Sunday, May 19, 2002
Indy hopefuls want smooth road on Bump Day
But windy weather could cloud their qualifying chances
The Associated Press
INDIANAPOLIS — Ready or not, the last chance to qualify for the 86th Indianapolis 500 is here.
With nine of the 33 starting spots still unfilled for the race May 26, 16 non-qualified drivers worked at building speed Saturday, the last full day of practice before the final round of time trials.
But one who didn't practice on the 2 1/2-mile oval was two-time Indy winner Arie Luyendyk.
“It seems to me like the wind direction has changed every day for the last three days,” Luyendyk said. “I don't see the value in running today and tuning the car to these conditions,” Luyendyk said. “It's more important to practice Sunday morning and tune the car to the conditions then.”
Winds gusting to 26 mph and unseasonable temperatures in the low 50s made Saturday another tough day on the historic track. Today's forecast calls for highs in the upper 50s, winds at 5-10 mph and a 30 percent chance of afternoon rain.
Bruno Junqueira was the fastest of 24 drivers who qualified May 11, the first day of time trials. He set the pace with a four-lap average of 231.342 mph.
Billy Boat remained the slowest qualifier in the tentative field at 226.589 when last Sunday's scheduled session was rained out.
At the time, that speed, as well as the 226.781 by Michael Andretti, appeared very much in jeopardy of being bumped out. But the changeable weather has made it seem more likely that a four-lap average near 226 flat could make the lineup.
Led by Airton Dare at 227.015 and his A.J. Foyt Racing teammate Greg Ray at 226.756, the top 11 speeds Saturday were posted by non-qualified drivers.
A pair of teammates from CART, Team Kool Green's Dario Franchitti and Paul Tracy, were third and fourth Saturday at 226.751 and 226.483.
“There's nine spots, and I think we're comfortably within the top nine guys trying to get in,” said Tracy, whose car had to be almost completely rebuilt after an accident in practice just before the start of qualifying.
“We've just been very patient with the car, patient with the team trying to get the speed out of the car,” he said. “Things are pretty uptight around here.
“I think if we can run a 225 (in qualifying), we'd be pretty happy with that,” he said. “Sure, I'd like to run better, but we're not. I think if we're in the race, it will be a different story.”
Luyendyk, who has raced only in the 500 since returning from a short retirement two years ago, turned laps over 225 in both his primary and backup cars on Friday.
“I got both to the point where I was comfortable and the team decided we should stop and wait until Sunday,” he explained. “The other issue here is, you're allotted 33 sets of tires for the month, and we are saving enough sets of new tires so we have them for Sunday.”
Other non-qualifiers posting respectable times Saturday included Oriol Servia at 226.359, Alex Barron at 225.950, Donnie Beecher at 225.531, Shigeaki Hattori at 225.448, George Mack at 225.299 and Johnny Herbert at 225.258.
Reigning IRL champion Sam Hornish, who qualified seventh last weekend, was 12th overall on Saturday at 224.858.
Sunday's qualifying is scheduled to run from noon to 6 p.m. local time.
Herbert, once a Formula One driver, will have the biggest time pressure. The Englishman will try to make it into the Indy field as quickly as possible, then fly to Sonoma, Calif., in time to drive the final stint of a 2-hour, 45-minute sports car endurance race. He is competing for the an American Le Mans Series championship, and needs to race in Sonoma to score points.
“We had the option of having another driver qualify the car, but I didn't want to do that,” Herbert said. “Driving in the Indy 500 has been a goal of mine for many years, and I wanted to do it the right way.”
“Everything will have to work perfectly. But it can be done.”
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Indy hopefuls want smooth road on Bump Day
