Saturday was in many ways a typical day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway: A little rain, a lot of waiting, and finally, a couple of hours of on-track action that filled the field for the 93rd Indianapolis 500.
"That's quite true," said four-time Indianapolis 500 winner A.J. Foyt. "I don't think there's anything more miserable than being at a racetrack on a rainy day."
Qualifying action finally got under way a little after 3:30 p.m. ET and within an hour, eight of the 11 available starting spots had been filled, led by Robert Doornbos of Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing at 221.692 mph.
Doornbos recovered his confidence, after crashing twice in the space of 18 hours on May 8 and 9, to nab fastest of the day honors on the third day of qualifying.
"It might be surprising to hear, but it's been a good month already, even with all the ups and downs," Doornbos said. "We basically got too excited after we started off like we did, when we were very fast the first couple of days. We took too much downforce off the car and crashed, and when the car is in pieces, it's very hard to motivate yourself and the crew.
"It's a tough four [qualifying] laps because when the wind is blowing here, every corner is an adventure."
Townsend Bell qualified the third KV Racing entry at over 221 mph and Oriol Servia was third-quickest on the day at 220.984 mph.
Perhaps the most impressive effort came from Dale Coyne Racing, though it's debatable whether that was because Tomas Scheckter ran 220-plus in a car he had never sat in before Friday afternoon or the fact that the No. 19 car had been repainted and decaled overnight.
In the last 15 minutes, the 33-car field was filled and there was even a bump, as Buddy Lazier's 216 mph run proved to be insufficient. And the drama lasted until the 6 o'clock gun sounded with Stanton Barrett on track for what ultimately proved to be an unsuccessful run that fell just short of Nelson Philippe's 218.032 mph bubble speed.
Barrett was on pace to bump Philippe until a slow final lap left the Hollywood stuntman and former NASCAR driver to wait until "Bump Day" on Sunday if he wants to make the field for his first Indianapolis 500 start.
"Happy Hour" could have been renamed "Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Hour" because D&R managed to qualify three of its four cars.
John Andretti, recovering from a Week 1 crash, looks solid at 219.442 mph, as does Mike Conway at 220.1 mph. But Milka Duno (218.040) is second in line to be bumped, because it looks like it will take 219 mph to make the field.
As it stands, only three drivers will be vying to bump their way into the lineup Sunday: Barrett, Lazier and Bruno Junqueira, who was named the driver of Conquest Racing's No. 36 car on Saturday morning.
Junqueira is a former Indy pole winner (2002), but he will be put to the test Sunday. The Brazilian hasn't turned a wheel at Indianapolis this month.
It's a far cry from the glory days of the great race, and though dredging up statistics from the past is ultimately a pointless exercise, I'm going to do it anyway. The past two years prior to the formation of the Indy Racing League, 50 and 43 drivers practiced at Indianapolis during the month of May. This year, the number currently stands at 35.
From 1993 to 1995, more than 21,000 practice laps were turned each year. This year's practice tally topped the 10,000-lap mark today.
Bump Day is shaping up like this: Expect the three non-qualified drivers to take a shot as soon as the track is open for qualifications at noon. Then there is likely to be five hours of practice, followed by a few desperation runs in the final half-hour.
The Speedway can spin it as drama, but in truth, it's just sad.
Dragging Indianapolis 500 qualifying out over four days only increases costs for participating teams and Saturday's crowd of a couple thousand is certainly not helping the bottom line for the Speedway.
Cutting practice back to five days this year helped cut on-track costs for participants, but until the total time spent in Indianapolis preparing for the 500 is reduced to 10 days or less, the overall savings will remain negligible. It's time to modernize the month of May -- for everyone's sake.
John Oreovicz
