Indy Bump Day – Morning report

– We've had a Honda (Ilmor) motor failure at Indy. The last time one of these motors failed was at Kansas in 2007, and most of the motors here will be used at Milwaukee before being rebuilt. In seemingly unrelated news, there are shepherds and wise men standing near the Davey Hamilton pits, looking for the car with the failed motor that was just towed back to the pits. In fairness to Honda, the Hamilton car lost a gear box in morning practice yesterday, and the motor might've been damaged in either the incident or in the repair process.

– WRECK REPORT: Mario Dominguez's crew has the car back together, and it ran in morning practice. Max Papis' crew literally pulled an all-nighter putting his car back together, but it didn't show for morning practice. One bleary-eyed Papis crew member told me that Max's helmet sensor showed over 70 G's in his impact. Mutoh's car was put through its paces by Tony Kanaan, posting a fast lap of 217.764. Still a mystery is the American Dream racing team, whose driver Phil Giebler is still in Methodist Hospital with bruised lungs from his crash yesterday — they were looking for a bargain-basement car yesterday in the garage area.

– The weather at Indy is just as windy as yesterday with winds gusting to 35 mph. The skies are sunny so far, with no rain forecast until the end of the day. Drivers continue to struggle because of the wind, and the speeds show it. AJ Foyt IV posted the fastest time in practice, 219.379, but that still would not put him safely in the field. Mario Dominguez ran at 216.755, which is good enough to bump Marty Roth, but puts him on the bubble instead.

– One rookie driver, who shall remain nameless, confided in me that he simply can't figure this place out. I told him that his complaints, about finding it difficult to be fast here, were also shared by men with 4 Indy 500 wins. He's probably safely in the race, but he told me, "Right now I'm glad to be walking." Tim Wohlford reporting from Indy