Published: May 17, 2008 11:27 pm            

Let the bumping begin at Indy

Drivers find good, bad at Indianapolis on Saturday to set up today’s final qualification runs for 500

INDIANAPOLIS — Just call Saturday’s qualifying session at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway “IndyCar drivers and the Blustery Day.” Despite that, the 33-car field is full for the 92nd running of the Indy 500.

Even with the bright sunshine, a stiff wind blew the entire day, but by 2:30 in the afternoon, 32 cars had qualified, leaving the track available for teams to fine tune their race setups.

Townsend Bell turned in the best qualifying time for the day. He ran a four-lap average of 222.539, placing him on the outside of row four.

“We always say we want to be comfortably in the show, but you know, when you get out there, it’s one less car you have to pass,” he said.

Bell loves running at Indianapolis pointing out that the cars evolved from the track, while other tracks the series races on were developed for other types of cars.

“This is just for me, such a perfect harmony of car and track,” Bell added.

Former Indy 500 champion Buddy Rice — and Townsend Bell’s teammate — found his run of 222.101 good enough for the middle of row six.

Rice was happy that all of the Dreyer and Reinbold cars, which included Milka Duno, made it safely into the field.

“We got all three cars in,” Rice said. “That was our goal. Everybody can talk about the wind and the rain. That’s what makes this place what it is. It is tough. It is not supposed to be easy.”

Rookie Graham Rahal qualified the fastest of the former Champ Car drivers. His average of 222.531 was good enough for the inside of row five.

“It was actually a pretty good run,” Rahal said. “The first lap was pretty good [223.6], but the laps after that I could just feel [the wind] every time I went through Turn 1. The biggest problem is that the wind is gusting so much it feels like it is picking the car up.”

Rahal Letterman’s Ryan Hunter-Reay came back from last week’s crash in qualifying to make a run of 221.579. He is in the middle of row seven, but not pleased. “I’m not happy with the speed that we turned, but I’m happy to be in the field, and we can work from there. If we have a good race car, we can undo those couple positions in a lap or two.”

He attributed his crash last week to being trimmed out and having too little down force.

“We just haven’t found the speed back in the car,” Hunter-Reay said.

John Andretti’s qualifying run averaged 221.550, putting him next to Rahal. Andretti replaced Jay Howard for Indianapolis in the Roth Racing machine.

“We have been fast every day, but unfortunately when it came time to qualify, I knew on my hot lap that I was in a bit of trouble, and I started adjusting the car.” When he finished his run, the crowd cheered loudly for him as he stepped from the car. “It means a lot. It makes you feel like you are in the right place. This is where they should race every week.”

Fan favorite Davey Hamilton made it into the field for his second Indy 500 since a near career-ending crash at Texas Motor Speedway in 2001. Hamilton piloted the Vision Racing team car to a four-lap average of 222.017, placing him on the outside of row six. During practice in the morning, Hamilton lost a gearbox, resulting in it getting caught between the gears and paddle shifters. The team changed the whole back of the car then put it on the track.

“It’s the hardest run I’ve ever ran here for sure,” said Hamilton, an active partner at the Terre Haute Action Track.

Rookie Will Power admitted that after a crash, it could shake a driver’s confidence.

“You go out and you just can’t trust the rear of the car,” he said.

He went out once, came back in telling his crew he just couldn’t do it. He was too nervous.

“When you hit the wall; until you do that, you don’t know the feeling,” Power said. “I guess these other guys that run here that have been doing it for five years understand the feeling and how the car should be. You find yourself having to learn very quickly.”

Power did put together four solid laps with an average of 221.136, putting him in the middle of row eight.

Marty Roth became the day’s last qualifier. He went out shortly before 6 pm., after A.J. Foyt IV took one lap of warm up and returned to the pits. Foyt had been fighting handling issues all day with his car.

Roth’s four-lap average was 215.506. He is the slowest car in the field and in danger of being bumped Sunday. Roth will have three more attempts if necessary.

Three drivers are in danger of not making the field after morning practice crashes put their chances of taking a qualifying run in jeopardy. Mario Dominguez of Pacific Coast Motorsports made a quarter spin to the left, then one to right in Turn 1. He made light contact with the wall.

“We’ve been fighting under steer all week long,” Dominguez said. “Fortunately, I wasn’t going that fast at that, so it looks like the damage isn’t too bad.”

Still it was a huge setback for the team. This was the second crash for Dominguez this month.

Phil Giebler hit the wall a ton with the left rear of his car into the Turn 2 SAFER Barrier. Driving for American Dream Motorsports, Giebler had taken his first laps of month in the morning, but was able to bring the car up to a little over 218, fast enough to make the field. He was awake and alert but taken to Methodist Hospital where further evaluation found a bruised lung. Giebler was admitted for stay.

Just as the checkered flag fell to close the morning practice session, Max Papis made hard contact with the SAFER Barrier in Turn 4 before sliding to a halt in the grass.

“I drove into Turn 3, and right when I was turning the car just came around. It was very, very unusual feeling as I had never had this problem before.”

The accident sent the Rubicon team scrambling to find a solution. Co-owner Jim Freudenberg said the team would work through the night to have a car ready for Sunday qualifying. Team manager Chris Griffis worked his way through the garage area searching for spare parts. Freudenberg said, “This is the good thing that comes from the bad part of racing. Even people you are trying to beat are trying to give you a fair shot. It is the positive thing about this sport. We’d do the same for other teams if they were in this position.

Hideki Mutoh also made contact with the wall in primary car while exiting Turn 2. Mutoh qualified last Saturday for Andretti Green on the outside of row nine.

Fans have one last opportunity to watch qualifying. Bump Day Sunday public gates open at 8 a.m. with qualifications running from noon to 6 pm. Admission is $10.

        

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