Fast Friday morning update from Indianapolis
The only incident this afternoon has been when James Davison, driving the number 33 entry for Foyt with Bryd/Hollinger/Belardi, got loose in turn 2 and made contact with the SAFER barrier. Davison was checked and released from the medical center and cleared to drive. Davison is positive the car will be rebuilt and ready for qualifying tomorrow.
We were curious what the rule is just in case Davison does not get an attempt to qualify on Saturday. The rule book says that if a car is unable to complete its Guaranteed Attempt because of a mechanical condition or on track incident on Saturday, then IndyCar shall provide that car an opportunity to complete its second attempt on Sunday at a time determined by IndyCar.
The cars did go faster today with the extra 50 horsepower the engines were given for this weekend. With the cool temperatures and overcast skies also added to the extra speed today. All cars were on track at some time this afternoon but I was surprised that most drivers only did about 20 to 30 laps.
Scott Dixon, driver of the number 9 PNC Bank Ganassi Racing entry, was not feeling well this morning and missed the team press conference. Dixon, winner of the 2008 Indy 500, managed to turn 13 laps this afternoon.
The track just went green again.
05/18/18
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Good morning from Indianapolis. It is a cool and cloudy morning with rain expected early this afternoon. It is 64 degrees right now. Teams will probably use this morning to get some laps before 2 pm when the rain is expected to start.
Today is press conference day for the media. From this week's practice times, you can see that every team is working on various things and get the qualifying just right tomorrow. You have not seen any team dominate every practice day.
Graham Rahal, the RLL driver of the number 15 United Rentals car, was asked what he thought qualifying would be like this year with the new car. Rahal replied, "I think there's a lot of intensity that goes into it. One of the biggest tricks I think to qualifying at Indy is not to overthink it, don't let too many thoughts kind of flash through your mind. It's easier said than done. As you start to pull the downforce off, particularly this car, this year, to barely find any drag, you're removing hundreds pounds of downforce. Every step of the way is just more that you need to hang on."
"When you know that you have to go out and do that for four laps, try to put it all together, try to keep it between the lines and everything else, it's a difficult thing to do. At the same time it's very important. Clearly starting up front is awesome here. I've started fourth before, never on the front row, but close. I've started third from last. Ironically starting third from last was my best finish ever. But to me, if you can start up front, it just makes your life easier.
"This car is going to be harder. It's harder to get the speed out of it for that last little bit. We're focused so much on every little detail to try to make it go fast. Ultimately it's down to us to make it happen."
Helio Castroneves, driving the Pennzoil sponsored number 3 car for Team Penske, added his thoughts on the qualifying effort. "At this point the car is different. No question comparing to last year. Everybody was used to a lot more downforce, so you can really step on it, flat out anyplace you go. Now you got to drive. You got to be a little more finesse with the car. It certainly takes a little bit of adjustment."
The teams are moving cars out into pit lane now. We will keep you updated on the happenings here at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway as the drivers use the last day to practice from 11 am to 6 pm.
Lucille Dust reporting from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.