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Mid-Afternoon Update from the Brickyard.................
current as of 1:10pm, 8 May 2009


~~~2 drivers above 225mph...........
Helio Castroneves, #3 Team Penske, 225.438 mph
Ryan Briscoe, #6 Team Penske, 225.981 mph
[by comparison, Scott Dixon's pole speed from 2008 was a 226.366]
~~~One crash in practice so far today...........
Robert Doornbos, #06 NHLR/Muermans, made contact w/the turn 2 SAFER barrier; he was checked and released from Clarion and has been cleared to continue practice

Current top-10.............
1 Ryan Briscoe 225.981 mph
2 Helio Castroneves 225.438 mph
3 Dario Franchitti 224.984 mph
4 Scott Dixon 224.822 mph
5 Marco Andretti 224.724 mph
6 Danica Patrick 224.655 mph
7 Dan Wheldon 224.357 mph
8 Alex Lloyd 224.219 mph
9 Tony Kanaan 224.033 mph
10 Robert Doornbos 223.955 mph

Top-10 at 3pm 8 May 2009...................
1 Ryan Briscoe 225.981 mph
2 Helio Castroneves 225.438 mph
3 Dario Franchitti 224.984 mph
4 Scott Dixon 224.822 mph
5 Danica Patrick 224.755 mph
6 Marco Andretti 224.724 mph
7 Dan Wheldon 224.357 mph
8 Will Power 224.268 mph
9 Hideki Mutoh 224.222 mph
10 Alex Lloyd 224.219 mph


Items of note..............
~~~Scott Sharp, #16 Patron Tequila, joins the list of drivers who've crashed during practice; Sharp spun in turn 1 and slid through the 1-2 short chute up into the turn 2 wall...Sharp was checked at Clarion at cleared to continue practice
~~~Weather conditions remain a little dodgy as there is rain in the area but it, fortunately, hasn't arrived yet today

~~~Ryan Briscoe recorded the fastest lap at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on the final day of practice before the top 11 positions will set for the 93rd running of the Indy 500. Briscoe and his Team Penske teammate Helio Castroneves are now the favorites to earn the pole with both drivers turning laps above 225 mph.

"I'm feeling good," said Briscoe after pushing the event stop speed to 225.981 mph. "I think the car is running very solid. We've done some non-drafting laps, and the car's been fast. Tomorrow is another day, and everyone is going to be going for it. Hopefully, there won't be any surprises and we can stay at the top."

To earn Team Penske's 15th Indy 500 pole Briscoe thinks it will take speeds above 225 mph. "It depends on conditions. Around this track, with just some humidity or wind change you can lose or gain 2 mph. We've gotten in the high 225's. That will be a good target for tomorrow. I was on the front row last year, and I feel like my car is better than last year, so we're definitely going for it."

Helio Castroneves was second fastest (225.438 mph) on the day but his lap was just a tick slower than Marco Andretti's lap set yesterday. "It was a great day today," said Castroneves. "Team Penske is looking really strong, but tomorrow is what counts. It's all about getting those four consistent laps together - the four most important laps in motorsports. Hopefully we'll get a good starting position and we can begin to work on our race car."

At the end of the day Target Ganassi Racing teammates Dario Franchitti (224.984 mph) and Scott Dixon (224.822 mph) were third and fourth fastest, respectively. "I think today was overall a pretty solid day," said Franchitti. "We worked on the mechanical side of the car this morning and dialed that in, so we have a good direction of where we needed to be aero-wise."

Franchitti was quick out of the box this morning, setting his best lap on the 10th tour of the track. Nevertheless, Franchitti noted that, "at the end of the day the Target car was in a place we liked."

Third today, Franchitti is fourth fastest of the event.

Danica Patrick and Marco Andretti led the Andretti Green Racing squad today. "I'm really happy with today's practice," said Patrick who fast and smooth at the start of the session. "We were able to find a better balance on the car and I think in Indy having a car that you feel comfortable in is most important. You can't drive a bad car around this track and expect to do well. I feel very confident going into tomorrow's qualifying session."

Both Patrick and Andretti were pleased with the handling of their cars. "It would have been nice to take home the Fast Friday check, but we got the track time we needed, and I think we have a good set up for qualifying," said Andretti. "Tomorrow is going to be stressful, for sure, but I think the No. 26 car will be a pole contender."

Tony Kanaan struggled to find speed in his AGR No. 11 car so late in the afternoon he borrowed Andretti's car for a few laps. Kanaan's primary car had trouble reaching 222 mph without the aid of a tow but in Andretti's car he recorded several laps at 223 all by himself.

"It was a long day for Team 7-Eleven, we have a problem with the car and we are trying to figure out exactly what that is," Kanaan reported. "The entire team put in a lot of effort. I have to thank my crew for all the set up changes, and the #26 crew for allowing me to take their car out. The day before qualifying that can be a huge risk. It just shows that we stick together as a team and we work together as a team. Hopefully we can figure it out overnight, but if not then I'll just do my best tomorrow."

Robert Doornbos and Scott Sharp were both involved in single car incidents at the south end of the track. Doornbos made heavy contact with the SAFER Barrier in Turn 2 and continued down the backstretch, coming to a rest near the entrance of Turn 3. Doornbos was unhurt.

"Going into Turn 1, I felt something really light on the front of the car, and then I brushed the wall," said Doorbos. "Then I went into the Turn 2 wall. Hopefully, it was just driver error and nothing went wrong on the car and we are able to fix it and come back strong tomorrow."

Doornbos sat out for most of the day, returning to track in his backup car during the last half hour of practice. He recorded six laps in the backup car with his best at 217.716 mph.

Scott Sharp spun in Turn one and slid through the short chute before making contact with the SAFER Barrier in Turn two. Despite heavy damage to the right side of the car, Sharp climbed from the car without assistance.

"We were on a sticker run," Sharp said. "It was the second lap, pretty easy. I rolled down in there, and it just snapped on me. I'm not exactly sure what's up. We've been struggling a little bit to gain more speed and didn't really need this to happen right now. We'll see what the plan is and find a way to rebound." Sharp's Panther Racing ride was expected to be repaired in time for qualifying.

Practice Session #2 Top-10..............
1. 6 Ryan Briscoe Team Penske 39.8263 225.981 23
2. 3 Helio Castroneves Team Penske 39.9223 225.438 27
3. 10 Dario Franchitti Chip Ganassi Racing 40.0029 224.984 35
4. 9 Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing 40.0317 224.822 32
5. 7 Danica Patrick Andretti Green Racing 40.0436 224.755 50
6. 26 Marco Andretti Andretti Green Racing 40.0492 224.724 47
7. 12 Will Power Team Penske 40.0733 224.588 34
8. 4 Dan Wheldon Panther Racing 40.1146 224.357 13
9. 27 Hideki Mutoh Andretti Green Racing 40.1388 224.222 32
10. 99 Alex Lloyd CGR/Sam Schmidt Motorsports 40.1393 224.219 36
L-R: position, car #, driver, team, speed, time, laps completed

PEAK Pole Day Qualifying Order............
Justin Wilson, #18 Z-Line Designs
Marco Andretti, #26 Venom Energy Drink
(R)Raphael Matos, #2 United States Air Force
Mario Moraes, #5 KV Racing/Votorantim
Will Power, #12 Verizon Wireless
Hideki Mutoh, #27 Formula Dream
Danica Patrick, #7 Boost Mobile
Ryan Briscoe, #6 Team Penske
Milka Duno, #23 CITGO
Sarah Fisher, #67 Dollar General
E.J. Viso, #13 PDVSA
Ryan Hunter-Reay, #21 IZOD/WilliamRast
Tony Kanaan, #11 Team 7-11
(R)Alex Tagliani, #34 Rexall Edmonton Indy
Oriol Servia, #17 Rahal-Letterman Racing
Vitor Meira, #14 ABC Supply Co.
Ed Carpenter, #20 Menards
A.J. Foyt, IV, #41 ABC Supply Co.
(W)Dan Wheldon, #4 National Guard
(W)Scott Dixon, #9 Target
Townsend Bell, #8 Herbalife/KV Racing
(R)Stanton Barrett, #98 Interush/CURB
(R)Robert Doornbos, #06 NHLR/Muermans
(R)Nelson Phillipe, #00 I Drive Green
(W)Buddy Lazier, #91 Hemelgarn/Johnson Controls
Scott Sharp, #16 Patron Tequila
Davey Hamilton, #44 HP/Kingdom Racing
Graham Rahal, #02 McDonald's
Alex Lloyd, #99 HER Energy Drink
(W)Helio Castroneves, #3 Team Penske
Paul Tracy, #15 GEICO
(W)Dario Franchitti, #10 Target
(R)Mike Conway, #24 Purex
John Andretti, #43 WindowWorld
note.....list subject to chance during qualifications; for Pole Day Qualifying to be official at 6pm Saturday, all competitors must make at least one qualifying attempt

(quoting multiple sources)
Gusting winds up to 31 miles per hour on Saturday failed to deter Helio Castroneves from capturing the pole position for May 24 Indianapolis 500. The two-time Indy 500 champion, who turns thirty-four on Sunday, put his Team Penske No. 3 Dallara/Honda into the top spot on the scoring pylon along Indy's long front straightaway with a blazing 10-mile average of 224.864 miles per hour. By doing so he edged aside teammate Ryan Briscoe for the $100,000 prize to be the fastest.

"I am so thankful for Roger (Penske) and Tim (Cindric, team manager) for giving me my life back. It's amazing," said Castroneves from the infield Media Center's Economacki Press Room at Indianapolis. "We squeezed every bit of speed out of the car today."

It was Castroneves' third pole-winning effort at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and came after the team withdrew the Brazilian's early qualifying effort at 223.949 mph.

"I have to say Ryan (Briscoe) and Will Power, they did a great job during the preseason tests, preparing the cars, as well," said Castroneves. "The entire time Team Penske we get out of the truck, basically, we didn't have to do very much. The cars were extremely strong. And we just have to continue working through the weather, working through the day and that's what we did."

Castroneves and his Aussie teammate gave Team Penske a one, two Pole Day finish today at the Brickyard with the Brazilian handed the boss his 15th pole in Indy 500 qualifying.

"It was just an unbelievable qualifying run by Helio and Team Penske. He must be on top of the world at the moment," said Briscoe. "I know I've got a good car going into this race in a couple of weeks and I just hope we can have a solid run, be at the front all day long and have a shot at winning this 500."

Briscoe's 224.083 mph average speed came late in the day when Team Penske withdrew his then-second position speed set earlier to take a crack at toppling Castroneves. The gambit failed to produce the pole position, but didn't hurt the Aussie's starting position either (in the middle of the first row).

"He (Briscoe) wanted to try," said team owner Roger Penske of the decision to withdraw the second-best view of Indy's Turn 1 on Memorial Day and roll the dice one more time. "He'd been fastest all week in practice. It was worth a try."

"We could have made a mistake and it bit us," continued Penske, who has won here a record fourteen times. "But my guys are the best and when I count on them they always come through. They're the best, and that's why we're here."

Joining Castroneves and Briscoe on the outside of the front row was Chip Ganassi Racing's Dario Franchitti with his average speed of 224.010 mph over his four lap tour on the Speedway.

"We tweaked on the car back in the garage," said the clearly disappointed 2007 winner and IndyCar champion, "but we couldn't make it any faster." Franchitti who is marking his return to the series after a stint in NASCAR added, "It was a long day. It was fantastic being back and driving the car around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It puts a smile on my face every time."

Twenty year-old Graham Rahal, entering his second Indy 500, was fourth-quick with a four-lap average speed of 223.954 mph on his second go-round. "We knew that before (on first qualifying attempt) we weren't quite trimmed out, and there is probably still a little room to go even now, but we needed to go out there and give it another shot.

"Basically we felt we needed to go back out so we gave the McDonald's car another shot and it turned out even better than the first time and we ended up gaining two spots because right before we made our second run we were sixth. So we're pretty happy with fourth," concluded Rahal.

Franchitti's teammate Scott Dixon failed in his end-of-the-day attempt to better his starting spot on the inside of the second row by withdrawing a time of 223.781 and replacing it with 223.867 mph outboard of Rahal.

The reigning 500 winner and IndyCar champion said, "It was a bit of a frustrating day. It wasn't terrible. The car was consistent; we just didn't have the speed. The car has a little shine on speed now and then. Qualifying fifth is a further back than we thought we would be. We know that anything can happen here. At least the pole gives you bragging rights for a couple of weeks. We did it last year, but this was a tough day for us. They (Team Penske) are a bit ahead of us. They have been since day one."

Andretti Green Racing's Tony Kanaan continued to struggle early to find the pace with insult compounding injury when his car failed to meet minimum weight after a qualifying run in mid-afternoon. However, he returned to the track in the last hour and posted a speed of 223.612 mph in his backup car to insure sixth of the eleven spots in the starting lineup awarded today.

Mario Moraes held the seventh position at day's end on 223.331 mph, joined on the third row of three by Marco Andretti (223.114 mph) and Luzco Dragon's Will Power (223.028 mph)

Diminutive fifth-year Indy 500 competitor Danica Patrick also waived an earlier qualifying time that put her (at the time) on the inside of the fourth row to take a second attempt that yielded an unimproved 222.882 mph with the same outcome.

Finally, second year man Alex Lloyd in the hot pink No. 99 car raced just ahead of the closing gun to the final qualifying spot at eleventh with a four-lap average speed of 222.622 mph for the Sam Schmidt Motorsports entry.

Several drivers including rookies Hideki Mutoh and Raphael Matos, Vision Racing veteran driver Ed Carpenter and the returning Canadian star Paul Tracy were in and then out of the field as bumping ensued over the last hour of qualifying.

The brisk winds, which abated as the shadows lengthened around the Speedway, brought havoc to the plans of several well-known hopefuls to join the field on the first day of qualifying.

2005 Indy 500 winner Dan Wheldon, aboard the jungle camouflage-wrapped Panther Racing Dallara/Honda, hit the wall during open practice at approximately 2:00 PM EDT sustaining major damage to the right rear of his car. Wheldon's best result prior to the incident was a lap at 223.631 mph. Wheldon was examined and released to return to the cockpit immediately afterwards except his team was busy in the garage making repairs.

Indianapolis newcomer Nelson Philippe wiggled in Turn 1 then smacked the wall in the short chute, also during open practice near 4:00 PM. The No. 00 car suffered substantial damage to the right front and sidepod areas. Philippe was uninjured and later cleared medically to drive again.

Conditions were mild with temperatures in the sixties and cloudy skies predominating throughout the day over the 2.5 mile oval Speedway. No official attendance was announced; however, experienced observers estimated a crowd of 25,000-plus packed the stands along both sides of the main straightaway and Turn 1 to watch the six-hour long qualifying session.

Justin Wilson aboard the Dale Coyne Racing No. 18 car was first out at exactly 12:02 PM EDT, setting a mark of 220.934 mph before being disqualified for an "improper weight placement" aboard his car. Cars at Indianapolis often add ballast to various locations of the machine to improve balance and handling.

Robert Doornbos ran afoul of the windy conditions in the morning practice session, putting his Newman/Haas/Lanigan No. 06T backup car into the Turn 2 SAFER barrier along its left side and sustaining heavy damage for the second day running. The rookie driver, attempting to qualify for his first Indy 500, was cleared by medical staff to return to practice shortly afterwards.

"I have no idea (what happened.) I'm so disappointed," Doornbos said. "The guys did an amazing job getting the car ready. We had a good first outing. Everything felt good. We were just starting a run and the rear just went on me." The team will attempt to make repairs in time for a qualifying run on Sunday.

Briscoe was fastest in the two-hour practice with a speed of 225.182 mph, followed by Castroneves (224.525 mph) and Dixon (223.885 mph).

Briscoe commented on the windy conditions: "It's pretty hairy, especially today. It's very windy and as trimmed out as we are, you feel it a lot. Every corner feels different. You wouldn't think so, but it's pretty hard work out there. Every corner is distinct, especially Turn 2 today. It's a bit awkward with the tailwind going into it, and you're carrying a lot of speed and you got less downforce because the wind is behind you, so it just wants to push you out. It's pretty tricky there."

2008 Firestone Indy Lights champions Rafael Matos served up the fastest four laps of qualifying on the second day of time trials at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The day was marked with Pole Day returnees -- the majority of the runners on Sunday had been bumped the day before. Dan Wheldon, A.J. Foyt and Davey Hamilton were the best of those who missed out on Pole Day activities.

Sunday was notable for a lack of stunning speeds, but with the bulk of the big teams having qualified on Saturday, the 2 mph drop in peak average speeds today wasn't completely unexpected, despite better weather condition all day long.

Matos made the most of what the Jay Penske and Steve Luczo-owned team had to offer after being bumped from the top-11 on Saturday. The rookie finds himself 12th in the field for the 93rd running of the Indy 500.

With laps of 223.561, 223.407, 223.417 and 223.329, Rafa's average speed of 223.429 is 7th fastest of all 22 qualifiers. Had he set it on Saturday, he'd be positioned on the inside of row 3 next to Marco Andretti.

"I was a little bit surprised, but we did a qualifying simulation during the five minutes before qualifying started, and we made a few adjustments in the car for the qualifying run and found almost half a mile an hour. So I'm extremely happy for the Air Force Luczo Dragon team. The whole crew did an amazing job. Let's go racing."

Matos was followed by KV Racing's Paul Tracy, whose average speed of 223.111 was an appreciable jump from the 221.915 he managed yesterday prior to being bumped from the top-11. "I'm not really happy with the laps we qualified on, so I'm disappointed. But we're just out of miles and need to get some full-tank running in. We wanted to be in the 223s today. We achieved that on the first lap, then started sliding the front tire with a tail wind in Turn 1, and then it kind of fell off. The last couple of laps I just couldn't get the speed out of it. The race is a long race, and we've got an OK starting position. We're starting in mid-pack, and we'll go from there. A lot of things can happen in a 500-mile race. It's three times longer than any other race in the series, and a lap can change over the course of the race. You work on that car until the end of the race to get it competitive."

A.J. Foyt Racing had the best team effort on Sunday with full-season driver Vitor Meira the 3rd fastest of the day (14th overall) at 223.054, and Indy-only driver A.J. Foyt the fourth coming home in 19th, 8th fastest of the 11 qualifiers today. "The main thing was getting in the show today," said Meira. "That's more important than the position you qualified for today. If we are in the race, we don't have to worry about that anymore. We can start working on the balance of the car. The weather was better today and that helped, but so did a lot of changes that we made. We came back to basics a little bit, and it worked. We got the speed we were looking for on a day like this, but yesterday is where we really wanted to be. Our starting position was secondary to the priority of getting qualified today. Now we have a whole week to think about the race."

The next best pair of teammates came from Panther Racing with 2005 Indy winner Dan Wheldon a surprisingly low 18th overall and 2001 Indy pole sitter Scott Sharp last of the day two runners in 22nd. Sharp, struggling to find speed from his Patron Tequila Dallara-Honda, was at the center of the drama from the outset of qualifying.

A first run of 221.103 at 3:50pm ET put him in 21st, but the speed was less than solid. After Foyt was bumped from 22nd, HVM's E.J. Viso bumped Sharp out of the field at 4:05pm. The 1996 IRL co-champion bumped his way back in an hour later with a speed of 222.333, but that left him on the bubble once more in 22nd.

Foyt bumped his way back in at 5:41, leaving Sharp on the outside the top-22 yet again. It was now Sharp's turn to repay Viso as the Venezuelan sat on the bubble.

With Viso in line and ready to go with two minutes left before the end of qualifying, his team was faced with withdrawing their position in the field and making another qualifying run -- in essence, bumping himself back into the field -- or moving out of the way and letting Sharp come through to make an attempt.

"There was a lot of drama going on, and things obviously didn't end up as we all wanted," Viso admitted. "But we knew that being in the 21st, 22nd position is a very vulnerable position and anything could happen. And it happened just in the last minute, and that's a sad thing because we didn't have time to go back out and defend ourselves."

IndyCar Series officials moved Viso, Davey Hamilton and Sarah Fisher out of the way in a hurry to aid Sharp's quest to get out before the gun fired at 6pm to end the day's activities.

The Patron car was rolling with approximately 30 seconds to spare and Sharp did not disappoint. Laps of 222.165, 222.245, 222.127 and 222.111 for a 222.162 average was good enough for the 20th fastest speed, knocking Viso out of the top-22.

It also meant Sharp has a small if not entirely comfortable margin to ride into next weekend when he'll be competing at the American Le Mans Race in Utah.

"Wow. It's been a tough week, let me tell you. I mean, it's not supposed to be this tough I thought. With all my experience, I guess leaning on that I figured I'd come back in and pretty easily, and I did early, pretty easily get up to speed and pretty much thought, I didn't know, obviously, if we'd be a first or second row contender, but thought if maybe things really fell into place we would be, but certainly a top 10 car no problem. And just, obviously had a few things go wrong that led to our crash the other day. The team did an amazing recovery. The Panther guys, I can't say enough about them. A few of the guys pulled all night Thursday night to get that done. And then Dan (Wheldon) of course had his crash, so it's been really tough, but they've rebounded and never missed a blink. So yeah, today we pulled out, and it just seemed like we were really chasing a bit of speed and got a fair amount of wing out of the car and still couldn't really get a lot of speed out of the car.

"We'd make a couple of runs in practice with no one in front of us with no tows and run a good enough speed to get into the field and then go do it for ourselves with no one in a qualifying run and couldn't get the number, so it was very strange. And then I really thought at the last bit we were done, because we made a change to the car at that point where we were down to our final draw. We laid the wing down some more, pulled up into the tech line. I lost my radio. I don't know why, but I couldn't hear anything anymore. I saw four guys in front of me, and I looked at my watch and it said six minutes to go and I said, 'That's it. It's over,' and then all of the sudden, just boom, boom, boom. You know, the guys that aren't going to make a run, or if you're not fast enough to take up a lot of track time, they got them off or got them out of the way and all of the sudden it was fire it up and go."

Dale Coyne Racing's Justin Wilson was the early pole sitter with an average speed of 222.903, up from the 222.444 average he achieved on Saturday. The ChampCar veteran finally seems to have gotten his Z-Line Designs Furniture car into the window at the Speedway, and 15th fastest was considered as the best effort they had to offer.

"I really enjoyed being out there. The car was working well, and Dale Coyne Racing had the car to where it was comfortable and fun to drive. Each time we went out this weekend, we were quicker. Things really worked out. It was fun to drive today. The run was fairly straightforward. I noticed straightaway that I had more push than I was expecting. I kept playing with the roll bars and weight jacker to cancel out the understeer. It usually gets worse lap after lap, and I was canceling that out with my adjustments. The more laps in the car, the more I enjoy this place and you appreciate what it's about. Every time I came out of the corners, I had a big grin on may face. Now is the time to begin getting ready for the race, to get everything as perfect as we can and go do some race setups with full (fuel) tanks and long runs."

AGR's Hideki Mutoh just trailed Wilson with an average speed of 222.805, good enough for 16th fastest.

Sarah Fisher in 21st at 222.082 and Davey Hamilton in 22nd at 221.956 rounded out the field, but are by no means safe. Fisher was relieved to qualify, but won't be sleeping easily until qualifying is over next weekend.

"The first run was a little hairy. We just had to readjust some things from our first attempt and put in a solid run in our second time around. We were a little quicker than we were all week today, by ourselves, so I was really happy with that. We would have liked to have qualified Saturday, but with the weather and needing to make readjustments to the car, it just wasn't in the cards. Boy, that first run really woke me up; obviously I didn't have enough coffee this morning. The car just had too much push in it and wouldn't take the extra speed going into Turn 1, with the wind. We then went back to our pit to make sure the car would tolerate that extra entry speed."

With Hamilton precariously placed as the slowest qualifier in the field, his Dreyer & Reinbold team will have even less rest over the next week. Rookie Mike Conway put the Purex car hard into the wall in the morning warmup followed by John Andretti's SAFER barrier-breaking impact in turn 1 at 4:45pm. Conway could miss next weekend (and thus the race) but Andretti was fine; he knows how much he's put his team behind in their program.

“It’s just unfortunate. We didn’t start out fast enough, and we didn’t finish fast enough. That’s all I can say. You know you always have to work to do here at the Speedway. I don’t know why it ran like it did, but it didn’t run good. We need to get in today so that we can work on the race stuff. If you don’t get in today, you’re still battling to get into the race, and you can’t really work on the race stuff, so that’s the disappointing part about it all. You know, whether somebody else can go up there and beat that and knock us out of the top 11, I don’t know but it’s certainly not the quality time that we were expecting. All I care about is that we’re here and we should be going quicker than that, and we didn’t. I’m sorry I can’t get in a happy mood right now, you know, I’m just not happy. We’re going to go figure out what we’re going to do, and do it, and get ‘er done. This morning started out real good, felt good about the car. And then for qualifying, it didn’t do what I expected as far as speed, and the handling is kind of what I expected, and I played with it a little bit, but that wasn’t all of it so I don’t know what to say. Right now it’s a little bit confusing, but we’ll go back, we’ll look at data and we’ll go back out. I thought we would run in the 222 range, and we didn’t at all, not even a lap, and that’s disappointing. I really felt like we had it in the car, and after practice we went back and we did this, we did that, you know, you do the little tweaks and twiggers and you’re supposed to go out and go a little quicker.”

D&R's 4th driver Milka Duno was the slowest qualifier of the day at 219.072 and was easily bumped once the 12th car made a qualifying attempt today. With two wrecked cars, one bumped car and the final one sitting as the slowest in the field, the hard working Indy-based effort will need everything to go perfectly this week and next weekend in the final round of qualifying for the big show.

Ryan Hunter-Reay looked like a tortured man today, with his IZOD/WilliamRast Vision Racing entry simply too slow and treacherous to drive in order to make the top-22. Conquest Racing's Alex Tagliani make it back out today after an early crash, but the French-Canadian ace didn't have enough time to work his way up to speed in time to make a serious shot at the field. Like RHR, Tags will be a second weekend qualifier.

The two remaining drivers to be bumped today (with unharmed cars) -- E.J Viso and Milka Duno -- both Venezuelan, coincidentally, will be itching to secure a safe starting position. Full assessments on the crashes of Conway and John Andretti will dictate whether both cars will be ready for action Thursday.

Newman/Haas/Lanigan's Robert Doornbos has now crashed two cars, and will also find himself trying to make his first Indy 500 in the pressure packed final qualifying weekend. The N/H/L cars certainly have the speed to make the show, but Bobby D is at a loss to explain why he's had two crashes. Trying to answer those questions while finding his confidence AND putting his car into the field will be one of the hardest things the Dutchman has had to do in his short IndyCar Series career. Nelson Phillipe's crashed HVM car will also be back to action.

A number of cars are expected to make their first appearances next week when practice kicks off on Thursday, with the Rahal/Letterman entry leading the list of veteran teams fighting for a spot in the top-33.

The next few days will also be frenzied as rideless drivers try to swing deals to drive backup cars. With Justin Wilson safely in the field, Dale Coyne is expected to put Bruno Junquiera in his second car, and Oriol Servia is believed to piloting Rahal's sponsorless #17 car.

Townsend Bell, Buddy Rice, Darren Manning, Tomas Scheckter and even Jimmy Kite will be amongst the many trying to work their way into rides.

Mid-Week Series News.........


Today's IndyCar Series and Firestone Indy Lights headlines
* Thinking Pink: Lloyd to launch "PinkLloyd.com":
* "Helio's Blue Plate Special" sells out quickly
* Seven Firestone Indy Lights graduates qualify for Indianapolis 500

1. Thinking Pink: Lloyd to launch "PinkLloyd.com": A Pink Lloyd cocktail, T-shirts and umbrellas. What's next, a summer tour as a Pink Floyd tribute band?

While Alex Lloyd does play guitar, the logical next step to the mushrooming attention of Lloyd's pink firesuit/helmet and No. 99 HER Chip Ganassi Racing/Sam Schmidt Motorsports car for the Indianapolis 500 is a Web site. Coming soon: www.pinklloyd.com.

Lloyd's father, David, initially mentioned it and minutes later Brett Jacobson, CEO of primary sponsor HER Energy, texted Lloyd about the idea.

"It seems everybody was on the same page because it seems to be taking off," Lloyd said. "We thought we could get a Web site up and running and have a little fun with that during the month."

Lloyd, who will start in the middle of Row 4 in his second Indianapolis 500, quickly has gotten in the spirit of the promotion.

"On the first day wearing the pink I have to say I was a little self-conscious, but now it's gotten to the point where I'm just having fun with it and it's been getting so much attention," Lloyd said. "Even team members are calling me Pink now, so it is becoming sort of a routine. It was going to draw attention - a guy having a pink car - but I don't think we expected it to go this much.

"The car is going pretty fast as well. It's one thing when you get good press but struggling, but we're having a good month so far. We're just trying to make the most of everything and enjoying the bit of attention that's coming with it."

Lloyd, a development driver for Chip Ganassi Racing, started 19th in the 500-Mile Race last year in a partnership between the Ganassi group and Rahal Letterman Racing. This year, he's running with Sam Schmidt Motorsports, with whom he won the 2007 Firestone Indy Lights championship. Lloyd was the penultimate driver to make a qualifying attempt on Pole Day (five minutes before the close of the session), bumping Andretti Green Racing's Hideki Mutoh with a four-lap average of 222.622 mph.

"It was made even better because we struggled most of the day with the setup," Lloyd said. "We started Fast Friday being quick and I was confident we had a shot at getting in the top 11. But when we rolled out on Saturday morning the car just wasn't there and we spent a lot of time trying to get it right. But we couldn't quite get it to where we were happy. We threw on a whole different setup for that qualifying run, only having one set of tires we could afford to use, so we had to put it in line, take off some downforce and go."

That in the rearview mirrors, Lloyd will work on race setup this week. He's also looking beyond the Month of May.

"I'll wear pink for the rest of my career if it means I can get in a race car," he said. "We're working hard to make this more than a one-race deal as well. Hopefully, this can just be the start of Pink Lloyd."

***

2. "Helio's Blue Plate Special" sells out quickly: Apparently IndyCar Series fans had quite an appetite for "Helio's Blue Plate Special."

"Helio's Blue Plate Special," in which 300 frontstretch tickets for the Bombardier Learjet 550k on June 6 at Texas Motor Speedway were priced at $1, lasted all of 13 minutes Tuesday as fans gobbled up the bargain that was brought to them courtesy of IndyCar Series star Helio Castroneves.

The special, which began at 9 a.m. CT and limited to four tickets per customer, was only available by calling the TMS ticket office or by visiting in person.

"I know of 300 fans specifically that may give Helio a standing ovation when he comes through the stands during pre-race introductions for the Bombardier Learjet 550k," Texas Motor Speedway President Eddie Gossage said. "I was encouraged to hear that 45 percent of those fans who purchased tickets were new customers. It was a tremendous price point in this economy for potentially new fans - in particular families - to experience our sport and hopefully they will get hooked by the experience."

"Helio's Blue Plate Special" was a special promotion that tied the pricing of this limited supply of tickets - 300 in tribute to his car number 3 - to his qualifying performance for the Indianapolis 500. Castroneves responded by winning the pole Saturday and giving fans the best price possible from this promotion.

The ticket promotion theme played off his visit Monday to Dallas, where he received cooking lessons from world-renowned chef Stephan Pyles at his downtown restaurant near the Arts District.

"Wow - 300 tickets in 13 minutes - that's unbelievable," Castroneves said. "The folks at Texas Motor Speedway do a great job to promote our race and our series and always come up with fun ways to involve the fans. I had a great time cooking with Chef Stephan yesterday and was glad I was able to kickoff the 'Blue Plate Special' promotion. I want to thank everyone at the track and especially the fans for all of their support. We are all looking forward to racing there in June and paying back the fans with a great show."

***

3. Seven Firestone Indy Lights graduates qualify for Indianapolis 500: When the field of 33 cars takes the green flag for the Indianapolis 500 on May 24, several drivers will be linked by a common bond - the Firestone Indy Lights.

Seven drivers who have competed in at least one Firestone Indy Lights event earned starting spots in the famed race during the first weekend of qualifying.

"It's great to see so many graduates of the Firestone Indy Lights in the field for the Indianapolis 500," said Roger Bailey, executive director for the Firestone Indy Lights. "It's very gratifying to see our last two champions, Alex Lloyd and Raphael Matos, in cars capable of running with the best IndyCar Series teams."

In addition to Lloyd and Matos, other Firestone Indy Lights graduates to qualify for the race include Marco Andretti, Ed Carpenter, A.J. Foyt IV, Graham Rahal and Hideki Mutoh.

In addition, Davey Hamilton, who serves as co-owner of Davey Hamilton/Kingdom Racing entry of Brandon Wagner, also qualified 22nd.

93rd Indianapolis 500 Starting Grid............
note 1.....grid to be updated following this weekend's qualifying sessions
note 2.....positions 1-11 set on May 9, positions 12-22 set on May 10


1}(W)Helio Castroneves, #3 Team Penske, 224.308 mph
2} Ryan Briscoe, #6 Team Penske, 223.821 mph
3}(W)Dario Franchitti, #10 Target, 223.705 mph

4} Graham Rahal, #02 McDonald's, 223.690 mph
5}(W)Scott Dixon, #9 Target, 223.744 mph
6} Tony Kanaan, #11 Team 7-11, 223.470 mph

7} Mario Moraes, #5 KV Racing/Votorantim, 223.331 mph
8} Marco Andretti, #26 Venom Energy Drink, 223.114 mph
9} Will Power, #12 Verizon Wireless, 223.028 mph

10} Danica Patrick, #7 Boost Mobile/Motorola, 222.882 mph
11} Alex Lloyd, #99 HER Energy Drink, 222.622 mph
12}(R)Raphael Matos, #2 United States Air Force, 223.429 mph

13} Paul Tracy, #15 GEICO, 223.111 mph
14} Vitor Meira, #14 ABC Supply Co., 223.054 mph
15} Justin Wilson, #18 Z-Line Designs, 222.903 mph

16} Hideki Mutoh, #27 Formula Dream, 222.805 mph
17} Ed Carpenter, #20 Menards, 222.780 mph
18} Dan Wheldon, #4 National Guard, 222.777 mph

19} A.J. Foyt, IV, #41 ABC Supply Co., 222.586 mph
20} Scott Sharp, #16 Patron Tequila, 222.162 mph
21} Sarah Fisher, #67 Dollar General, 222.082 mph

22} Davey Hamilton, #44 HP/Kingdom Racing, 221.956 mph

A tad surprised you haven't listed Briscoe in your poll.
Might team politics prevent him winning?

Julian Mayo wrote:A tad surprised you haven't listed Briscoe in your poll.
Might team politics prevent him winning?

Rationale for this year's picks.............
----first: past winners(Dixon-2008, Franchitti-2007, Wheldon-2005, Castroneves-2001 & 2002)
----second: Mod's choice(Patrick gets lots of media attention and who can forget her run back in 2005?; PT is......love him or hate him, he should've won in 2002 if the powers that be hadn't screwed him out of a win)

There is, of course, none of the above(which could include, say......., Briscoe, Marco, Will Power, Mario Moraes, etc.)


As to team politics preventing Ryan Briscoe from winning.......since when did the Captain ever play team politics?

mlittle wrote:

Julian Mayo wrote:A tad surprised you haven't listed Briscoe in your poll.
Might team politics prevent him winning?

Rationale for this year's picks.............
----first: past winners(Dixon-2008, Franchitti-2007, Wheldon-2005, Castroneves-2001 & 2002)
----second: Mod's choice(Patrick gets lots of media attention and who can forget her run back in 2005?; PT is......love him or hate him, he should've won in 2002 if the powers that be hadn't screwed him out of a win)

There is, of course, none of the above(which could include, say......., Briscoe, Marco, Will Power, Mario Moraes, etc.)


As to team politics preventing Ryan Briscoe from winning.......since when did the Captain ever play team politics?

Yup, just as I thought...................

The #17 entry from Rahal Letterman Racing has spent the week tucked away inside the team’s garage at Indy, and while team owner Bobby Rahal has come to the Brickyard with his sponsorless car in the hopes of winning his second Indy 500 as a team owner, the RLR gang have already earned an informal award: Best Looking Car. Rahal, winner of the 1986 Indy 500 and father of current IndyCar Series star Graham Rahal, has long been a member of the vintage racing community, and his roots and appreciation for the racing cars and drivers of bygone eras is second to none amongst the other Indy entrants.

Tasked with maintaining and running BMW’s fleet of vintage racecars in North America along with the German manufacturer’s two-car American Le Mans sportscar program, it’s Rahal’s unique position of having a foot in both the historic and modern racing worlds that made choosing a livery for the 2009 Indy entry a simple one.

“We didn't have a sponsor for Indy, so we started thinking about the past. We thought, ‘let's go there!’ Let's go the way we want to go like we used to, let's honor the 100th anniversary of the track, we don’t have a sponsor yet, so let’s paint it the way we want to paint it,” Rahal said.

With just a single entry, Rahal had to choose between his two favorite liveries. “Really, it was a tossup between [Dan] Gurney’s famous blue and white or McLaren orange. I'm such a fan of Dan’s and I don't think there's ever been a more beautiful Formula One or IndyCar than the ’67 Eagle he won the Belgian grand prix with. Especially Dan’s with the blue with the white stripes…we just had to do that.”

While Rahal concedes he’d be willing to change the paint scheme if a well-paying sponsor were to emerge for the 500 or the rest of the IndyCar season, he’s prepared to finish out the Month of May with the car in its retro livery.

“If we have to paint it because some sponsors say we should then we will, but let's worry about that if and when it happens. Right now, we’re running without a sponsor so we’ll present her on our own terms.”

Despite the team’s lack of running (they’ll appear for the second week of practice and qualifying starting next Thursday) the reaction of the few fans that have gotten a glimpse of the car quickly confirmed Rahal made the right choice on livery.

“I have to say, it's been very popular. I hope next year we can come with a second car -- one painted either McLaren orange or in the STP colors that [Jim] Clark had in ’66 with the white sidewalls and all that. If we’re going to go back, let's go way back.”

The Rahal Letterman team didn’t stop at replicating Gurney’s colors, they also went the extra step to include a number of authentic, period-correct touches. “It's kind of fun because we had the names done on the car in script -- my name and Dave's name, it says, 'Owners: Bob and Dave,' and has the chief mechanic’s name – you know, just like the old days when they used to do that. And I think it's really struck a nerve with a lot of people and we’ve still yet to turn a lap. I think it will get a lot more attention when we start running.

“But it really was intended just to honor Dan and just take it back to a more clean and simple era. There’s no fluorescent colors, no wild designs, there aren’t a hundred different logos and graphics everywhere. It's just a beautiful race car.”

Rahal also hopes to enter the car using a classic convention for naming Indy 500 entries. “When we announce everything and when the i’s are dotted and the t’s are crossed I think you'll see “Special” in the name of the entry. Nobody does that anymore and we thought that would be pretty cool.”

If there’s one thing that could impact the clean, aesthetic look of Rahal’s Indy 500 Special, it’s the helmet of their expected driver, Oriol Servia.

The Catalonian pilot has a penchant for rather, well, “unique” helmet designs. If Servia drives for him, Rahal says Oriol won’t be asked change the colors to blend in with the team’s Eagle homage. “No, I've always felt the helmet design is the driver's property. We shouldn’t dictate that because that's his identity. But that's okay, back in the 60s Dan had a helmet one color, Jerry Grant had a helmet a different color. All who drove Eagles drove different color helmets, so I'm not a stickler on that.

Rahal’s choice of livery has also been well received from the paint scheme’s inspiration. “I got an e-mail from [Gurney’s wife] Evi and they were very, very excited. Somebody had passed them some photos so I and Evi said how pleased and happy they were.” Dressed in its 1967 colors, the “visually challenged” Dallara chassis has seen the car transformed from its oft maligned appearance into something a bit more classy.

“I don’t think I’m saying anything new when I tell you the Dallara's not exactly a good-looking car, but Eagle paint job makes it look pretty sharp,” Rahal joked. “It's a little bit more like a swan now…”

The Rahal Letterman Racing team still has their abbreviated Month of May ahead of them, but Bobby Rahal’s pleased with the direction they’ve chosen to take. If other team owners choose to pay homage to other famous car from open-wheel racing’s past, that would be just fine with him.

“I think when you get out there, when all 33 cars are rolling, going to stand out – if there's an award for the most beautiful car I think we’re going to get that one, I'm pretty confident of that. Maybe it's going to start people to think a little bit about how they want their cars to look like. There are some beautiful, classic designs out there that would look great on the track again. Maybe a few people will reach back a little bit and remind the fans how it once was.”

Practice 3 Times
from SA, 9 May 2009


1. 6 Ryan Briscoe Team Penske 39.968 225.182
2. 10 Dario Franchitti Chip Ganassi Racing 40.001 0.033 0.033 224.994
3. 3 Helio Castroneves Team Penske 40.023 0.022 0.055 224.869
4. 9 Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing 40.122 0.099 0.154 224.318
5. 12 Will Power Team Penske 40.210 0.088 0.242 223.826
6. 5 Mario Moraes KV Racing Technology 40.222 0.012 0.254 223.756
7. 4 Dan Wheldon Panther Racing 40.245 0.023 0.277 223.631
8. 11T Tony Kanaan Andretti Green Racing 40.256 0.011 0.288 223.569
9. 02 Graham Rahal Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing 40.273 0.017 0.305 223.475
10. 26 Marco Andretti Andretti Green Racing 40.276 0.003 0.308 223.455
L-R: position, car #, driver, team, time, gap to 1st/gap to next position, speed[mph]


Practice 4 Times
from SU, 10 May 2009
1. 4 Dan Wheldon Panther Racing 40.1492 224.164 20
2. 18 Justin Wilson Dale Coyne Racing 40.2072 223.841 22
3. 15 Paul Tracy KV Racing Technology 40.2409 223.653 13
4. 14 Vitor Meira A.J. Foyt Enterprises 40.3814 222.875 14
5. 43 John Andretti Richard Petty Motorsports/DRR 40.4066 222.736 9
6. 44 Davey Hamilton DRR/Kingdom Racing 40.4620 222.431 11
7. 67 Sarah Fisher Sarah Fisher Racing 40.4879 222.289 10
8. 41 A.J. Foyt IV A.J. Foyt Enterprises 40.5402 222.002 16
9. 13 EJ Viso HVM Racing 40.6129 221.604 19
10. 21 Ryan Hunter-Reay Vision Racing 40.7349 220.941 19

Thursday's six hour practice session at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway had a lot familiarity and a few surprises in store for the 33 cars that took to the track. The day was a blend of qualified teams working on race day setups, and specifically, running in heavy traffic or with the aid of a draft throughout the day. For the teams and drivers yet to make the race, Thursday was spent searching for enough speed to feel comfortable with their effort, but gusting winds made life miserable for the drivers situated towards the bottom of the charts.

Speeds were low -- lower than they'd been in qualifying -- for a number of driver bumped from the top-22 last weekend. Three drivers also turned their first practice laps of the month today -- Rahal Letterman Racing's Oriol Servia, KV Racing's Townsend Bell and Hemelgarn Racing's Buddy Lazier. Servia and Bell would make the most of their opportunities, setting the 7th and 10th fastest times of the day.

KV Racing Technology's Mario Moraes used a healthy tow to top the speed charts, posting a 222.739 lap. The Brazilian youngster, a shock 7th place qualifier for the May 24th race, is emerging as an early dark horse to follow. "It was a really good day. The car is really good in qualifying setup, and now it's very good in race setup. The team has just been doing a really good job. As a team, everyone is working on one thing together. Townsend (Bell) is doing a great job. He was in the top 10. At the end of the week, we're going to put everything together and get one solid race car for everyone."

Moraes was followed by the men qualified in 1st and 2nd place, with Ryan Briscoe leading his pole sitting teammate on today with a 222.406 lap. Briscoe's quick lap, posted on just his 4th lap of the day was one of the few fast laps done without the aid of a tow. "We worked on the balance of the Team Penske car today. We tried a few long stints to see how the car runs on full tanks. We also looked at how the balance shifts when the tires wear down through the run and how close we can stay to each other in dirty air. That's what today was all about, and I think the car is really strong, and it's very fast. We'll take the next couple days to keep working on it, and we should definitely be ready for Race Day."

Castroneves' speed of 222.39, set while drafting with his teammate, ended the day 3rd with a lap of 222.395. "We ran a lot of laps and took advantage of the great weather today. It was a good day for Team Penske. We turned in the second- and third-fastest laps of the day. I certainly feel like we are heading in the right direction. We still have to work hard like everyone else, but I am very pleased with the overall performance of today's practice."

The three fastest drivers on Thursday maximized the available track time, posting the 2nd, 3rd and 6th most laps turned with Moraes at 103, Castroneves at 93 and Briscoe at 82. Only Justin Wilson in his Dale Coyne Racing entry lapped more, completing 120 tours --300 miles -- to end the day 12th fastest and as the high-miler.

Target Chip Ganassi's Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti also paired up to evaluate different setup options, with the Kiwi coming 4th at 222.374 and the Scot 6th at 221.516.

7-Eleven driver Tony Kanaan used a late burst of lappery to work on clean ir running, logging numerous laps above 219 on his own. Early in the day, TK posted the 5th fastest speed of 221.890, but hsi focus was clearly on perfecting his base setup on full tanks before moving over to start his dirty air and drafting program.

Oriol Servia made quick work of his day at the Speedway, running several laps in the 220 range on his own before a tow helped move him to 7th fastest with a speed of 221.353.

"It's been a crazy last three months. Everyone has been asking me today if there's any pressure being a last-week and reduced program. I haven't felt this relieved in a long time. Finally I am in a car, and I know I'm going to be in the race. I'm in a great team, and there are great people around me. I felt great right away from the first lap. We want to take one step at a time, but right now, I'm really excited and happy."

Wasting time wasn't an option for the Spaniard. "When you are driving for Rahal Letterman, you better step on it. They won this race in 2004, and honestly, the car felt great the moment I stepped into it. That makes the job of the driver a lot easier. It's only our first day. Hopefully, we have another dry day tomorrow, so we can prepare for qualifying and just keep the focus on the last lap of a 500-mile race. It's probably the most important race of my life, so I'm very happy with the way things have started."

Graham Rahal continued his mature-but-fast form with the 8th fastest lap, while teammate Robert Doornbos turned his first post-crash laps, achieving 218.428 in 12 laps. Newman/Haas/Lanigan clearly had a tight leash on the talented (but slightly puzzled) Dutchman. One they lost their way on setup, and with no time left to repair another crash, the day was cut short.

"It was good to get back in the car, get back to work. It was horrible watching other drivers play and have fun while I was in my bus. Unfortunately, we had a bad day today. We seemed to be going the wrong direction with the setup a little bit, and I haven't been enjoying driving the car. The wind condition was a bit tricky today, as well. The speed is definitely in the car. This is the same car that we did good things with during Rookie Orientation, and over the next days we proved to be in the top 11. Now we just need to show it again, it's somewhere in the car. We're trying to find the sweet spot for Indianapolis Motor Speedway. We have another day tomorrow. We're going to work hard overnight and should have a good day tomorrow."

HVM did the same for Nelson Phillipe, restricting him to 17 laps as the Frenchman gritted his teeth on the way to a 205 mph lap. "I'm just really uncomfortable with the car. I've never been so scared in my life. I think when the guys put the car back together - I think something is wrong. They already checked it out, but it feels like something is wrong. And if there is nothing wrong, then I guess I need to get my (act) together. It's just really frustrating. It's very hard. It's the first time in my life and in my racing career that I asked can I please get out of the car. Hopefully, tomorrow will be a better day. The steering wheel is very light. It feels like I have power steering, which is really bad, because I don't know what the car is doing. And when I actually do feel the car, it's pointing too much, so the rear is getting loose. My fastest lap was 205, and I'm just scared to go faster than that."

Marco Andretti put in 53 laps with a best of 221.202 on his 21st circuit for 9th fastest of the day, and Townsend Bell reeled off a number of solid laps before posting a 220.689 with a slight tow to finish 10th.

"It was a good day," said Bell. "The team's very strong, and we're happy to have the Herbalife car running pretty respectably on the first day. I'm really thrilled with the general balance that we have. People on this team are great, and that makes it really easy for me to do my job in the car. I think we're going to continue to improve. Things weren't all there, but mostly there, so we just have to continue to tweak it. I hope we can be the 23rd qualifier in terms of being the fastest of the guys left to get in. I think we've got the car to do it. I'm just keeping my head down right now, really just focused on the race setup, and we'll worry about qualifying as we get closer to that day."

Luczo Dragon's Rafa Matos, the only rookie to qualify last weekend, turned 85 laps -- the 5th highest of the day -- as his team ran the 2008 Firestone Indy Lights champion through a variety of clean and dirty air scenarios to build his knowledge base.

Of the drivers that turned laps on Thursday still needing to qualify this weekend, HVM's E.J. Viso was fastest at 220.085, good enough for 17th. Conquest Racing's Alex Tagliani's 218.986 put him in 22nd. "We were struggling all day, said Tags. "I don't know if we weren't chasing the track right. There was a lot of wind today. You feel like you're underestimating yourself or second-guessing yourself. Maybe it's a question of confidence. But we didn't have the stability in the back of the car to go around. Then at the end, we made a huge change on the setup, and bang. I had one lap where I did a 219, and that put us in 22nd place. The guys made a really nice change, and then all of the sudden the car went back to where it felt good for me."

A block of 'yet to qualify' drivers filled 25th through 29th. Ryan Hunter-Reay, John Andretti, Robert Doornbos, Stanton Barrett and Milka Duno posted quick laps spread from 218.894 to 217.936, less than a mile per hour apart.

1996 Indy 500 winner buddy Lazier hit 217.007 in 36 laps of running, leaving him in 31st. "Today was an interesting day. Our first day was one of the slowest days I believe of the month just in terms of a slippery racetrack," Lazier said. "I guess that is good and bad. It is good, because it helps us work on our race setup, but it is bad because we can't really see what we have got for speed. Hopefully the qualifying days will be fast."

Davey Hamilton, the only one of Dreyer & Reinbold's four entries to have qualified, spent 10 laps shaking down rookie Mike Conway's repaired Purex Dallara-Honda. Conway, scheduled for a follow-up physical on Friday after his lung-bruising accident last weekend, hopes to get medical clearance to resume practicing.

"It was good to be back at the circuit to see the guys and catch up. It was also good to have Davey (Hamilton) get a run in my car and make sure it's good to go for tomorrow if we are allowed out. I feel fine and back to normal now. For the last couple of days, I felt a bit sore and achy, but that's to be expected at that speed and impact. I'm raring to go now, so let me at it. I have to get the all clear tomorrow, and then I'll be ready to go."