Indy 500 Bump Day 2010 - Highs and lows
Written by Scott Keller · May 23, 2010
Every year at the Indy 500 time trials, bump day usually provides plenty of drama as the field gets set for the Greatest Spectacle In Racing. And not only did this year’s bump day live up to the hype, but the closing hour left viewers and fans catching their breath with everything that unfolded.
Lead Story - Kanaan’s conundrum
The story that dominated the day was that of Tony Kanaan’s troubles in getting into the field. An annual favorite to win the race and take the pole in recent years, Kanaan found himself on the outside looking in today after a qualifying crash on Saturday that caused heavy damage to the 7-Eleven car.
To make things worse, Kanaan took out his repaired car in morning practice, and crashed again in turn one in an episode of the worst kind of déjà vu. Kanaan’s team picked up the pieces (pun intended), pawned off some parts from other Andretti Autosport cars, and put Kanaan back ont he track. And Kanaan responded by firmly putting his car in the field. The man earned his paycheck today and showed just what he’s made of, that is for sure.
The struggles by Kanaan and Danica Patrick highlight continuing problems at Andretti Autosport, where it looks like they are way behind the engineering curve when it comes to the rest of the teams in Indy Car, even the mid-pack teams. Danica Patrick doesn’t seem to be having any fun, and she even sounded a little shaken up on TV interviews yesterday after her run where she said that she was shaking after hanging onto her car for four consecutive laps while “seeing Jesus” the entire run. Is it time for some new engineering blood at Andretti?
Drive of the Day - Bruno’s brass you-know-whats
Bruno Junqueira gets the brass-you-know-whats award today for turning out 225-mph-plus laps with only a hand-full of practice laps in the FAZZT Dallara. Let’s just face it, Bruno’s the man. I remember idiots claiming that he lost his edge after an Indy crash a few years ago. I think he shut those voices up today.
There’s not much more to say about Bruno’s brief appearance other than to ask the question: Why hasn’t Andretti Autosport hired away the FAZZT Racing engineer? How can this small, young team be doing so well with so little?
Heart-breaker Of The Day - Tracy gives up a spot in the Indy 500
Where things got weird today was in the last 10 minutes of qualifying. Paul Tracy was in peril of being bumped, and not feeling so good about his chances of staying in the field. With just minutes to go, KV Racing pushed his car back into line for a new attempt, withdrawing his qualified time. It was a gutsy move to take a good time off the board, and it bit Tracy in the worst way. Despite driving the wheels of his Geico car, Tracy didn’t have the speed to put his car *back* into the field.
Tracy got back in line, but he was behind Milka Dunno who went on another “futility-flyer” and Jay Howard who fell short of qualifying as the gun went off. And between Tracy losing his spot in the race, and the pain in the voice of Sarah Fisher as she talked to Versus about Howard missing the race, the day ended in a somewhat somber tone.
Of course this is not unusual for bump day. I remember watching Scott Harrington wad up a lot of money and dreams in the wall in 1997 when he crashed in the closing moments of bump day. Indy delivers the highest of highs and the lowest of lows, with Paul Tracy experiencing the fullness of the latter today.
For more on today’s qualifying stories:
USA Today: Colombia’s Saavedra qualifies for Indy 500
Yahoo Sports: Kanaan finally qualifies, Tracy misses out
Motorsport.com: Paul Tracy Press Conference Transcript
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How about Sato eating the wall during Q practice, and still managing to qualify at 31st?
And I couldn’t find a single interview or comments from Danistar today. Maybe she learned not to say controversial things about her team?
Poor PT!! And yes, what has happened at Andretti post Green?
Good question Pete. With Marco top team qualifier at 16th they are falling off the timing charts.
Danistar may have stated the correct problems in all the wrong ways. They have a week to figure out their collective grip problems. Wouldn’t be the first time a 500 winner came from deep in the field…..if they don’t get caught up in other peoples wrecks.