Pole day or Final Qualfying and drama at Indy.

Pole day for the 100th Indy 500.

The massive Sunday crowd

What a difference a day makes as they say.

Clear skies returned to the town of Speedway on Sunday and the warmth as well.  Today marked the day of the final sorting of the gird for next weekends race and the 100th Indy 500. Another day with another great crowd and again numbers not seen at the track on a day like this in recent years. A great attraction was the addition of many of the pace cars from over the years on display today and the history alone in these cars was amazing to see and ponder the development of the car over the years.

The morning provided another practice run for everyone and the only drama to come from that was the news that shortly after the season finshed the call was made to do an engine change on the Scott Dixon Car. There was an error in the data download on the engine that raises concern so the call was made to change it out. A rapid job by the team enabled this to happen and happen with time to spare. DIxon had been fifth fastest in the morning practice so was showing good speed once again in the warmer day. An overnight rebuild on the Max Chilton entry saw him back on track with good lap times and now locked into next weeks race.

The Ganassi team change out tub on Chiltons car

Qualfying started with the slowest to fastest plus the fast nine shoot out later in the day to come as well. Clear skies and a tempurture of 24c so a nice Sunday May afternoon.

The first drama came with the fifth car on track and the AJ Foyt entry of Alex Tagliani who spun on the start of his first of the four timed laps coming out of turn four and hitting the pit in wall. He was okay but the car was not and a bit of damage to the front of the tub is a concern and a likely tub change out will be required.

The damaged car of Tagliani

From there on in it was pretty routine as the field went about sorting out the running order for the race. 

As the afternoon went on pretty much most people slotted roughy where they had been the day before. Montoya having a few issues with a plastic rubbishy bag on tag but overall close to the day before. Then however came the top nine and the fast nine shoot out.

The air was pretty cold sun staring to go down and suddenly we had three. Newgarden taking the pole with a few runners to go and it was tension time. Oh yes tension was a rising.

Hunter Reay was fast but not quite enough, then cam Hinchcliffe was the last car out and make the  word was high drama USA v Canada a driver that was nearly lost to the sport one year ago in practice  on the Monday. Fastest yesterday and in the end fastest today. They sat out practice so to not  confuse 

themselves with the changing track conditions and they backed them selves for a good shot and they got it. A dream in many ways , perhaps a changing of the guard or history at the  500.

James Himchcliffe at Indy 2014

                 

Now attentions turn to Monday afternoons practice and the cars in race spec full tank runs, cars in packs and traffic and race set up and what will it bring. 30 of the 33 could easy win this thing it's. tight field and it will be a great race.  The crowds will be massive and hopefully the weather gods will be kind.

The feeling seems rain will hit Indy by Thursday but then again that's Thursday and Sunday is Sunday and race day as well it's going to be a classic and crowds like never before.  So in the end this is how the 10tth grid will look and is a classic line up fitting of this race.

1. (5) James Hinchcliffe, Honda, 02:36.0063 (230.760) 
2. (21) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 02:36.0470 (230.700)
3. (28) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Honda, 02:36.0821 (230.648)
4. (29) Townsend Bell, Honda, 02:36.1950 (230.481) 
5. (26) Carlos Munoz, Honda, 02:36.3264 (230.287) 
6. (12) Will Power, Chevrolet, 02:36.7471 (229.669) 
7. (7) Mikhail Aleshin, Honda, 02:36.8205 (229.562) 
8. (22) Simon Pagenaud, Chevrolet, 02:37.1096 (229.139) 
9. (3) Helio Castroneves, Chevrolet, 02:37.1265 (229.115) 
10. (77) Oriol Servia, Honda, 02:37.1638 (229.060) 
11. (98) Alexander Rossi, Honda, 02:37.5679 (228.473) 
12. (14) Takuma Sato, Honda, 02:37.8747 (228.029) 
13. (9) Scott Dixon, Chevrolet, 02:37.9007 (227.991) 
14. (27) Marco Andretti, Honda, 02:37.9161 (227.969) 
15. (6) JR Hildebrand, Chevrolet, 02:37.9809 (227.876) 
16. (42) Charlie Kimball, Chevrolet, 02:38.0180 (227.822) 
17. (2) Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet, 02:38.1141 (227.684) 
18. (10) Tony Kanaan, Chevrolet, 02:38.2906 (227.430) 
19. (11) Sebastien Bourdais, Chevrolet, 02:38.2919 (227.428) 
20. (20) Ed Carpenter, Chevrolet, 02:38.4325 (227.226) 
21. (19) Gabby Chaves, Honda, 02:38.4566 (227.192) 
22. (8) Max Chilton, Chevrolet, 02:38.8100 (226.686) 
23. (24) Sage Karam, Chevrolet, 02:38.9851 (226.436) 
24. (18) Conor Daly, Honda, 02:39.0721 (226.312) 
25. (63) Pippa Mann, Honda, 02:39.2877 (226.006) 
26. (15) Graham Rahal, Honda, 02:39.4002 (225.847) 
27. (61) Matt Brabham, Chevrolet, 02:39.4846 (225.727) 
28. (88) Bryan Clauson, Honda, 02:39.8111 (225.266) 
29. (16) Spencer Pigot, Honda, 02:40.1087 (224.847) 
30. (25) Stefan Wilson, Chevrolet, 02:40.2833 (224.602) 
31. (41) Jack Hawksworth, Honda, 02:40.2878 (224.596) 
32. (4) Buddy Lazier, Chevrolet, 02:42.0498 (222.154) 
33. (35) Alex Tagliani, Honda, No time (No speed) 

Dixon Tops Timesheets.

Kiwi Scott Dixon tops practice for Angie's List Grand Prix of Indianapolis.

                                   

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On the first day of practice  at IMS  for the month of May the reigning  IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon came out on top in a late flurry of fast laps to close Thursdays afternoon practice for the Angie's List Grand Prix of Indianapolis, setting notice that the track record may be in jeopardy this weekend.

Dixon, in the No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet, clocked a lap of 1 minute, 9.8281 seconds (125.743 mph) around the 2.439-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. It edged the top lap set by defending pole and race winner Will Power in the morning session, 1:09.8943 (125.624 mph), in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet.

Power holds the track record, established last year in the Firestone Fast Six segment of qualifying, at 1:09.4886 (126.357 mph).

"We rolled off (in the morning) not too bad," said Dixon, the four-time series champion and 2008 Indianapolis 500 winner. "We did the usual thing where we try a few different things and circle back to where we started. That's how the afternoon at least ended. I don't think you get a really good gist on speeds until tomorrow on most of the field.

"The car felt decent. ... We'll take what we learned today and hopefully tomorrow should be strong. It's definitely going to be very tight."

Simon Pagenaud, winner of the two most recent races this season and the championship leader by 48 points over Dixon, was third on the combined speed chart with a lap of 1:09.9894 (125.453 mph) this afternoon in the No. 22 Menards Team Penske Chevrolet. Pagenaud's lap beat Graham Rahal by a scant 0.0002 of a second, with Rahal fourth on the combined chart at 1:09.9896 (also 125.453 mph) in the No. 15 Steak 'n Shake Honda.

Power and Pagenaud are the only two drivers to qualify in the top five in both previous Angie's List races. The Aussie isn't taking anything for granted in Verizon P1 Award qualifying Friday.

"Just based on the (practice) times, it's going to be seriously close, very close," Power said. "The top 10 is probably covered by a tenth or a tenth and a half (of a second) or something. It's very tight."

A third practice session is scheduled for 11-11:45 a.m. ET Friday  in the U.S. prior to knockout qualifying beginning at 3 p.m. ET that leads to the Firestone Fast Six. 

The 82-lap race, the fifth event on the 2016 race schedule, starts at 3:50 p.m. ET Saturday. 

The Angie's List Grand Prix weekend kicks off an epic month of May at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The 100th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil follows directly, with practice on the 2.5-mile oval May 16-20, qualifying May 21-22 and the historic race on May 29.




                                         
                               Media Quotes ex IMS Media and IndyCar Media.
          Photos of Scott Dixon at IMS and the city skyline in 2015 ex the David Turner collection.

Combined times from Practice 1 and 2 on the opening day of Thursday May 12th 2016.

Rank Car Driver Name    C/A/E/T        Session                      Time Speed      Total Lap

1 9 Dixon, Scott            D/C/C/F         Practice 2                01:09.8281 125.743 49

2 12 Power, Will            D/C/C/F         Practice 1                01:09.8943 125.624 52

3 22 Pagenaud, Simon   D/C/C/F        Practice 2                01:09.9894 125.453 55

4 15 Rahal, Graham       D/H/H/F         Practice 2              01:09.9896 125.453 70

5 11 Bourdais, Sebastien D/C/C/F          Practice 2             01:09.9944 125.444 54

6 7 Aleshin, Mikhail        D/H/H/F          Practice 2             01:10.0578 125.331 57

7 21 Newgarden, Josef   D/C/C/F          Practice 2             01:10.0741 125.302 56

8 5 Hinchcliffe, James     D/H/H/F         Practice 2             01:10.0815 125.288 25

9 2 Montoya, Juan Pablo D/C/C/F          Practice 2            01:10.1696 125.131 51

10 28 Hunter-Reay, Ryan D/H/H/F         Practice 2            01:10.1933 125.089 48

11 3 Castroneves, Helio   D/C/C/F          Practice 2           01:10.2480 124.991 50

12 16 Pigot, Spencer (R)  D/H/H/F         Practice 2           01:10.2541 124.981 60

13 83 Kimball, Charlie     D/C/C/F          Practice 2            01:10.2880 124.920 55

14 18 Daly, Conor (R)     D/H/H/F          Practice 2            01:10.2937 124.910 56

15 27 Andretti, Marco     D/H/H/F          Practice 2             01:10.2967 124.905 51

16 19 Chaves, Gabby      D/H/H/F          Practice 2             01:10.3062 124.888 66

17 6 Hildebrand, JR        D/C/C/F           Practice 2             01:10.3407 124.827 50

18 98 Rossi, Alexander (R) D/H/H/F       Practice 2              01:10.4615 124.613 63

19 35 Tagliani, Alex         D/H/H/F         Practice 2               01:10.5106 124.526 31

20 26 Munoz, Carlos        D/H/H/F         Practice 1               01:10.5295 124.493 33

21 8 Chilton, Max (R)      D/C/C/F          Practice 2               01:10.5975 124.373 43

22 14 Sato, Takuma        D/H/H/F         Practice 2                01:10.6312 124.313 50

23 41 Hawksworth, Jack D/H/H/F          Practice 1                01:10.6321 124.312 39

24 10 Kanaan, Tony        D/C/C/F          Practice 2                01:10.6387 124.300 45

25 61 Brabham, Matt (R) D/C/C/F         Practice 2                 01:10.9769 123.708 28

(R) Rookie

Total Laps for Combined Sessions: 1237

(C)hassis: D=Dallara | (A)erokit: C=Chevy, H=Honda | (E)ngine: C=Chevy, H=Honda | (T)ire: F=Firestone 

Driver Update.

Gabby Chaves named to drive Dale Coyne Racing No. 19 car for both May races

Gabby Chaves, the Sunoco Rookie of the Year for both the Indianapolis 500 and Verizon IndyCar Series in 2015, was named Wednesday by Dale Coyne Racing as driver of the No. 19 Boy Scouts of America Honda for the Angie's List Grand Prix of Indianapolis and 100th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil.

"We're very excited to have Gabby join us for the next two races," team owner Dale Coyne said. "We've been in communication for a long time and it's all finally come together. (Gabby) showed a lot of maturity last season, he was quick, mistake-free and made great decisions behind the wheel that you don't normally see coming from a rookie. We look forward to seeing what he can do in our No. 19 car."

Even though he hasn't raced since last August's season finale, Chaves does have experience at Indianapolis. He finished 15th in his road course debut and 16th in his first Indianapolis 500 racing for Bryan Herta Autosport last May. The Mazda Road to Indy graduate also won the Freedom 100 as part of his Indy Lights championship-winning season in 2014.

"What can I say, I'm really excited," Chaves said. "It's been the longest off-season of my life. Throughout my whole career I've always been on the grid in the first race of the season and this has been the first time that I haven't. 

"I've been speaking with Dale for years now and I'm excited to get something going with him and the team. I'm just really looking forward to it. With my time out of the car, I've really been able to value what it means to me to be in a race car. I can now get back on track and enjoy it even more."


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2016 Indy 500 could sell out!!

Another week and more news as the countdown to the running of the 100th Indy 500 draws closer.

This week President Mark Miles of Hulman & Company ,the company behind the Speedway and the IndyCar Series said that they guarantee there will be the full field of 33 cars in the 100th Indianapolis 500, and he's also predicting the race will be sold out for the first time in 20 years. "We've got a very good chance of selling every seat and you might be surprised how soon it happens. All of the suites are already sold out and we're looking at building 12 temporary ones to accommodate the demand. And we're already way ahead of total ticket sales a year ago."

While IMS never releases crowd figures, the last full house was in 1995 prior to the Indy Racing League/Championship Auto Racing Teams split. That's when scalpers got three to five times face value and the Speedway sported in excess of 275,000 permanent seats. That number was cut back to 257,325 by 2004, according to The Indianapolis Star, and following another reduction in 2012, now stands at roughly 235,000. This is of course before you look at the infield general areas and the stand up crowd and this is how the number then tops 400,000.

"It's really good, the best it's been since the Split (ChampCar v Indy Racing League) ," said Mike Peduto, who started Circle City Tickets in the early 1980s. "It was soft last year but it seems like everyone wants to go this year to the 100th. It's going to be neat to see it full again."

Miles claims the Snake Pit in Turn 3 topped 20,000 people alone last year and has even more demand this year, but with all the parking and other entertainment in the infield, there's not a lot room for fans other than the spectator mounds.

As for the news on drives and entries this week. IMS is making sure the traditional 11 rows of three remains intact, Miles said: "We've very confident it's going to happen and we'll make sure it does."

IMS has helped out with engines, aero kits and money the past few May's and right now there are 29 confirmed driver/car combinations and this is still pretty early days in many ways.

In driver news this week Veteran Townsend Bell is certain he's going to have a ride, he's just not sure who with at the moment, and 2015 Rookie of the Year Gabby Chaves is close to having enough funding but still needs $100,000, while '96 Indy winner Buddy Lazier was at the Phoenix test and is returning with his own team.

Beth Paretta and Katherine Legge of Grace Autosport have been embraced by Chevrolet and Honda and are trying to work out a co-op deal with an established team. Simona de Silvestro and Oriol Servia are also hoping to land something by May, as is Tristan Vautier and Carlos Huertas.

The current available seats appear to be Michael Andretti's fifth car, SPM's third car and KVSH's third car. Right now as it stands Honda powers 15 cars and Chevy 14 and each manufacturer has agreed to provide 18 if needed (36) so hence the chance of a real Bump Day in 2016.

Things are without a doubt building all the time and the feeling of the field topping 33 for Bump Day weekend and this possible 36 or more still seems to have a lot of merit as people desire to be part of the biggest race the Speedway has ever hosted.

Full time teams and drivers head to Phoenix next weekend for the second round of the 2016 Championship and the first visit back to Phoenix in many years. The interesting shape oval will also mark the first short track oval of the season as well after the first round was held on the downtown streets of St Pete with Juan Pablo Montoya taking the win just two weeks ago.

Quotes are supplied form the IMS Media Service.

Photos are from the David Turner collection and were taken at both the 98th (2014) and 99th (2015 Indy 500's

Tags is back and Race Details

Really pleased to hear yesterday that my good friend Alex Tagliani is back for Indy again in 2016. He will again team up for the second year in a row with A.J.Foyt racing and what better team to be with at Indy for number 100. The thought of a Foyt driver wining the 100 is amazing and even more so in the context of the man (A.J) himself and his personal history at Indy.

Here is a really cool thing the car number Alex will use is the number. 35 and this is based on team owner A.J. Foyt's starting of 35 Indy 500s in his career and AJ was also was born in 1935.

Tagliani, is a seven-time 500 starter and he will get two races out of the arrangement he has with the team this May.

He also will compete in the Angie’s List Grand Prix of Indianapolis for the first time on May 14 on the infield road course at the Speedway. The car, sponsored by Wabash-based Alfe Heat Treating, will carry the classic black-and-orange Copenhagen-style livery used by Foyt in the late part of his career and the colours that Alex drove in last year for A.J.
.

Tagliani won the pole for the 2011 500 as a then member of Sam Schmidt Motorsports team, which shared in Dan Wheldon’s victory that year with Bryan Herta Autosport.

Tagliani has led each of the past five 500s, finishing 17th in last year’s race. 

With this announcement it brings the number of confirmed 500 entries to 29.

That includes the 22 cars participating in last weekend’s IndyCar Series opener in St. Petersburg, plus the already known and confirmed rides for oval ace Ed Carpenter (Ed Carpenter Racing), the returning new star Sage Karam (Dreyer & Reinbold/Kingdom Racing), rookie Matthew Brabham (KVSH/Team Murray), back for the 500 again with her familiar team Pippa Mann (Dale Coyne Racing), speedway dirt rack ace Bryan Clauson (Dale Coyne/Jonathan Byrd Racing) and the veteran Buddy Lazier (Lazier Partners Racing).

There is no fear of the field not reaching its traditional 33, although many more beyond that seems unlikely, but then again it is early days yet and the rumour of 37 or 38 is very possible still with both engine suppliers keen to assist.

The full break down of days leading towards May 29 is now confirmed from IMS and is as follows

May 16 – 19		Indy 500 Practice
Fri. May 20		Fast Friday
Sat. May 21		Indy 500 Qualifications
Sun. May 22		Armed Forces Pole Day
Mon. May 23		Indy 500 Practice
Thurs. May 26		Indy Lights Practice & Qualifying
Fri. May 27		Miller Lite Carb Day
		Final Indy 500 Practice
		Indy Lights Freedom 100 Race
		TAG Heuer Pit Stop Challenge
		Journey Concert
Sat. May 28		Legends Day presented by Firestone
		Blake Shelton Concert
Sun. May 29		Indy 500 Race Day
		Snake Pit presented by Coors Light

           

               Header photo above is of Alex Tagliani at the 99th Indy 500 May 2015
during the driver introductions.

From the David Turner collection

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