DPR Sports & Racing News

 

2010 Indy 500 Photo Gallery

 

 Photo (Above) By Joe Paolella

Photo (Above) By Joe Paolella

Photo (Above) By Joe Paolella

 

 

 

 

 

 

Indy History... Mann becomes first woman in Indy History to win pole

Pippa Mann became the first female pole winner in the 101-year-old history of the IndianapolisMotor Speedway, earning the top starting spot for the Firestone Freedom 100.

Mann, driving the No. 11 Sam Schmidt Motorsports car, is the second female pole sitter in Firestone Indy Lights history, joining Sarah McCune in 2005 at Chicagoland Speedway. She recorded a two-lap average speed of 187.989 mph (1 minute, 35.7505 seconds) on the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the 40-lap race on May 28.

"These guys just gave me an awesome car. They gave me just a fantastic car. I just went out there and did my best to pedal it. We made a lot of changes. We had a great time in the morning, adjusting the front wing on the race car and running in traffic and not running in speed. This afternoon when it got hot, we went to work on speed. We found some things that really helped. We found some things that made my life more difficult but made the car quicker. For this afternoon, we decided to rein it in a little bit so it would come home all in one piece. Whatever they reined in, they did it perfectly. It was just awesome out there. I didn't expect the car to be that fast in clean air. I knew I had a fantastic car in traffic, but I was quicker than I thought I would be in clean air. I'm really, really excited. The balance was even better (qualifying) than it was in traffic. We'll go back to that car (setup) we had this morning as the race car, but with a couple of tweaks we found that we really like - those might stay. I have a car that I can drive inside, I have a car I can drive outside, I have a car that likes the dirty air, I have a car that likes to be out front."

Wade Cunningham, seeking to win the Firestone Freedom 100 for a third time, will start on the front row after posting an average speed of 187.742 mph in the No. 77 Lucas Oil/BSS/Sam Schmidt Motorsports car.

Charlie Kimball in the No. 26 Levemir FlexPen entry for AFS Racing Andretti Autosport (187.375) and teammate Martin Plowman (187.209) will share Row 2.

INDIANAPOLIS - Qualifying Thursday for the Firestone Freedom 100 Firestone Indy Lights Series event on the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway, with starting position, car number in parentheses, driver, time and speed in parentheses:

1.  (11) Pippa Mann, 01:35.7505 (187.989)

2.  (77) Wade Cunningham, 01:35.8761 (187.742)

3.  (26) Charlie Kimball, 01:36.0642 (187.375)

4.  (27) Martin Plowman, 01:36.1494 (187.209)

5.  (17) Jeff Simmons, 01:36.1702 (187.168)

6.  (7) J.K. Vernay, 01:36.5378 (186.455)

7.  (49) Philip Major, 01:36.7925 (185.965)

8.  (2) James Hinchcliffe, 01:36.9012 (185.756)

9.  (10) Gustavo Yacaman, 01:36.9350 (185.691)

10.  (40) Dan Clarke, 01:36.9704 (185.624)

11.  (22) Adrian Campos Jr., 01:37.0710 (185.431)

12.  (29) Sebastian Saavedra, 01:37.1481 (185.284)

13.  (28) Stefan Wilson, 01:37.7807 (184.085)

14.  (18) Rodrigo Barbosa, 01:38.0589 (183.563)

15.  (4) Arie Luyendyk Jr., 01:38.1038 (183.479)

16.  (32) Brandon Wagner, No time (No Speed)

 

Sarah Fisher is the Fastest woman in Indy

Photos By Dan Peters

 

 

Jay Howard, teammate to Fisher and driver of the No. 66 Service Central SFR entry, ran his quickest lap of the month, with a speed of 225.956 mph, which put him as the fastest of all cars on track today, before his second attempt to qualify for his first Indianapolis 500. The 29-year old Howard completed a qualifying attempt at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in preparation for the 500-mile race this afternoon, with a four-lap average of 223.824, which in the hustle to get the car back in the field was a surprise to SFR with the consistent month long speed of the No. 66 car topping the team's effort throughout the month, but was later bumped from the starting field. In Howard's last attempt to defend his qualification time for the field, he posted a time of just over 223 mph, but was not quick enough to bump himself back into the 33rd starting position.

Jay Howard: "A lot of people have asked the question whose decision was it to go on the last run and was it a mistake; the answer is that we will never know, and I, as well as the team, believed that we could get the car in the show with no problem. Obviously, we were mistaken, but we couldn't sit by and let Tracy go out because he would have for sure been faster than us. I'm really disappointed especially for Service Central, but we all did our best. As long as we learn from our experiences we can move forward. I'm looking forward to being back in the Service Central car at Texas in just a couple of weeks."

INDIANAPOLIS 500 POLE DAY QUALIFYING NOTES:

•This is Helio Castroneves' fourth career Indianapolis 500 pole, tying him with Rex Mays and A.J. Foyt for second on the all-time Indianapolis 500 list. Rick Mears leads with six poles. Castroneves' poles have come in 2003, 2007, 2009 and 2010.

•The last time a driver won two consecutive Indianapolis 500 poles was 1995-96, by Scott Brayton.

•This is the 16^th time Penske Racing/Team Penske has won the Indianapolis 500 Pole. The years: 1977-79, 1981-82, 1986, 1988-91, 1994, 2003, 2006-07, 2009-10.

•Helio Castroneves' 2010 Indianapolis 500 pole marks the seventh time the defending Indianapolis 500 winner earned the pole. The other years this occurred: 1927, Frank Lockhart; 1965, A.J. Foyt; 1984, Tom Sneva; 1989, Rick Mears; 1990, Emerson Fittipaldi; 2003, Castroneves.

•Helio Castroneves joins Rick Mears as the only drivers to earn the pole as both the defending pole and race winner. Castroneves won from the pole in 2009. Mears won from the pole in 1988 and again won the pole in 1989.

•Penske Racing team owner Roger Penske has had at least one car start on the front row in 27 of his 37 years competing in the Indianapolis 500 as a car owner. All told, 39 Penske-entered cars have started on the front row.

•Penske Racing/Team Penske cars have won seven time from the Indianapolis 500 pole: 1979 (Rick Mears), 1981 (Bobby Unser), 1988 (Mears), 1991 (Mears), 1994 (Al Unser Jr.), 2006 (Sam Hornish Jr.), 2009 (Helio Castroneves).

•This will be Helio Castroneves' eight consecutive start in the top eight. He started his streak with a pole in 2003.

•Will Power qualified a career-best second. His previous best was ninth in 2009.

•Dario Franchitti qualified third for the fourth time in his seven Indianapolis 500 starts. This is the third consecutive year he will start third.

•Helio Castroneves earned a $175,000 bonus for winning the Peak Performance Pole Award presented by AutoZone ($100,000 PEAK Performance Pole Award, $75,000 Indianapolis Motor Speedway bonus). Will Power earned a $75,000 bonus for qualifying second, and Dario Franchitti earned a $50,000 bonus for qualifying third.

•Ryan Briscoe qualified fourth. This will be his fourth consecutive start in the top seven.

•Alex Tagliani will start fifth in 2010 after starting 33^rd and last in 2009.

•Scott Dixon qualified sixth, his fifth consecutive Indianapolis 500 start in the top six.

•Graham Rahal will start seventh, his second consecutive Indianapolis 500 start in the top seven.

•Ed Carpenter qualified a career-best eighth. His previous best at Indianapolis was 10^th in 2008.

•Hideki Mutoh tied his career-best start of ninth, also set in 2008.

The #25 of Ana Beatriz

Photo By Dan Peters

•Ana Beatriz is the top qualifier among Chase Rookie of the Year candidates, qualifying 21^st. Other rookies to qualify today: Simona De Silvestro, 22^nd; Bertrand Baguette, 24^th.

•Ana Beatriz's qualifying speed of 224.243 was the second-fastest by a rookie woman driver in Indianapolis 500 history. Only Danica Patrick was faster, at 227.004 in 2005.

•Townsend Bell qualified 10^th at 225.097 mph, his career best and fastest at Indianapolis.

•Simona De Silvestro became the first Swiss driver to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 since Clay Regazzoni in 1977.

•Danica Patrick qualified 23^rd, her Indianapolis career low. Her previous lowest start was 10^th, in 2006 and 2009.

Helio Fastest on Opening Day at the Brickyard.

Photo By Dan Peters

Tony Kanaan wasn't the fastest driver during Opening Day of preparations for the 2010 Indianapolis 500, but he was one of the busiest.

The 2004 IZOD IndyCar Series champion shook down all five Andretti Autosport cars entered in the Indianapolis 500 before regular drivers Marco Andretti, John Andretti, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Danica Patrick took hold of their cars.

Defending race winner Helio Castroneves posted the fastest lap of the day of 39.7170 seconds (226.603 mph) on the 2.5-mile oval. Twenty-seven driver/car combinations recorded 451 incident-free laps before yielding to rookies and drivers undertaking a refresher course. None of the seven rookies attempting to qualify for the race completed all four phases of the Rookie Orientation Program, though Simona De Silvestro, Ana Beatriz and Takuma Sato successfully completed two of the four phases.

Target Chip Ganassi Racing teammates Dario Franchitti (226.535 mph) and Scott Dixon (226.237) - who won the 2007 and 2008 Indy 500s, respectively - were next on the list. Dan Wheldon, runner-up to Castroneves in the 500 Mile Race last year, was fourth (225.609) in the No. 4 National Guard Panther Racing car.

Ed Carpenter, competing in an IZOD IndyCar Series event for the first time since the '09 season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, was seventh quick (224.592 mph) in the No. 20 Panther/Vision Fuzzy's Vodka entry for Panther Racing.

Photo By Mark Rotor

Dominant Dario Does It Again!  Franchitti Wins Indy 500 & Ganassi Makes History
By Mark Rotor & Dan Peters

May 30th, 2010

Dario Dominates At Indy

“The Greatest Spectacle In Racing” lived up to it’s billing on Sunday with both excitement and drama as the defending IZOD Indy Champion Dario Franchitti was dominant leading 155 of the 200 laps but needed a break on the final lap to win the 96th running of the Indy 500.

A violent and fiery collision between Mike Conway and Ryan Hunter-Reay changed the complexion of the race on Lap 200. The caution insured the race leader Franchitti a first place finish under the checkered and yellow flags ahead of Dan Wheldon to capture his 2nd Borg-Warner with his wife actress Ashley Judd awaiting on pit road. “To come back after being away for a year to win the championship and win the Indy 500, thank you Team Target,” said Franchitti.

Target Chip Ganassi Makes Motor Sport History

With the victory, Owner Chip Ganassi of Target Ganassi Racing has made history accomplishing what no other race owner has done, winning the Indy 500 in the same year they won the Daytona 500. Ganassi’s teams celebrated their Daytona 500 victory in February, capturing the Harley J. Earl trophy and now hold the Borg-Warner. "I'm a very, very lucky guy," said Ganassi.

An extremely modest Chip Ganassi gave credit to his teams, "Obviously, you know, Jamie McMurray, Bass Pro Shops, won that race in February. "Dario and Target won the race here today. I'm a lucky guy to be in this business and to be able to work with people that accomplish that.

The Final 10 Laps - "All Hell Broke Loose"

“Up until ten laps to go, I was pretty relax and then all hell broke loose with fuel saving and stuff (the crash), said Franchitti. The #10 car of Franchitti was low on fuel retaining 1.3 gallons and was pursued by Wheldon's #4 National Guard car with one lap remaining when Mike Conway’s #24 car collided with #37 car of Hunter-Reay launching Conway air-bourn into the turn #3 catch fence.

Conway was transported to Methodist Hospital

for x-rays revealing a fracture of his right leg and Ryan Hunter-Reay was released with a hand injury. The incident produced a yellow locking the field allowing Franchitti to coast to victory. "It was a fantastic job by Dario," said Scott Dixon. He got lucky on the yellow, but you’ve got to give the guy a lot of credit: He led a lot of laps and definitely worked on it.”

Dan Wheldon Remains Second Best At Indy

The 2005 Indy Champion has come close to winning his second trophy finishing in 2nd place for the last two year. Wheldon started in 18th place and systematically moved up through the field stalking Franchitti on the final laps while conserving fuel but ran short of time to catch him. "Second two years in a row is not good," said Wheldon. "I have to make sure I improve that one more spot next year. It was a good race.

 

3rd Place

Controversy - Alex Lloyd or Marco Andretti?

Unofficially, Alex Lloyd from Great Britain was awarded 3rd place creating a British top-three sweep making history at the Indy but wait, two hours after the race the results was revised. The unofficial results showed Marco Andretti in 6th place however as it turn-out, he was passed by three cars during the final caution. “Everybody saw it,” Marco said. “Last time I checked the rule, you can’t pass on the yellow.” The official results awarded Marco Andretti 3rd place ahead of Lloyd in 4th, Scott Dixon 5th and Danica Patrick in 6th place.

Photo By Mark Rotor

Franchitti Charged From The Green Flag:

From the moment the honorary starter Jack Nicholson waved the checkered flag to start the race, Franchitti surged to the front of the 33 car field maintaining the race-lead for most of the 500 mile race. The #10 Target car of Franchitti made it look easy slicing through the front row of Team Penske’s Will Power #6 and the Pole sitter Helio Castroneves #3. Franchitti passed Power in Turn #1 and chasing Castroneves as #21 car of Davey Hamilton spun in Turn 2. By the time the yellow flag was waved, Franchitti shot ahead of Castroneves to lead Lap #1 at Indy 500 for the first time in his career. “That kind of set the stage,” said Chip Ganassi. I think that was a very important kind of pumping his fist and staking his claim. Certainly, you can't win the race on the start, but you can lose it.”

Finishing Like A Champion

During the second half of the race, Lap #114 Franchitti reestablished his lead following a restart and continued his dominance staying ahead of Kanaan for 49 laps (123 mile) and by an interval of 6 seconds. I think that went a long way towards getting him up in the seat, knowing how his car was," said Ganassi. "Then as the race went on, we were able to pull out one second, two seconds. It was dominant up through 150 laps or whatever."

At the end of the race as Franchitti put it, “All hell broke loose” during the final 10 laps. Finally, Kanaan made his move closing the gap to 0.386 seconds however, he too needs a splash of fuel on Lap #196 allowing Franchitti to conserve fuel and coast-in ahead of Wheldon. "The guy's a champion. He's been there, done that, “said Ganassi. "He knows what it takes. From the first day of practice up until five minutes ago, he's the consummate professional. The last time I saw him, he's the guy you want in the car in that situation."

They showed me a list of two time winners," said Franchitti. "Those guys are legends. I said the other night, I'm just a driver, those guys are the legends. I'm so lucky to be drive for Chip and Team Target, getting in good cars, especially having gone away after we won in '07. To be invited back was pretty cool. To have won a championship and an Indy 500, I didn't expect any of this. I said before, I expected to be retired by the time I was 35. This is all bonus and it's pretty cool."

“Congrats to Dario said,” Castroneves. What an awesome car he had. Ganassi did an incredible job to put him up there. It was the car to beat today. And we tried!

Photo By Yolanda Rotor

It Was The Pits For Team Penske & Team Target's Scott Dixon.

Uncharacteristically, the top teams Penske and Target Ganassi had difficulty in performing in the pits and on the track ultimately costing their drivers the race.

Will Power Penalized

Early in the race, on Lap #37 Team Penske's Will Power, attempted to beat Franchitti out the pits and prematurely left dragging part of the fuel nozzle on to the track. Power was assessed a drive-through penalty on Lap #44 causing him to drop back. In addition to a delay suffered when he over shoot the pit box by a two-feet, it was a tough day for Power. “As a team, we made too many mistakes today,” said Power. We had a bloody fast car. The Verizon car was chopping through the field. It was one of those days."

Helio's Crucial Mistake

The dual between Castroneves and Franchitti never really materialized due to a stall on pit road near the end of the race causing Helio to lose time and position to Dario. “This is a place where the team and driver who makes the least mistakes wins” said Castroneves. Certainly, I made one crucial mistake leaving the pits. The guys did a terrific job all month and I let it stall-out right at Lap #150 a time of the race that’s critical, and it put us to the back.”

Briscoe Pancakes In Turn #4

To add insult to injury, Penske teammate Ryan Briscoe smacked the wall in turn #4 after leaving the pits ending Briscoe's race. "It was really slick out there, and we just added some downforce to the car,” Briscoe said. "But we were on cold tires and just got up into the marbles, and it was the point of no return, so we hit the wall."

Team Target's Hiccup

Team Chip Ganassi was not immune to heartbreak in the pits. On lap #67 Franchitti’s team mate 2008 Indy winner Scott Dixon lost his left front wheel leaving his pit box. “For me, it was not much of an exciting race,” said Dixon.

 “I was kind of sitting in the back of the pack when we had the pit stop problem. We just never really regained."

Andretti Autosport - The 'Redeem Team'

Andretti Autosport had a rough qualification week failing to start any of their five car team in the top 10 on pole day. Marco Andretti started 16th, Ryan Hunter-Reay 17th, Danica Patrick 23rd, John Andretti 28th and most surprisingly Tony Kanaan started 33rd in the last position. Needless to say, the team was disappointed with the qualification weekend and was looking to redeem them selves on race day.

“I never doubted us said,” Marco Andretti. "I think qualifying is so different here than it is to race because the Firestone will hang on for four laps with very aggressive setups and can pull a time out of it. When you have to run full stints in traffic, it's a different ballgame. It's 500 miles."

Marco competed to till the very end charging after Franchitti although his team wanted him to conserve fuel. “Basically in the closing laps, it's so frustrating because I'm looking at Dario, the leader of this race, and the laps are counting down,” Marco said. “I don't want to lift, you know what I mean? When I'm told in my ear, I could have very well ended up where T.K. (Tony Kanaan) did (11th). I'm glad one of us as a team, kind of pushed Dario a little bit.”

Patrick Praised Team For 7th Place Finish

Danica also finished in the top 10 for the 5th time in her career moving from 22nd to 7th place. Congrats to Dario, he is a really good friend and a good guy. “I’m very happy with the result, and the reasons we got it were that our pit stops rocked and we had a perfect strategy,” said Danica Patrick. I’m really glad that yellow came out at the end because we were cutting it real close on fuel. That’s the roll of the dice, and the team did a perfect job.”

"I knew that the strength of the team was going to be race day. The Go Daddy car got up front and I had faith in that. It was a little tough to pass but because of the pits stops and the fuel strategy we got up front. I hope Mike Conway wasn’t hurt. I never want anybody to get hurt. It’s not comforting going underneath a car flipping up in the air. Cars are like footballs, you’re not sure what way they are going to go. I hope they are ok."

Tony Kanaan Charged From 33rd To 2nd

Although Kanaan had a miserable qualification weekend Tony and Andretti Motorsport made race day count competing for the lead in the final laps and finishing in 11th place. “I hope I made it exciting out there," said Kanaan. "I promised them a good start, and I think I did that. I have been in many positions for this race, and I don’t think the fastest car wins all the time. I think we had a shot for a win."

Kanaan went from 33rd position to 2nd 0.385 second behind the leader, only to yield his spot when he ran low on fuel with 5 laps to go finishing 11th. "We took a gamble," Kanaan said. When it comes to a fuel strategy race, I’m not a big fan of it. I support my guys all the way. Let’s learn from it. I think this team is more together than ever. I did the best I could and my guys were great, we are going to keep on fighting. I had fun today."

"The best driver on this day, with the best car won! Congratulations to Dario."

The Order of Finish 2010

Indianapolis

500:

Starting Position Indicated (X)

1. (3) Dario Franchitti
2. (18) Dan Wheldon
3. (16) Marco Andretti
4. (26) Alex Lloyd
5. (6) Scott Dixon
6. (23) Danica Patrick
7. (11) Justin Wilson
8. (2) Will Power
9. (1) Helio Castroneves
10. (5) Alex Tagliani
11. (33) Tony Kanaan
12. (7) Graham Rahal
13. (27) Mario Romancini
14. (22) Simona de Silvestro
15. (20) Tomas Scheckter
16. (10) Townsend Bell
17. (8) Ed Carpenter
18. (17) Ryan Hunter-Reay
19. (15) Mike Conway
20. (31) Takuma Sato
21. (21) Ana Beatriz
22. (24) Bertrand Baguette
23. (32) Sebastian Saavedra
24. (4) Ryan Briscoe
25. (19) E.J. Viso
26. (29) Sarah Fisher
27. (30) Vitor Meira
28. (9) Hideki Mutoh
29. (12) Raphael Matos
30. (28) John Andretti
31. (13) Mario Moraes
32. (25) Bruno Junqueira
33. (14) Davey Hamilton 

 

Castroneves saved his best for last during qualifications for the Indianapolis 500.

Castroneves, the first of nine drivers to run during the final 90 minutes of qualifying, recorded a four-lap average speed of 227.970 mph to win the PEAK Performance Pole Award presented by AutoZone for the Indianapolis 500.

Photo By Dan Peters

"Sitting in that car for an hour in half was not easy at all, especially with everyone getting closer and closer. I was like, 'Are we going or not?' because I can't handle that much pressure. It's great to have a 1-2 start for Team Penske. It's a shame that Ryan (Briscoe) didn't have his chance on the last one. It's great to be part of this team. We work so well together. I'm on the pole, but all three of us benefit from it. I'm very proud of my team; they did a great job today."

Photo By Dan Peters

Will Power came close, but not enough and will start in the middle of Row 1

"It's great to see the Verizon car on the front row and the Penske cars 1-2. It's pretty tough to beat Helio  at Indianapolis. He's a quick guy. I'm happy with our starting position, and it's good for the points. When I saw Helio's time, I thought that's crazy fast. But when I put the downforce level he had on a bit later, I was up there in the high 27s. I should have done that when it was warmer and the air was thinner, but that comes down to experience, and he has great experience here."

Franchitti Rounds out the Front Row and starts third.

"It's my fourth time starting third here and my third in a row. If you had told me that yesterday, I wouldn't have believed you. It was a great job by Team Target because we weren't quick yesterday. All week we've been OK with good balanced cars, but not fast cars. We made big improvements and big strides, and we were in there fighting for it. We've got good race cars and I gave it everything I had today. I'm pretty happy."

INDIANAPOLIS - Results of qualifying Sunday for the 2010 Indianapolis 500 IZOD IndyCar Series event on the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway, with Rank, car number in parentheses, driver, chassis-engine, time and speed in parentheses:                                                                                                                                                    

1. (3) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Honda, 02:38.7485 (226.774)

2.  (12) Will Power, Dallara-Honda, 02:39.0024 (226.412)

3.  (77) Alex Tagliani, Dallara-Honda, 02:39.0163 (226.392)

4.  (10T) Dario Franchitti, Dallara-Honda, 02:39.1825 (226.156)

5.  (9) Scott Dixon, Dallara-Honda, 02:39.4367 (225.795)

6.  (30) Graham Rahal, Dallara-Honda, 02:39.5627 (225.617)

7.  (06) Hideki Mutoh, Dallara-Honda, 02:39.6998 (225.423)

8.  (6) Ryan Briscoe, Dallara-Honda, 02:39.7409 (225.365)

9.  (20) Ed Carpenter, Dallara-Honda, 02:39.8817 (225.166)                                                           

10.  (99) Townsend Bell, Dallara-Honda, 02:39.9313 (225.097)                                                      

11.  (22) Justin Wilson, Dallara-Honda, 02:39.9647 (225.050)                                                         

12.  (2) Raphael Matos, Dallara-Honda, 02:39.9798 (225.028)                                                        

13.  (32) Mario Moraes, Dallara-Honda, 02:40.0794 (224.888)                                                       

14.  (21) Davey Hamilton, Dallara-Honda, 02:40.1053 (224.852)                                                    

15.  (24) Mike Conway, Dallara-Honda, 02:40.2969 (224.583)

16.  (26) Marco Andretti, Dallara-Honda, 02:40.3030 (224.575)

17.  (37) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dallara-Honda, 02:40.3227 (224.547)

18.  (4) Dan Wheldon, Dallara-Honda, 02:40.3821 (224.464)

19.  (8T) EJ Viso, Dallara-Honda, 02:40.4424 (224.380)

20.  (23) Tomas Scheckter, Dallara-Honda, 02:40.5270 (224.261)

21.  (25) Ana Beatriz, Dallara-Honda, 02:40.5402 (224.243)

22.  (78) Simona de Silvestro, Dallara-Honda, 02:40.5511 (224.228)

23.  (7) Danica Patrick, Dallara-Honda, 02:40.5584 (224.217)

24.  (36) Bertrand Baguette, Dallara-Honda, 02:40.5785 (224.189)

25.  (33) Bruno Junqueira, Dallara-Honda, 02:39.5305 (225.662)

26.  (19) Alex Lloyd, Dallara-Honda, 02:40.1543 (224.783)    

27.  (34) Mario Romancini, Dallara-Honda, 02:40.2557 (224.641)

28.  (43) John Andretti, Dallara-Honda, 02:40.3438 (224.518)

29.  (67) Sarah Fisher, Dallara-Honda, 02:40.4033 (224.434)

30.  (14) Vitor Meira, Dallara-Honda, 02:40.4367 (224.388)

31.  (5) Takuma Sato, Dallara-Honda, 02:40.5865 (224.178)

32.  (11T) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Honda, 02:40.6628 (224.072)

33.  (29) Sebastian Saavedra, Dallara-Honda, 02:40.9776 (223.634)

 

FORMER WINNERS TOP SPEED CHARTS IN INDY 500 PRACTICE

The winners of the last three Indianapolis 500s topped the speed charts as preparations for the 2010 race continued May 16 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves, the 2009 winner, set the fastest lap of practice this month with a lap of 39.6395 seconds , 227.046 mph in his No. 3 Team Penske Dallara/Honda/Firestone. 2008 winner Scott Dixon was second fastest at 39.7875, 226.202 with his Target Chip Ganassi Racing teammate and 2007 Indianapolis 500 winner Dario Franchitti third at 39.8152, 226.044.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo By Dan Peters

The seven rookie drivers who hope to compete in the 2010 Indianapolis 500 - Bertrand Baguette, Ana Beatriz, Simona De Silvestro, Jay Howard, Mario Romancini, Sebastian Saavedra and Takuma Sato - completed the four phases of the Rookie Orientation Program,

Photo From Panther Racing

The day also brought the first contact of the month of May when 2005 Indianapolis 500 Dan Wheldon hit the outside retaining wall at the exit of Turn 4. Wheldon sustained a bruised foot in the crash, but expected to be back in the car May 17.

PACE CARS Shine during Opening Day

Photo By Dan Peters

All six Chevrolet Camaros that have served as Pace Cars for the Indianapolis 500 were lined up on pit road during opening ceremonies today for the 2010 Indianapolis 500: 1967, 1969, 1982, 1993, 2009 and 2010.

"Good Morning America" co-anchor Robin Roberts will drive the 2010 Chevrolet Camaro SS Pace Car to lead the field of 33 drivers to the start of the Indianapolis 500 on May 30

A parade of 125 Chevrolet Camaros owned by Indiana residents kicked off Indianapolis Star Opening Day ceremonies this morning.

2010 Indianapolis 500 Pace Car

Rookies To The Track...

Seven drivers must complete the Rookie Orientation: #5 Takuma Sato (KV Racing Technology), #25 Ana Beatriz (Dreyer & Reinbold Racing), #29 Sebastian Saavedra (Bryan Herta Autosport), #34 Mario Romancini (Conquest Racing), #36 Bertrand Baguette (Conquest Racing), #66 Jay Howard (Sarah Fisher Racing), #78 Simona de Silvestro (HVM Racing).

The rookie drivers must complete four phases of ROP in order to be eligible for the Indianapolis 500. At least three of the phases must be completed during ROP today and Sunday. The fourth phase may be completed during practice later in the month.

The four phases of ROP include 10 laps at each of the following speeds:

200-205 mph

205-210 mph

210-215 mph

215+ mph

Simona De Silvestro is one of five women and seven rookies attempting to qualify for the 2010 Indianapolis 500. She has competed in all five IZOD IndyCar Series races this season for HVM Racing.

De Silvestro, 21, is from Thun, Switzerland, a nation in which auto racing is banned.

SIMONA DE SILVESTRO:(About auto racing being banned in Switzerland): "Ah, yes, it is kind of bad that it is banned. We are a pretty small country, so I have France and Italy right around us, which is kind of the mecca of go-kart racing. I went to France with my dad when I was 6 and went go-karting there. We have a few good Swiss drivers, so we hope that maybe things will change and it won't be banned anymore, that's for sure." (When you finished third in 2006 at Indy in the Formula BMW support race to the United States Grand Prix, the Italian flag flew behind you on the podium): "Yeah, that's the thing: When you are in Switzerland, they only give you the racing license when you turn 18. At that time, I think I was 17, so I have double nationality with the Italian one, so we are kind of playing around now with the Swiss." (Did you spend a lot of time in Italy?): "Yes, I did actually, pretty much all my racing came there. But I was born in Switzerland." (Here) Michael Schumacher was my racing hero. He is pretty unbelievable so I hope to be able to follow in his footsteps and try to do the same. He is really a great driver." (On doing well at Kansas and oval racing): "Kansas was my first ever oval, so it was a little weird. It took my first 50 laps. I was kind of searching my way, but in the middle I was running as fast as the leader, which is a pretty good point. So I am really looking forward to being in Indy so I can keep learning and keep pushing in on it, and so I think we can do some good things."