Giebler cleared to requalify
Every year since the split Tony George gets out his checkbook to fill the field with fillers that have NO business racing in the Indy 500. Doesn’t anyone understand how irresponsible it is to put at least half a dozen totally unqualified drivers in this race just so he can say he had 33 cars to start? What if some of these unqualified drivers end up in wheelchairs, or worse, are Tony George and the back marker teams that take his money going to be there for those drivers?
What if one of these inexperienced drivers takes out, permanently, one or more of the IRL’s real drivers like Hornish, Wheldon, Castroneves, etc.? Moreno is approaching 50 years of age (48) and hasn’t driven an open wheel car in anger for 4 years. For those of us with an understanding of what is really going on at Indy it is painful to watch our once beloved race become nothing more than a circus sideshow. Without unification open wheel racing is DEAD within 3 years as it is just not sustainable without proven top athletes competing against each other to attract fans and sponsors. This is borderline criminal. Name Withheld
In today's Indy Star 2-time Indy 500 winner Gordon Johncock says "it ain't like it used to be and never will be………….We think the public feels the same way." Mark C.
05/19/07 Phil Giebler has been checked and released from the Clarian Emergency Medical Center. He is cleared to drive.
PHIL GIEBLER (No. 31 Ethos Fuel Reformulator Panoz/Honda/Firestone): "Well it's just been a really difficult week to start with. I've just decided to give the team another obstacle here with doing that. It's one of those things that caught me completely off guard in qualifying. We've really been struggling with getting time on the track; we weren't even planning on going out to qualify, we were running out of time so we decided to go out. The car was really running good, and obviously we had the speed to get in no problem. It wasn't like I was pushing too hard or anything, and all the sudden, the car just had a big understeer into the exit of (Turn) 2, I tried to do whatever I could do to save it, as much lock as I could and backed out of it and scraped the wall. This was my first impact on an oval, and hopefully, my last. Hopefully, the Playa Del Racing team will come back strong, and we'll get in the show tomorrow."