May 20, 2009
(Dana Garrett/IRL)
John Andretti (No. 43 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Window World) gets a hug from team director Larry Curry after making it into the starting field for the Indianapolis 500. Andretti and Ryan Hunter-Reay (No. 21T Vision Racing) drove their way into the 2009 Indianapolis 500 with last-gasp attempts on Bump Day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. With improved conditions on Sunday, several drivers withdrew their times to avoid the bubble. Tomas Scheckter (No. 19 MONA-VIE Racing), Mike Conway (No. 24 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing), E.J. Viso (No. 13 PDVSA HVM Racing), Nelson Philippe (No. 00 i drive green HVM Racing) and Milka Duno (No. 23 CITGO/Dreyer & Reinbold Racing) all pulled this gamble off successfully and managed to move to safer times, while veteran Bruno Junqueira (No. 36 Conquest Racing ALL SPORT/BIG RED) easily made the field on his first run of the month. After struggling all day to find speed, Andretti went back out for his third and final attempt with eight minutes to go and earned a spot in his 10th Indianapolis 500, posting a four-lap average speed of 221.316 to bump Hunter-Reay. Hunter-Reay came back to post a speed of 220.597 to edge Alex Tagliani (No. 34 Rexall Edmonton Indy) by a few hundredths of a second as time expired. That put Tagliani alongside Stanton Barrett (No. 98 CURB/Agajanian/Team 3G Racing) and former "500" winner Buddy Lazier (No. 91 Hemelgarn Johnson) as non-qualifiers for this year's race.
Publisher's Note: Conquest Racing announced late Sunday night that Alex Tagliani, the team's primary driver, will drive the No. 36 entry in the Indianapolis 500 in place of Bruno Junqueira, who qualified the car 30th earlier in the day, due to sponsorship arrangements previously agreed to. Junqueira, the 2000 Indy 500 polesitter, signed a last-minute deal with the team May 16. With fewer than 20 practice laps on May 17, he qualified the car with a four-lap average speed of 221.115 mph. "I want to thank the team and ALL SPORT/BIG RED for giving me the opportunity to qualify their car today," Junqueira said."I was able to go fast right from the start despite not having a lot of practice, and that was very rewarding for myself. I really enjoyed working with Conquest Racing. They gave me a really good car, and hopefully I can work with them again in the future. It's a shame that Alex got bumped out of the field at the end. I knew coming into this that Alex is Conquest's primary driver and that if something happened to the first car that I would likely give him my place, and I completely understand it." Not fair to Bruno, even though that was the agreed-upon deal, and not the way Alex wanted to get in his first Indianapolis 500, I'm sure. But those are the financial realities of today's motorsport. - PMD
In John Andretti's own words: "I'm exhausted. I don't want to do this anymore, to be honest. Just coming down pit road, you would have thought that I won the race. I couldn't hear the crowd, but I could see them standing and waving. The fans have always been behind me at Indianapolis. The team did such a great job. We tried something different in practice today. We got advice, and it was one of those things that we couldn't get to work. We went back (garage) and took (teammate) Mike Conway's shocks and springs and put them on my car. It made the car really nice to drive. It was a nice run. I give all the credit to my teammates. As a group we were doing a good job, but we were struggling. Now we've gotten better as a team. We were fighting hard, each one of us. I'm the old man, and I had to fight the hardest, and it's not supposed to be that way. I've always looked at these guys on the bubble on Bump Day and absolutely felt for them. I was with Marty Roth last year and the jubilation was unbelievable. I can't imagine how embarrassed I would have been to call Richard Petty and have him ask, 'Where do you start?' And I don't (start). It's been a very, very tough day. I'm going to say that one is for my dad (Aldo Andretti). My dad is such a strong supporter - I know this was a challenge that he would appreciate. I told Larry Curry in his next life he's going to be a psychiatrist. He got me thinking the right way. He coaches really well. You would think after 30-plus years of racing, I wouldn't need a coach. But Indianapolis can break down the best of drivers. It didn't break me down. Window World, those people were great. They called me up and said that I wanted to be in the race worse than they did. And that cheered me up. When I took the white flag and I made it through Turn 1 flat, I thought I wouldn't get through it. Turn 1 had been killing me all day. It was the wind and I had been struggling with it all day. I'm glad the race isn't tomorrow. I am physically, mentally, just totally exhausted."
The Final Starting Grid for the 2009 Indianapolis 500:
1. (3) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Honda, 224.864
2. (6) Ryan Briscoe, Dallara-Honda, 224.083
3. (10) Dario Franchitti, Dallara-Honda, 224.010
4. (02) Graham Rahal, Dallara-Honda, 223.954
5. (9) Scott Dixon, Dallara-Honda, 223.867
6. (11T) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Honda, 223.612
7. (5) Mario Moraes, Dallara-Honda, 223.331
8. (26) Marco Andretti, Dallara-Honda, 223.114
9. (12) Will Power, Dallara-Honda, 223.028
10. (7) Danica Patrick, Dallara-Honda, 222.882
11. (99) Alex Lloyd, Dallara-Honda, 222.622
12. (2) Raphael Matos, Dallara-Honda, 223.429
13. (15) Paul Tracy, Dallara-Honda, 223.111
14. (14) Vitor Meira, Dallara-Honda, 223.054
15. (18) Justin Wilson, Dallara-Honda, 222.903
16. (27) Hideki Mutoh, Dallara-Honda, 222.805
17. (20) Ed Carpenter, Dallara-Honda, 222.780
18. (4) Dan Wheldon, Dallara-Honda, 222.777
19. (41) A.J. Foyt IV, Dallara-Honda, 222.586
20. (16) Scott Sharp, Dallara-Honda, 222.162
21. (67) Sarah Fisher, Dallara-Honda, 222.082
22. (44) Davey Hamilton, Dallara-Honda, 221.956
23. (06T) Robert Doornbos, Dallara-Honda, 221.692
24. (8) Townsend Bell, Dallara-Honda, 221.195
25. (17) Oriol Servia, Dallara-Honda, 220.984
26. (19) Tomas Scheckter, Dallara-Honda, 221.496
27. (24) Mike Conway, Dallara-Honda, 221.417
28. (43) John Andretti, Dallara-Honda, 221.316
29. (13) E.J. Viso, Dallara-Honda, 221.164
30. (36) Bruno Junqueira, Dallara-Honda, 221.115 (replaced by Alex Tagliani)
31. (23) Milka Duno, Dallara-Honda, 221.106
32. (00) Nelson Philippe, Dallara-Honda, 220.754
33. (21T) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dallara-Honda, 220.597
(Ron McQueeney/IRL)
Lunchtime foot and motor traffic came to a standstill on Monday, May 18, as the Indianapolis 500 past and present converged on Herald Square, the New York landmark made famous by the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Fronted by the yellow car that started it all - the 1911 Marmon Wasp - and the biggest prize in motorsports - the iconic Borg-Warner Trophy - drivers competing in the May 24 race lined up in the traditional 11 rows of three for a photo op in front of Macy's flagship store (where it has been located since 1902). The event, which preceded a media gathering at Calvin Klein headquarters in Times Square South and followed multiple national TV appearances by front-row starters Helio Castroneves, Ryan Briscoe and Dario Franchitti, was held in conjunction with IZOD's exhibit "In Pursuit of FAST: 100 Years of Indy Racing, Fashion and Design" at Macy's on Broadway through June 3. The historic exhibit - featuring multiple generations of race cars from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum, 500-Mile Race-winning driver helmets, original photographs and memorabilia - dresses the large display windows and lines the (Broadway to Seventh Avenue) aisles. After the outdoor photo session, spectators/shoppers stopped to photograph the Borg-Warner Trophy, which occupied a center-aisle display space reserved during the winter holidays for the Times Square New Year's Eve Ball.
The race will be telecast live in High Definition at 1 p.m. (EDT) by ABC. The race will air live on the IMS Radio Network, XM channel 145 and Sirius channel 211. The radio broadcast also will be carried on www.indycar.com. The 2009 Firestone Indy Lights season continues May 22 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The race will be telecast May 22 by VERSUS as part of its Carb Day coverage from 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. (EDT). Tony George, CEO of the Indy Racing League and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, will be on CNBC's "Power Lunch" on Monday, May 18, while Sarah Fisher will appear on Comedy Central's "Daily Show with Jon Stewart," and the Front Row drivers (Castroneves, Briscoe and Franchitti) will appear on "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" on Monday night (the 18th).
INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY CENTENNIAL ERA FACT OF THE DAY: The Indianapolis Motor Speedway's highly recognizable "Winged-Wheel" logo was introduced in 1909. The wheel represented the founders' vision of an automobile testing ground, and the wings alluded to the role aviation played in the early years at the Speedway. Through the years, the logo has had hundreds of variations, usually custom-made for the application, be it program cover, credential, ticket or poster. The seven racing flags became a primary element by the mid-1950s.
The VERSUS Network. Kudos have to go out to the VERSUS network for their superb work at Indianapolis in the days leading up to next Sunday's Indy 500. The whole cast and crew deserves to take a bow, but we are especially cheered by the fact that Bob Jenkins is back and hasn't lost a step. We just wish he was going to be the lead announcer on ABC's broadcast of the "500." VERSUS will air at least one hour of programming per day this week, capped by five hours of live coverage of Carb Day on May 22. The week's coverage includes:
May 18, 4 p.m., VERSUS -- Danica - Five Years Running
May 19, 4 p.m., VERSUS -- IndyCar Series - Top 10 Closest Finishes
May 20, 4 p.m., VERSUS -- IndyCar Series - Crashes and Conflicts
May 21, 4 p.m., VERSUS -- Top 10 Indy Moments
May 22, 11 a.m., VERSUS -- Carb Day coverage of the final IndyCar Series practice, the Firestone Freedom 100, the pit stop competition and more. At 4 p.m., it will air Foyt, Unser and Mears: Four-time Indy 500 Winners
May 23, 5 p.m., VERSUS -- IPL 500 Festival Parade. At 6:30 p.m., it will air a race preview show
May 24, TBA -- Post-race show
ESPN on ABC's coverage of the 500-Mile Race kicks off at noon May 24 with a preview show hosted by Brent Musburger.
(Copyright 2009 John Thawley)
Gil de Ferran and Simon Pagenaud (No. 66 XM Radio de Ferran Motorsports Acura ARX-02a) dominated the Larry H. Miller Dealerships Utah Grand Prix at Miller Motorsports Park on Sunday for their second overall win in a row. Pagenaud took the checkered flag in the American Le Mans Series race by a very comfortable 73.693 seconds over the No. 9 Patrón Highcroft Racing Acura ARX-02a driven by David Brabham and Scott Sharp. The de Ferran/Pagenaud duo led all but two laps as Pagenaud qualified on pole position and posted the fastest race lap for the second year in a row. Brabham and Sharp still hold a comfortable lead in the P1 championship, however. Brabham was the only other driver to lead the race aside from Pagenaud and de Ferran. The Adrian Fernandez/Luis Diaz combo gave Lowe’s Fernandez Racing a tight 0.585-second victory in LMP2 (their fourth straight in the series), their Acura ARX-01b surviving a late fight with Dyson Racing’s Butch Leitzinger, who just missed the team’s first class win with Marino Franchitti in one of Dyson’s Mazda-powered Lola B09/86 coupes. Jörg Bergmeister and Patrick Long made it three straight wins in GT2 in their Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, finishing 74.559 seconds ahead of Farnbacher Loles Racing’s Porsche of Marc Lieb and Wolf Henzler. In the MICHELIN® Green X® Challenge, the de Ferran Acura was the winner among the prototype entries. The Farnbacher Loles Racing won the trophy for GT cars. The competition awards teams and manufacturers who have the greatest overall performance with the smallest environmental impact. Next up for the ALMS (after the lengthy break for Le Mans) is Northeast Grand Prix from Lime Rock Park. The race is scheduled for 2:05 p.m. EDT on Saturday, July 18. The race will air live on SPEED. See a complete gallery of JOHN THAWLEY's spectacular images from the Utah ALMS race by clicking here.
Michelin. The de Ferran/Pagenaud victory in Utah marked the 100th Michelin overall race victory in the American Le Mans Series for the French tire company, just the 103rd event in series history. "Securing the 100th win in the series for Michelin is a reflection of the tremendous talent and efforts that our manufacturers, technical partner teams, drivers, engineers and our Michelin technical centers and engineers have brought into the series,” said Silvia Mammone, Michelin motorsports manager. "We wish good luck to all of our Michelin teams and drivers competing at the 24 Hours of Le Mans,” said Mammone. Michelin has won the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the last 11 consecutive years.
(Grand-Am)
Jon Fogarty/Alex Gurney (No. 99 GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing) won the Verizon Festival of Speed Sunday at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, its second Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16 victory of the season. The No. 01 TELMEX Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates Lexus Riley driven by Scott Pruett/Memo Rojas finished 7.22 seconds behind. Nick Ham and Sylvain Tremblay teamed to score their first GT class victory of the season in the SpeedSource No. 70 Castrol Syntec Mazda RX-8. Fogarty and Gurney now have the Daytona Prototype point lead. Rolex 24 At Daytona winners Darren Law and David Donohue finished eighth in the Brumos Porsche Riley, and fell to second in the standings, eight points behind (119-111).
(Mark Weber/SCCA)
Jason Daskalos (No. 5 Daskalos Developments Dodge Viper), of Albuquerque, N.M., leads Brandon Davis (No. 10 Applied Computer Solutions/Sun Micro Ford Mustang Cobra), of Huntington Beach, Calif., Randy Pobst (No. 1 K-Pax Racing Volvo S60) and Tony Rivera (No. 97 Tax Masters/Mirage Group Porsche 911 GT3 Cup), of Missouri City, Texas, at Mosport last Sunday. Daskalos would go on to lead the entire 30-lap, 73.77-mile race capturing his first-career win (in 22 starts) in Round Four of the SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge GT Championship, part of the Victoria Day Speedfest at Mosport International Raceway. Davis would finish second and Rivera third. Daskalos averaged a record 103.485 mph. Davis extended his point lead to 44, 415 to 371 over Rivera. Andy Pilgrim is third, with 368, followed by James Sofronas (358) and Eric Curran (314). Porsche continues to lead the Manufacturers’ Championship Presented by RACER Magazine with 26 points over Ford (23), Volvo (15), and Chevrolet and Dodge (14 apiece). This race will be broadcast Tuesday, July 7 at 2 p.m. (EDT) on SPEED. Up next for the series is Watkins Glen International on July 4.
(Mark Weber/SCCA)
Canadian Kuno Wittmer (No. 44 Acura/RealTime/Red Line Acura TSX) got the jump on the SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge Touring Car field at the standing start on a damp track and never looked back to dominate the opening race of a doubleheader weekend at Mosport International Raceway. Teammates Pierre Kleinubing (No. 42 Acura/RealTime/Red Line Oil Acura TSX), of Coconut Creek, Fla., and Nick Wittmer (No. 45 Acura/RealTime/Red Line Acura TSX), of Montreal (and the younger brother of Kuno), completed the podium for a RealTime sweep. Kuno galloped to his fourth-career victory by 19.035 seconds, averaging 81.598 mph.
(Mark Weber/SCCA)
Peter Cunningham (No. 1 Acura/RealTime/Red Line Oil Acura TSX), of Milwaukee, Wis., captured his record-extending 32nd World Challenge win Sunday, taking the SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge Touring Car Championship Round Four race at Mosport International Raceway last weekend. Charles Espenlaub (No. 73 MAZDASPEED/Stoptech/Racinghart MAZDA6), of Lutz, Fla., and Jason Saini (No. 74 MAZDASPEED/Stoptech/Racinghart MAZDA6), of Fort Worth, Texas, completed the podium. Cunningham withstood a number of challenges from the TriPoint Mazda team throughout the race to score his first win since the 2007 season finale at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, finishing 0.564-second ahead of Espenlaub while averaging 95.691 mph over the 28-lap, 68.852-mile race. Saini leads the Driver’s Championship by 17 points over Pierre Kleinubing (410-393), followed by Cunningham (375), Kuno Wittmer (368) and Seth Thomas (337). Acura leads in the World Challenge Touring Car Manufacturers’ Championship Presented by RACER Magazine by 12, with 34 points to Mazda’s 26 and BMW’s 12. This race will be broadcast July 7 at 2 p.m. (EDT) on SPEED. Next up for the series is Watkins Glen for Round Five on July 4.
World Challenge Fans. Round Two of the SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge GT Championship - the ACS Grand Prix of Long Beach Presented by Lala Motorsports, and Round Two of the SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge Touring Car Championship from Thunderbolt Raceway - will air on Friday, May 22 at 2 p.m. (EDT) on SPEED.
See another live episode of "Autoline After Hours" hosted by Autoline Detroit's John McElroy, with Peter De Lorenzo and auto industry PR veteran Jason Vines this Thursday evening, May 21, at 7:00PM EDT at www.autolinedetroit.tv. By the way, if you'd like to subscribe to the Autoline After Hours podcasts, click on the following links:
Subscribe via iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=311421319
Subscribe via RSS: