CLICK HERE FOR WRITER MARY CHAMPION'S DAILY DIARY FROM INDIANAPOLIS

WE HOPE YOU'VE BEEN ENJOYING THE GREAT IMAGES PROVIDED BY MILE TRACK PHOTOGRAPHER RUSS LAKE.  Thanks Russ!

HELIO CASTRONEVES WINS 3rd INDIANAPOLIS 500, HEADS TO THE MILWAUKEE MILE

The spoils of victory on the morning after the Indy 500 belong to 3-time event
champion Helio Castroneves, here posing with the Borg-Warner Trophy, and
with the winning car, team manager Tim Cindric and team owner Roger Penske,
who won his record-extending 15th Indy 500 race victory on Sunday.

Graham Rahal's Indy 500 helmet, with an image of Bobby's '86 win on top


IMS Radio personality "KO" Kevin Olson                     The famous pagoda

FRIDAY, MAY 22 - CARB DAY, VINTAGE DISPLAY, PIT STOP CONTEST, FREEDOM 100 RACE DAY

#3 Castroneves, fastest on Carb Day, and #43 Andretti                                   #19 Schecketer and #17 Servia - two Indy-only drives...for now

Vintage Indy Cars are a tradition at Indianapolis.  Over a dozen cars with Indy
Car racing heritage.  Among the vintage Indy cars expected is the 1961 “Sun City” Watson-Offy that Rodger Ward drove to victory at The Milwaukee Mile in the 1961 edition of the Rex Mays Classic, covering the 100-mile event in flag-to-flag fashion for Milwaukee’s own Leader Cards team.  These priceless classics will be taking to the track on Sunday, May 31 at The Milwaukee Mile, in the Rex Mays Classic Vintage Indy Car Event.  There'll be a morning warm-up, with on-track time scheduled between the Indy Lights and IndyCar Series races, from 12:45 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.  Display is in the infield at the top of the tunnel near paddock entrance.

Firestone Freeedom 100 Results

The 33 starters in the field for the "500" combined for 1,224 incident-free laps on the 2.5-mile oval at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Castroneves, a two-time winner who will start from the pole, recorded the best lap at 40.1929 seconds, 223.920 mph.  His teammate Ryan Briscoe bookended the top five in practice today, and will prepare to start middle of the front row on Sunday.

Will Power was second fastest at 223.560 mph, Mario Moraes was third at 222.951, Dan Wheldon was fourth at 222.386 and Ryan Briscoe was fifth at 222.374.  Here's what they had to say after their final track time before the 93rd Indianapolis 500:

HELIO CASTRONEVES (No. 3 Team Penske, fastest): (On being the fastest car in the final practice session): "It felt really good. It felt awesome. I'm very confident and comfortable in the car. It was nice to have that right before the race. The weather on Race Day is going to be very similar to what it was today. It was important for us to run today. I feel very confident. I can't wait for Sunday, I'll tell you that. It's going to be a long race and a lot of things can happen, but I can't wait for Sunday."

WILL POWER (No. 12 Team Verizon Wireless, second): "I came here last year with no experience, and the team did, as well. We were learning on the job. This year I was a bit more composed because I knew what to expect. If I come here again next year, we would do things differently again. It's just a process where you learn and you experience from everything going on around you. This has been a more comfortable month for me this year, for sure."

DAN WHELDON (No. 4 National Guard Panther Racing, fourth): "We have a few things that we can fix. We're certainly in a better spot from where we were. My car felt nice. I hope we have similar conditions (Race Day). This is the closest field in Indianapolis 500 history ever. I expect it to be close. I expect there to be some surprises, too. The weather conditions will change up some stuff. I'm not the easiest character to be around when it's difficult because I love this place and to perform well here."

RYAN BRISCOE (No. 6 Team Penske, fifth): "The Team Penske car felt good out there this morning. Everything feels like it did in the T car when we left it last week. I think we're in good shape. I'm excited about Sunday, and we're ready to go racing."

THURSDAY, MAY 21

Firestone Freedom 100 Firestone Indy Lights Pole Winner Wade Cunningham    Charlie Kimball, who recently tested at The Mile, qualified 7th

MONDAY, MAY 18 - MUSINGS OF BUMP DAYS OF YESTERDAY, A.J. FOYT SEEMINGLY ALWAYS IN THE MIX
By Steve Zautke

Speedway, IN (May 17, 2009) - Bump Day evokes memories of many journeyman drivers risking it all to make the Indianapolis 500.  Typically, most of these drivers are not the special few who win the “500” however they were special in another way.  These drivers had the rare ability to jump into a car which perhaps another driver was struggling with all month and the new driver could ‘put it in the show.’  Drivers like Eddie Johnson, Bob Harkey, George Snider and John Mahler were a few known for walking down pit lane, helmet in hand petitioning car owners for a chance. 

Snider returned to the Foyt stable in 1969 qualifying the familiar No. 84 entry that he would eventually drive seven times in the “500”.  Snider qualified the No. 84 in 1981, however Tim Richmond purchased the ride for the race.  Speaking of numerology, some may not remember that Snider also drove the No. 1 in 1983 for being the 1981-82 USAC Gold Crown champion, the No. 4 in 1984, and the No. 44 in 1985. In 1973, Snider cemented himself in the memories of many fans by taking A.J.’s back-up, a Bob Riley designed wide nose Coyote and bumped Sam Posey from the field after taking only one lap of practice.  Snider’s run happened as the final gun fired signaling the end of qualifying, in the car pictured here (photo courtesy Indianapolis Motor Speedway).

In 1977 Billy Vukovich, Jr. ran the No. 84 for Foyt after qualifying 23^rd.  In 1978 both Foyt and Snider qualified on the second weekend.  Some may forget, but “Ziggy” Snider did qualify for A.J. on the first weekend as he did in ’66, pulling the feat again in 1983.  “Ziggy” qualified the experimental Chevy V-6 that Foyt was developing in 1985 and 1987.  In 1988, he declined A.J.’s invitation and USAC midget star, Stan Fox of Janesville, WI coaxed the colorful car into the show.   

In 1984, there were many smiles when Johnny Rutherford was able to put A.J.’s March 84C-Cosworth in the show on bump day after struggling most of the month with Doug Shierson’s DSR-1.  Rutherford remarked after his run, “A.J. said, ‘We’ve got one shot today, let’s try it,’ and I thought, ‘Well, by golly, if he wants me to get out there and go like that I’ve got to put out an effort for him.”  Rutherford began his run with a little over five minutes to go before qualifying was over, however during the run smoke started to come into the cockpit. Yet Rutherford was able to coax enough speed and everything held together for him to complete the run and make the field.  “I crossed my fingers the last lap and a half because I could smell it in the cockpit.” Rutherford said after his run. 

In 1994, the rookie Bryan Herta qualified on the first day with what was thought to be a comfortable 221-average.  However, others started to beat that time and on Bump Day, the popular No. 14 was on the bubble.   Longtime Team Manager, Craig Baranouski remembered, “It was nerve-wracking, we’ve never been in a position like that before.  There were several factors, he (Herta) was a rookie, we had weather (rain cut short previous week’s qualifying), plus the air was real heavy.  There were guys that got in who we were faster than, but they got in another day in which the weather was better.  We only had (limited) attempts per car.  Once you took the checker you were in until you got bumped out.  Then you had to get another car.  It made it a lot harder, you had to be prepared.  Pole Day there were more cars going for 33 spots.  When they filled those spots up and if the weather (rain) came that was all that was in.  We were sitting on the bubble when the gun went off.“ 

However having someone like Foyt whispering in your ear does have its positives as Baranouski added, “Anytime with a rookie the nerves build up and that’s where A.J. is so good, he can tell them what’s coming, what may happen, because he’s been through it all before. “

Another pressure situation was Billy Boat’s heroics.  Baranouski continues, “In 2000 we put Billy (Boat) in a car and his first laps in the car was his qualifying run.  Billy was great under pressure, it didn’t bother him.”   

In the beginning of the month, Boat was in the Team Pelfrey car.  However while looking for extra speed earlier in the day, Boat wiped out the car.   Foyt watching the situation yelled to his crew to get the spare car out.  Afterwards Foyt was happy to help an old friend out, "The kid's one hell of a good friend of mine and that's one hell of a job he did. That takes guts to do what he did. The car never had a hot lap, he never was in it. That's unbelievable."   

There have been other memorable moments on the final weekend of qualifying: Paul Durant in 1997, Robbie Buhl in 1999, Donnie Beechler in 2001, Airton Dare in 2003 and Jeff Simmons last year.  Many won’t forget Felipe Giaffone getting a phone call while shopping to come to the Speedway on Bump Day to qualify a Foyt car. 

The ABC Supply A.J. Foyt Racing Team didn’t have any late fireworks this year due to having both cars qualify on the first weekend.  The Foyt team has firmly entrenched its mark on Bump Day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Vitor Meira will start his No. 14 ABC Supply A.J. Foyt Racing Dallara-Honda 14^th for the 93^rd running of the Indianapolis 500.  Teammate A.J. Foyt IV will start his No. 41 ABC Supply-Greer A.J. Foyt Racing Dallara 19^th.  A.J. Foyt will be participating in his 52^nd straight Indy 500 this year. Foyt became the first driver to win the 500 four times with his victory in 1977. Other victories as a driver came in 1961, 1964 and 1967. He won it solely as a car owner in 1999 with Kenny Brack driving.

The 2009 IndyCar Series season continues May 24 with the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The race will be telecast live in High Definition at 1 p.m. (EDT) by ABC. The race will air live on the IMS Radio Network, XM channel 145 and Sirius channel 211. The radio broadcast also will be carried on www.indycar.com.

SUNDAY, MAY 17 - BUMP DAY

Tomas Scheckter was the fastest on Bump Day, will start 26th                         Ryan Hunter-Reay added to the last minute drama of Bump Day, will start 33rd

In the waning moments of Bump Day, quick decisions to abandon attempts by Buddy Lazier and Stanton Barrett's teams allowed a then-bumped John Andretti to go back out again with eight minutes to go - and on his final attempt, he earned a spot in his 10th Indianapolis 500, posting a four-lap average speed of 221.316 to bump Hunter-Reay.  Andretti has qualified every time he has participated in month of May activities.
Hunter-Reay was able to rebound, too, posting a speed of 220.597 to edge Alex Tagliani by a few hundredths of a second. That put Tagliani alongside Stanton Barrett and former "500" winner Buddy Lazier as non-qualifiers for this year's race.
For the day, nine drivers combined to make 12 qualifying attempts, resulting in seven bumps.

STARTING LINE-UP FOR THE INDY 500
1. (3) Helio Castroneves, 224.864         2. (6) Ryan Briscoe, 224.083         3. (10) Dario Franchitti, 224.010
4. (02) Graham Rahal, 223.954            5. (9) Scott Dixon, 223.867            6. (11T) Tony Kanaan, 223.612
7. (5) Mario Moraes, 223.331               8. (26) Marco Andretti, 223.114     9. (12) Will Power, 223.028
10. (7) Danica Patrick, 222.882           11. (99) Alex Lloyd, 222.622          12. (2) Raphael Matos, 223.429
13. (15) Paul Tracy, 223.111              14. (14) Vitor Meira, 223.054         15. (18) Justin Wilson, 222.903
16. (27) Hideki Mutoh, 222.805           17. (20) Ed Carpenter, 222.780      18. (4) Dan Wheldon, 222.777
19. (41) A.J. Foyt IV, 222.586             20. (16) Scott Sharp, 222.162        21. (67) Sarah Fisher, 222.082
22. (44) D. Hamilton, 221.956             23. (06T) R. Doornbos, 221.692     24. (8) Townsend Bell, 221.195
25. (17) Oriol Servia, 220.984             26. (19) T. Scheckter, 221.496      27. (24) Mike Conway, 221.417
28. (43) John Andretti, 221.316           29. (13) E.J. Viso, 221.164            30. (36) Bruno Junqueira, 221.115
31. (23) Milka Duno, 221.106              32. (00) Nelson Philippe, 220.754   33. (21T) Ryan Hunter-Reay, 220.597

John Andretti getting the checkered flag on his final qualifying attempt on Bump Day.  He admitted to being mentally and physically exhausted from the process of qualifying.  He'll start 28th in the Richard Petty Motorsports #43.

SATURDAY, MAY 16

Robert Doornbos was quickest third day qualifier, grabbing 23rd position           Nelson Phillippe was the last car in on speed before Bump Day

Final 11 qualifiers to make up the 33 car field, with Bump Day Sunday to come...
                                                   23. (06T) Robert Doornbos, 221.692         24. (8) Townsend Bell, 221.195
25. (17) Oriol Servia, 220.984        26. (34T) Alex Tagliani, 220.553               27. (19) Tomas Scheckter, 220.212
28. (24) Mike Conway, 220.124      29. (13) E.J. Viso, 219.971                       30. (21T) R. Hunter-Reay, 219.502
31. (43) John Andretti, 219.442      32. (23) Milka Duno, 218.040                    33. (00) Nelson Philippe, 218.032

FRIDAY, MAY 15

T. Scheckter getting acquanted with his new ride, fast lap of 220.516mph          This chunk out of the yard of bricks during the final practice day was repaired

 Defending Mile race winner R. Briscoe & Team Penske practiced pit stops        Mario Moraes continues to impress, was second quick  at 222.530mph

THURSDAY, MAY 14
 

Oriol Servia addressed the media after tracktime in his Rahal Letterman #17 entry

Townsend Bell was 10th quick in the KVRT #8, 220.983mph

 '96 Indy 500 winner Buddy Lazier was 29th quick today, 217.007mph

Practice Speeds From Today - Position (Car Number):

In Pursuit of Speed At Indy With The ABC Supply A.J. Foyt Enterprises Team - by Mile Historian Steve Zautke

ENTRY:  MONDAY, MAY 11, 2009
Speedway, IN (May 10, 2009) – Qualifying is one of the most stressful moments for a driver at the Indianapolis Speedway.  The driver is alone in the car and alone on the track.  The crew who has worked endless hours on the car can only watch as do the other teams, media and the fans in the stands.  The driver must drive four perfect laps, hitting his marks perfectly on the track to maintain the momentum that is needed to carry speed down the 5/8 mile straightaways.  Speed at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is typically measured in miles-per-hour, however, it usually comes down to thousandths of a second whether you make or miss the race.

When legendary A.J. Foyt qualified for his first race in 1958, his four-lap average qualifying speed was 143.130 m.p.h.  When he qualified for his final race in 1993, his average speed was 222.798 m.p.h.  Foyt had the ability to adapt to the differences in car technology.  When he started back in the late-1950’s, the modern Indy Car had the engine in the front and skinny tires, when he retired as a driver in 1993, the car was rear-engined with ground-effects and wings that produced high lateral g-forces and wide sticky tires.  However in both scenarios, there was one common denominator, the driver always had to turn out precise driving lines to motor around the 2.5-mile Brickyard. 

Today is no exception.  ABC Supply Foyt Racing drivers, Vitor Meira and A.J. Foyt IV have the same consequences that drivers of the past had to contend with, make a mistake at Indianapolis, you’re in the wall.

Super-Tex, A.J. Foyt has had four career poles at Indianapolis (1965, 1969, 1974 and 1975) and has qualified on the front row eight times with his last one in 1991.  The front row in 1991 was memorable because not only did it include Foyt who was coming back from his devastating leg injuries he received at Road America the year prior, but also because  Rick Mears and Mario Andretti shared the front row with A.J.  Between all three they shared nine “500” wins and thirteen National Championships.

This year, although not contending for the pole, qualifying both ABC Supply cars on the first weekend was the goal.  Mission accomplished.

After a qualifying attempt was disallowed due to a post-qualifying technical violation, it gave Meira and the Foyt Racing Team the ambition to dig deep and find that extra speed needed for qualifying.  In fact, the No. 14 car qualified faster the second time. 

Meira responded after qualifying 14^th (third fastest of the day), “The main thing was getting in the show today. That's more important than the position you qualified for today. If we are in the race, we don't have to worry about that anymore. We can start working on the balance of the car. The weather was better today and that helped, but so did a lot of changes that we made. We came back to basics a little bit, and it worked. We got the speed we were looking for on a day like this, but yesterday is where we really wanted to be. Our starting position was secondary to the priority of getting qualified today. Now we have a whole week to think about the race."  This will be Meira’s seventh Indianapolis 500.

Some may have thought the No. 41 car wouldn’t qualify on the second day. Although A.J. Foyt IV may have surprised some doubters, Foyt IV was confident in his car saying, “Since we got here, we knew we had a solid car. We knew it was going to be tough to get into the top 11, but we really knew we had a solid car and especially a solid race car. We figured we'd keep on trimming (out) and get the speed. You know, it didn't come as easy as expected today to get in (the field). Obviously, the No. 14 car is really stout.

That shows that the car's good and the setup's good, but we just had to find it. We were scrambling down there to find it. You start getting close to 5 o'clock, and everything starts turning into a rush. But we found it - that's the big thing." (What went through your mind during the last couple of hours as you sit and wonder if you will have time to get out there?): "I was so nervous and so stressed out. You know, I haven't eaten anything all day, and it feels like I just got out of the Golden Corral eating a big buffet. My stomach was in such a knot. I'm just thrilled to be in the ABC A.J. Foyt car here in the Indy 500 again."

This will be A.J. Foyt IV’s sixth Indianapolis 500.  The question that will come up next weekend, will A.J. bring out a third car?  When asked, team manager Larry Foyt responded, “We’ve got two really good racecars.”

He added, “However, you never know, if it looks like it’d be easy to get in we might do it.”  Stay tuned.  Qualifying for positions 23-33 for the 93^rd running of the Indianapolis 500 is this Saturday, May 16.  Bump day which drivers can bump out slower cars from the field is Sunday, May 17.

The 2009 IndyCar Series season continues May 24 with the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The race will be telecast live in High Definition at 1 p.m. (EDT) by ABC.  The ABC Supply A.J. Foyt 225 IndyCar race at the Milwaukee Mile is scheduled for the following week on May 31.  For ticket information on the Milwaukee Mile, go to www.milwaukeemile.com.

SUNDAY, MAY 10 - Positions 12-22 Decided

Raphael Matos was quickest second day and will start 12th, Scott Sharp returned to the '500 field and will start 20th on Sunday, May 24

                                                                                                   12. (2) Raphael Matos, 223.429 
13. (15) Paul Tracy, 223.111        14. (14) Vitor Meira, 223.054   15. (18) Justin Wilson, 222.903
16. (27) Hideki Mutoh, 222.805     17. (20) Ed Carpenter, 222.780     18. (4) Dan Wheldon, 222.777
19. (41) A.J. Foyt IV, 222.586  20. (16) Scott Sharp, 222.162       21. (67) Sarah Fisher, 222.082
22. (44) Davey Hamilton, 221.956

SATURDAY, MAY 9 - POLE DAY

Helio Castroneves' second attempt won the Indy 500 pole.  Front row will consist of Dario Franchitti (3rd), Helio Castroneves (1st), Ryan Briscoe (2nd)

First 11, Pole Day Qualifiers:
1. (3) Helio Castroneves, 224.864   2. (6) Ryan Briscoe, 224.083      3. (10) Dario Franchitti, 224.010
4. (02) Graham Rahal, 223.954      5. (9) Scott Dixon, 223.867         6. (11T) Tony Kanaan, 223.612
7. (5) Mario Moraes, 223.331         8. (26) Marco Andretti, 223.114  9. (12) Will Power, 223.028
10. (7) Danica Patrick, 222.882      11. (99) Alex Lloyd, 222.622

FRIDAY, MAY 8, 2009
 
Ryan Briscoe was all smiles after posting fastest lap of the day of 225.981mph

In Pursuit of Speed At Indy With The ABC Supply A.J. Foyt Enterprises Team - by Mile Historian Steve Zautke

ENTRY:  FRIDAY, MAY 8, 2009 

The garages at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway can be considered the castles for race teams.  They are the place where teams can regroup, strategize and if necessary repair their machines in preparation for the prestigious Indianapolis 500.  Most fans never get a chance to see the inner workings of a IndyCar garage at Indy, if given the chance, the next question would be, which one?.  One garage that many fans would rate at the top of their list is located in building A and occupies garages 1-5 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, because they accommodate the legendary race team of ABC Supply-A.J. Foyt Racing.

A.J. Foyt, Jr. has been coming to the historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway since 1958.  As a relatively unknown rookie, he wasn’t allowed in the garage area until his chief mechanic, Clint Brawner arrived with his racecar.  Since that initial humbling experience, the Houston native has cumulatively spent over three and half years of his life at the Brickyard.  Foyt is the most experienced driver, known as “Super-Tex”, having driven in 35 Indy 500’s, winning four and even has one win as a car owner.   A.J. has seen many changes at the Speedway however, one thing that remains constant is the importance of the garage for race teams.

The garages at the Speedway are not as big as the ones that the teams have back at home, however, they hold almost everything a team may need for the month of May.  Foyt has five garages that are set up as follows:  three for the racecars themselves as they are worked on, one for setting up the car chassis and one as a lounge, debriefing room.  As you walk into Gasoline Alley from the main straight at Indy, the garages are set-up on the inside of the track.  The Foyt garages are the first set on the right.  There is always a small group of fans milling around waiting for autographs from A.J. himself or from his drivers, Brazilian, Vitor Meira in the #14 or his grandson, A.J. IV, in the #41 ABC Supply-backed entry.

The garage has a new modern look as Gladiator® GarageWorks, the popular garage organization systems, outfitted the Foyt Racing Garage this year.  Two stand-up bar tables with stools are in the hospitality area along with a microwave, refrigerator and three laptops stationed alongside the wall that are routinely used by the team engineers and team manager, Larry Foyt.  It is very hospitable looking, however, it is a workplace.  When the teams come in after practice the work is only beginning.  This is the area that the engineers and race strategists look over data and get feedback from the drivers.

Today A.J. and his grandson were looking over printouts as they discussed gearing, weather conditions and the accumulated data regarding his grandson’s last run in practice.  A.J. is old school, however, computers and telemetry rule the IndyCar Series.

This was A.J.Foyt IV’s second day in the No. 41 ABC Supply Dallara as he brushed the South Chute wall early in practice. “Obviously a little bit silly there on my second or third lap, I brushed the wall coming out of (Turn) 1 on an older set of tires, but luckily enough not too much damage - got back out there and we got the balance good. We're still not real aggressive on our downforce situation. I wish we were a little bit faster with where we are with the rear wing, but I think it's decent. We'll go out tomorrow for practice. If we have the speed to contend for the top 11, we'll give it a shot, but I think if we don't feel it's reasonable, we might as well wait until Sunday instead of taking a chance."

However he remains confident in qualifying this weekend saying, “We definitely have the speed to contend for the top-11 (eleven fastest lock themselves into the race proving they are overall the fastest 33) we’ll give it a shot but I think if we feel like it’s not reasonable, we’ll wait till Sunday instead .”

Vitor Meira driver of the No. 14 ABC Supply car was happy with his progress, “It's been good. We went quite far on taking downforce, drag, out of the car just because it's a very good day to do that - there's no wind, it's cool. You really want to take advantage of that, the consistency. Once the wind starts and it gets gusty, there's not as much consistency as you have today. Today is an important day. Everything has been good today. We have to go a little faster, have to find speed somewhere. We're looking for it, and when we find it, it's going to show on the board. The main thing is that the car is solid. We might not be the fastest car out there, but it's very, very solid. It's really grippy and definitely a good race car."