, who was a finalist to drive the No. 98 car, is still searching for opportunities with other teams. Barron has made five Indianapolis 500 starts, recording a best finish of fourth in 2002. "I'm still just talking to everybody," said Barron. "With the rain coming in, I'm sure that there will be a lot of guystrying to get the thing in the show quick. You never know. Every year, something happens. It's unpredictable.
"I just need to make sure I'm around, and hopefully I'll get a chance. I think later on in the week (the poor weather) might help my chances. It's hard to say how many cars are going to try to qualify, but at the same time, everyone wants to get in as early as possible because of the conditions, and sometimes teams and drivers try harder than they should at a particular moment, and being here racing the race quite a few times has a bit of pull. I just have to wait and see. I made the commitment to do everything I can to get in, and I'll be here 'till' at least Sunday and hopefully I'm racing."
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Wii Fit, Nintendo's newest video game, is the primary sponsor on the No. 16 entry driven by Alex Lloyd. The sponsorship comes from a partnership with Nintendo and Target. Lloyd is under contract to Target Chip Ganassi Racing and is driving a combined effort between the Ganassi team and Rahal Letterman Racing.
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A media panel will select the recipient of the Scott Brayton Award for the first time this May. Past recipients were selected by Indianapolis Motor Speedway officials from the award's inception in 1997 through 2007.
The Scott Brayton Driver's Trophy is awarded to the driver best exemplifying the character and racing spirit of late driver Scott Brayton, who suffered fatal injuries in a practice crash during the 1996 Indianapolis 500 after winning his second consecutive pole for the event. The award will be presented during the Indianapolis 500 Victory Celebration on Monday, May 26 at the IMS Plaza Pavilion.
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INDYCAR SERIES PRACTICE REPORT:
4:56 p.m. - RUNNING YELLOW. #8 Power, #34 Camara, #15 Rice, #17 Hunter-Reay, #44 Papis and #16 Lloyd are the first cars on track. Light mist reported in Turn 3.
4:58 p.m. - #41 Simmons turns his first lap of the month.
5:02 p.m. - RED. Heavy mist reported in Turn 3. Eleven cars combined to turn 12 laps.
5:10 p.m. - RUNNING YELLOW.
5:13 p.m. - #98 Yasukawa turns his first lap of the month.
5:19 p.m. - GREEN.
5:49 p.m. - YELLOW and CHECKERED. Rain reported in Turns 3 and 4.
FASTEST SPEEDS OF THE DAY:
Pos. Car Name Speed
1. 9 Scott Dixon 222.834 mph
2. 10 Dan Wheldon 222.810 mph
3. 26 Marco Andretti 222.801 mph
4. 27 Hideki Mutoh 221.868 mph
5. 7 Danica Patrick 221.683 mph
FASTEST SPEEDS BY NON-QUALIFIED DRIVERS:
Pos. Car Name Speed
1. 24 John Andretti 221.386 mph
2. 15 Buddy Rice 220.277 mph
3. 36 Enrique Bernoldi 220.105 mph
4. 99 Townsend Bell 220.020 mph
5. 18 Bruno Junqueira 219.981 mph
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Fifteen Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Indy Racing League safety vehicles combined to drive more than 6,750 miles today in their track-drying efforts. That equates roughly to a roundtrip between San Diego and the Maine/Quebec border. Each of the 15 vehicles logged approximately 450 miles.
