Mother Nature Says “No-Go” to Indy
Written by Allan Brewer · May 14, 2006
Mother’s Day turned into another day of frustrating drizzle as Indy Qualifications are delayed until next Saturday.
Bowing to “Mother Nature”, officials at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway cancelled plans to qualify twenty-two cars today for May 28th’s Indianapolis 500 race.
Intermittent sunshine yielded enough time to dry the track Sunday and allow for approximately forty-five minutes of divided practice, but it ultimately failed to stymie the inclement weather that has plagued the Speedway since mid-week.
Several notables did make some noise during the short time available for practice at the track. With no wind and the cool temperatures aiding his efforts Dan Wheldon achieved a lap over 228 mph during the first thirty minute practice session. Sam Hornish followed suit with a fast lap of his own in the second stanza.
Complete results for today’s rain-shortened practice are as follows:
Position/Driver/Car/Gap/Best/Speed/Lap/Last/Speed/Lap/Chassis/Pit
1 Dan Wheldon (10) … 39.3592 228.663 5 39.6167 227.177 8 D/H/F Pit
2 Sam Hornish Jr (6) 0.0765 39.4357 228.220 4 39.4357 228.220 4 D/H/F Pit
3 Helio Castroneves (3T) 0.1339 39.4931 227.888 3 40.5593 221.897 7 D/H/F Pit
4 Scott Dixon (9) 0.2405 39.5997 227.274 6 40.6100 221.620 21 D/H/F Pit
5 Dario Franchitti (27) 0.2954 39.6546 226.960 5 39.7546 226.389 6 D/H/F Pit
6 Tony Kanaan (11) 0.3953 39.7545 226.389 5 40.1354 224.241 8 D/H/F Pit
7 Ed Carpenter (20) 0.5942 39.9534 225.262 5 40.3530 223.032 10 D/H/F Pit
8 Bryan Herta (7) 0.6071 39.9663 225.190 8 12:04.0031 12.431 14 D/H/F Pit
9 Scott Sharp (8) 0.6146 39.9738 225.147 4 39.9960 225.023 5 D/H/F Pit
10 Tomas Scheckter (2) 0.6247 39.9839 225.091 16 39.9839 225.091 16 D/H/F Pit
11 Michael Andretti (1) 0.6462 40.0054 224.970 18 43.3547 207.590 19 D/H/F Pit
12 Marco Andretti (26) 0.6615 40.0207 224.884 6 40.1195 224.330 8 D/H/F Pit
13 Townsend Bell (90) 0.6802 40.0394 224.779 13 1:10.3321 127.964 14 D/H/F Pit
14 Vitor Meira (4T) 0.6834 40.0426 224.761 4 1:08.9115 130.602 22 D/H/F Pit
15 Kosuke Matsuura (55) 0.8751 40.2343 223.690 15 40.5221 222.101 20 D/H/F Pit
16 Eddie Cheever Jr (51) 0.9898 40.3490 223.054 24 46.0437 195.466 25 D/H/F Pit
17 Danica Patrick (16) 1.0503 40.4095 222.720 4 40.7421 220.902 7 P/H/F Pit
18 Buddy Rice (15T) 1.1154 40.4746 222.362 6 40.4746 222.362 6 P/H/F Pit
19 Jeff Simmons (17) 1.3528 40.7120 221.065 8 40.7120 221.065 8 P/H/F Pit
20 Felipe Giaffone (14) 1.4161 40.7753 220.722 7 40.7753 220.722 7 D/H/F Pit
21 Buddy Lazier (5) 1.5066 40.8658 220.233 3 41.0107 219.455 6 D/H/F Pit
22 Al Unser Jr (31) 1.7084 41.0676 219.151 22 1:08.9903 130.453 23 D/H/F Pit
23 PJ Chesson (91) 1.9097 41.2689 218.082 20 47.4643 189.616 21 D/H/F Pit
24 Marty Roth (25) 2.3477 41.7069 215.792 13 1:07.2776 133.774 22 D/H/F Pit
This year’s Pole Day weekend wash-out is the first for Indianapolis since 1983. The Speedway turns lights-out for Monday and Tuesday, with practice resuming at noon on Wednesday. The rejiggered schedule now calls for thirty-three cars to qualify for the race on Saturday May 20th, with bumping the next day.
The Speedway will honor tickets held for both rained-out days from this weekend as rainchecks next Saturday.
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3 Responses to “Mother Nature Says “No-Go” to Indy”
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Some sweet speeds at Indy today. A shame they couldn’t make it through qualifying.
It’s also a shame the cars are so ugly.
i am confussed about this irl champ car split thing - why can’t we as fans have the best in the world ovel track and road racing - both groups have a great program to offer but they just keep fighting each other - at the end of the year they could have a shootout at indy - top 10 from each division 150 laps on the ovel and 150 laps on the road course - 1 million and 1 week F1 test - speck cars - we need both divisions giving us there best racing - this isn’t a 3rd world country - we can do this -
Hi Rich!
I cannot imagine either Tony George (owner of the Speedway) or Kirk Kalkhoven (owner of Champ Car) ceding their authority to the other. Even if they could agree on courses and equipment it’s still not easy given the existing contracts each series has with sponsors and track owners. Let’s not forget that we’ve been living with Humpty Dumpty in fractured fact for nearly a decade now. It is a lot like trying to solve a crime that is years old, finding the trail back to some kind of harmonious relationship between the big egos on both sides. I think the first thing that has to get done is for George and Kalkhoven to commit to reunification. They need to make an announcement to the world and then work out the small stuff in the back room with the lawyers. With that commitment on the table and made public, the feet of both would be to the fire to make it happen.