Ride buyers finding no extra cars around Indy

John Andretti, who returned to the Indy 500 last year for the first time since 1994, has been at the track but made little progress toward finding a ride.

“I have taken the physical, but I’m too short. I’m working on height. I’m trying to get something put together. I think with everything good that happens, there’s always something with a little bit of a flip side. I think with reunification there’s not an engine shortage, there’s not a tire shortage, there’s a car shortage now. So people are struggling to get extra efforts together. The people that already have them already have them locked in. The opportunity that I had put together in April kind of took a change because of some things. So, whatever. It’s frustrating. Today hasn’t been a good morning. Right now, my enthusiasm is pretty low because I really want to be here, and I should have just went to Darlington, to be honest with you. Right now, I just feel like a man on an island. It is what it is, and it’s more than a little bit frustrating because it’s a race you don’t want to miss being in, especially when you have the desire, like I do, to be in it."

(About opportunities after first week qualifying): “I doubt it. I mean, we’ll see and that’s one of the things we’ll definitely keep investigating, but honestly, I really doubt it. I think that’s something that’s probably not going to happen like it does normally because, again, it comes down to equipment."