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| MONTH OF MAY - INDIANAPOLIS 500 2012 LIVE UPDATES |
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| MONTH OF MAY - INDIANAPOLIS 500 2012 LIVE UPDATES |
SATURDAY, MAY 19 UPDATES - "POLE DAY"
Saturday Photos
Saturday Schedule Highlights
$15
Kids 12 and under free.
6 a.m. - 6 p.m. -- Public Gates Open
8 a.m. -- Indianapolis 500 Practice
11 a.m. -- Qualifications Begin
4:30 p.m. -- Qualifying Positions 1-9
INDIANAPOLIS 500 QUALIFYING PROCEDURES
Order - A blind draw is conducted before each qualifying day.
Warm-up laps - Each car is permitted two warm-up laps before the timed
qualification laps. IZOD IndyCar Series officials may permit three warm-up
laps if they deem it necessary.
Green-flag laps - A qualification attempt consists of four timed laps. The
aggregate time is recorded as the official qualifying time for the car.
POLE DAY:
Qualifying is broken down into two segments, progressively narrowing
the field to determine the pole winner.
Segment One - Held from 11AM-4PM, to determine positions 1-24 in the
field based on the fastest four-lap averages. Once all 24 positions have
been filled, bumping will occur until 4PM. Each car has up to three
qualifying attempts. The top nine qualifiers advance to Segment Two.
Segment Two - Held from 4:30-6PM, the top nine cars will run in reverse
order based on Segment One speeds. All cars are required to make at
least one attempt in Segment Two. Cars making additional attempts will
receive and additional set of tires. At the end of the session, the cars are
ranked 1-9 based on their four-lap average during the segment.
BUMP DAY:
Positions 25-33 will be determined based on the day's fastest four-lap
average. Once starting field is set, any qualifying attempt that is faster than
a qualified entrant in the starting field will bump the slowest qualifier,
regardless of the day of qualification. The "bumping" entrant is placed at
the rear of the field while the "bumped" entrant is removed from the field,
but has the opportunity to bump its way back into the starting field as time
allows. Each car is allowed three attempts.
4:00 PM
Track shuts down for the next 30 minutes - the top-24 drivers are now
locked in the field.
The Fast Nine who will battle it out for the Pole Position are: James
Hinchcliffe, Will Power, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Helio Castroneves, Ryan
Briscoe, Tony Kanaan, Marco Andretti, Josef Newgarden, E.J. Viso.
At 4:30, the track opens again for the Fast Nine, who will battle it out for the
Pole Position after their earlier speeds are wiped clean. Each car in the
Fast Nine must make at least one qualifying attempt, but can make up to
three attempts before 6 PM.
Mike Conway, in A.J. Foyt Racing's entry, also had his earlier qualification
attempt disallowed for not adding the proper weight. These skinny boys
need to eat more!
Ed Carpenter, campaigning a potent Chevy powerplant, struggled early on
with speed and was bumped from the top 24. Late in the afternoon, he
attempted to bump his way back into the field, and crashed hard. He was
checked and released from the infield care center, and is cleared to drive.
He has a backup car, and can re-qualify on Bump Day tomorrow.
1:00 PM
As always, there are boatloads of photos from today being posted - it's a
great day to have a camera and have access to pit lane. I always tell myself
I won't take as many pictures, but I can never stick to my promise when I
see so many cool shots to take! (and what you see doesn't count the
hundreds I delete before I post).
Great crowd here at IMS for Pole Day - there will be lots of sunburned,
drunken folks roaming the streets of Indy tonight!
Qualifying has been underway for about 2 hours, with a bit of drama. Tony
Kanaan (a huge fan favorite here - everyone wants him to win his first Indy
500) was first in line at 11 AM, a BIG advantage on such a hot and humid
day. He ran four solid laps above 225 mph and was solidly in the Fast
Nine. Just in the last few minutes, the media were informed that his first
qualifying run was disallowed (it was disqualified) because he did not add
additional weight (car and driver must weigh a certain amount together -
otherwise, the team must add weight to meet that minimum... and Kanaan's
KV Racing Team did not).
Sebastien Saavedra, driving in a satellite car for Andretti Autosport, had a
Chevy engine blow on his qualifying lap, which we haven't seen in years
due to Honda's reliability.
After being the sole engine supplier for the IndyCar Series for many years,
it is painfully obvious here during our first qualifying day with multiple
manufacturers that Honda is really down on power - Chevy is dominating
the Fast Nine (with the exception of rookie Josef Newgarden, who's
spoiling the Chevy party).
The Mayor of Hinchtown, James Hinchcliffe, is now P1 in qualifying with a
225.746 mph average - good for him, and good for IndyCar. He's the most
entertaining guy in the garage area, and having him represent IndyCar and
this race in the next week as the Pole Sitter (TBD) would be fantastic. Even
better if he wins it all and makes the national media rounds the following
week.
Nice rememberance by Hinch - he's carrying a pair of the late Greg Moore's
gloves in his driver's suit.
Remember, if you are watching live timing and scoring, that the speeds
you see posted now are from only one attempt by each car - BUT each car
gets THREE attempts to better their speed before 4PM, so things may get
shaken up throughout the afternoon.
Again, the top nine cars in speed at 4PM basically get their earlier
qualifying speeds erased, and must run for the Pole Position in the last 90
minutes of the day's activities - it's anyone's shot at the top spot at that
point.
VERY sad to see short-track racing fan favorite Bryan Clauson crash on
his last lap of qualifying today after a really solid run - he's OK, and the
team has a backup car, so we'll probably see him out again before the day
is done. He's had one of the most solid week's of any rookie (along with
his teammate Josef Newgarden, who - as of this point - IS in the Fast
Nine). He'll be OK if they can get him some practice laps in the "T" car to
work out any nerves he might have developed. It was a hard hit, though,
and he's lucky to be alright, thanks to the SAFER barrier he hit, developed
by IMS, which is now in widespread use on most major race tracks around
the country. I feel bad for bosslady Sarah Fisher, who has had to endure
the only two crashes of the month with her rookie drivers.
Oriol Servia also had a big crash coming out of turn 4 on his warm-up lap,
spinning into the inside pit entrance wall, then taking a hard hit on the pit
wall barrier, which spun him around violently. He got out of the car and
appeared to be OK, but no official word yet.
Rumors abounding that IndyCar is preventing Chevy- and Honda-powered
teams from bringing out backup cars, in order to protect the slow Lotus'
opportunity to qualify for the race.
10:00 AM
Welcome to Pole Day for the 96th Indianapolis 500 - one of the best days of
the month!
Weather is, once again, perfect today - but will be warm and humid, with
temps nearing 90 degrees. The Indiana State Police are sending out
tweets reminding people to hydrate on such a warm day. I saw a lot of
tailgaters in the infield parking lot already early this morning consuming
"beverages" - does that count?
After this morning's practice, Helio tops the chart at over 227 mph,
followed by Ana Beatriz (running a satellite operation for Andretti
Autosport) at more than 226 mph - that could be interesting!
Pippa Mann just tweeted that her Bump Day opportunity to qualify for this
race is gone. She said she was "gutted" after being told this decision.
Wonder what that means for the Lotus-powered operations, as she was
rumored to be one of the drivers to hop in a more potent Honda or Chevy
backup machine, which would have surely bumped one of the Lotus cars
out of the field.
Great to hear Bryan Clauson, who has done VERY well in this last week of
practice driving for Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing, on this morning's live
"Bob and Tom" show, held in the Firestone garage. He was relaxed, funny
and gave a great interview! So cool that he's running the Indy 500 this
year, and hope his good showing for Sarah's team gives him the
opportunity to run some more races this year (good sign...they just picked
up Angie's List as a primary sponsor on his car).
Saturday Photos
Saturday Schedule Highlights
$15
Kids 12 and under free.
6 a.m. - 6 p.m. -- Public Gates Open
8 a.m. -- Indianapolis 500 Practice
11 a.m. -- Qualifications Begin
4:30 p.m. -- Qualifying Positions 1-9
INDIANAPOLIS 500 QUALIFYING PROCEDURES
Order - A blind draw is conducted before each qualifying day.
Warm-up laps - Each car is permitted two warm-up laps before the timed
qualification laps. IZOD IndyCar Series officials may permit three warm-up
laps if they deem it necessary.
Green-flag laps - A qualification attempt consists of four timed laps. The
aggregate time is recorded as the official qualifying time for the car.
POLE DAY:
Qualifying is broken down into two segments, progressively narrowing
the field to determine the pole winner.
Segment One - Held from 11AM-4PM, to determine positions 1-24 in the
field based on the fastest four-lap averages. Once all 24 positions have
been filled, bumping will occur until 4PM. Each car has up to three
qualifying attempts. The top nine qualifiers advance to Segment Two.
Segment Two - Held from 4:30-6PM, the top nine cars will run in reverse
order based on Segment One speeds. All cars are required to make at
least one attempt in Segment Two. Cars making additional attempts will
receive and additional set of tires. At the end of the session, the cars are
ranked 1-9 based on their four-lap average during the segment.
BUMP DAY:
Positions 25-33 will be determined based on the day's fastest four-lap
average. Once starting field is set, any qualifying attempt that is faster than
a qualified entrant in the starting field will bump the slowest qualifier,
regardless of the day of qualification. The "bumping" entrant is placed at
the rear of the field while the "bumped" entrant is removed from the field,
but has the opportunity to bump its way back into the starting field as time
allows. Each car is allowed three attempts.
4:00 PM
Track shuts down for the next 30 minutes - the top-24 drivers are now
locked in the field.
The Fast Nine who will battle it out for the Pole Position are: James
Hinchcliffe, Will Power, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Helio Castroneves, Ryan
Briscoe, Tony Kanaan, Marco Andretti, Josef Newgarden, E.J. Viso.
At 4:30, the track opens again for the Fast Nine, who will battle it out for the
Pole Position after their earlier speeds are wiped clean. Each car in the
Fast Nine must make at least one qualifying attempt, but can make up to
three attempts before 6 PM.
Mike Conway, in A.J. Foyt Racing's entry, also had his earlier qualification
attempt disallowed for not adding the proper weight. These skinny boys
need to eat more!
Ed Carpenter, campaigning a potent Chevy powerplant, struggled early on
with speed and was bumped from the top 24. Late in the afternoon, he
attempted to bump his way back into the field, and crashed hard. He was
checked and released from the infield care center, and is cleared to drive.
He has a backup car, and can re-qualify on Bump Day tomorrow.
1:00 PM
As always, there are boatloads of photos from today being posted - it's a
great day to have a camera and have access to pit lane. I always tell myself
I won't take as many pictures, but I can never stick to my promise when I
see so many cool shots to take! (and what you see doesn't count the
hundreds I delete before I post).
Great crowd here at IMS for Pole Day - there will be lots of sunburned,
drunken folks roaming the streets of Indy tonight!
Qualifying has been underway for about 2 hours, with a bit of drama. Tony
Kanaan (a huge fan favorite here - everyone wants him to win his first Indy
500) was first in line at 11 AM, a BIG advantage on such a hot and humid
day. He ran four solid laps above 225 mph and was solidly in the Fast
Nine. Just in the last few minutes, the media were informed that his first
qualifying run was disallowed (it was disqualified) because he did not add
additional weight (car and driver must weigh a certain amount together -
otherwise, the team must add weight to meet that minimum... and Kanaan's
KV Racing Team did not).
Sebastien Saavedra, driving in a satellite car for Andretti Autosport, had a
Chevy engine blow on his qualifying lap, which we haven't seen in years
due to Honda's reliability.
After being the sole engine supplier for the IndyCar Series for many years,
it is painfully obvious here during our first qualifying day with multiple
manufacturers that Honda is really down on power - Chevy is dominating
the Fast Nine (with the exception of rookie Josef Newgarden, who's
spoiling the Chevy party).
The Mayor of Hinchtown, James Hinchcliffe, is now P1 in qualifying with a
225.746 mph average - good for him, and good for IndyCar. He's the most
entertaining guy in the garage area, and having him represent IndyCar and
this race in the next week as the Pole Sitter (TBD) would be fantastic. Even
better if he wins it all and makes the national media rounds the following
week.
Nice rememberance by Hinch - he's carrying a pair of the late Greg Moore's
gloves in his driver's suit.
Remember, if you are watching live timing and scoring, that the speeds
you see posted now are from only one attempt by each car - BUT each car
gets THREE attempts to better their speed before 4PM, so things may get
shaken up throughout the afternoon.
Again, the top nine cars in speed at 4PM basically get their earlier
qualifying speeds erased, and must run for the Pole Position in the last 90
minutes of the day's activities - it's anyone's shot at the top spot at that
point.
VERY sad to see short-track racing fan favorite Bryan Clauson crash on
his last lap of qualifying today after a really solid run - he's OK, and the
team has a backup car, so we'll probably see him out again before the day
is done. He's had one of the most solid week's of any rookie (along with
his teammate Josef Newgarden, who - as of this point - IS in the Fast
Nine). He'll be OK if they can get him some practice laps in the "T" car to
work out any nerves he might have developed. It was a hard hit, though,
and he's lucky to be alright, thanks to the SAFER barrier he hit, developed
by IMS, which is now in widespread use on most major race tracks around
the country. I feel bad for bosslady Sarah Fisher, who has had to endure
the only two crashes of the month with her rookie drivers.
Oriol Servia also had a big crash coming out of turn 4 on his warm-up lap,
spinning into the inside pit entrance wall, then taking a hard hit on the pit
wall barrier, which spun him around violently. He got out of the car and
appeared to be OK, but no official word yet.
Rumors abounding that IndyCar is preventing Chevy- and Honda-powered
teams from bringing out backup cars, in order to protect the slow Lotus'
opportunity to qualify for the race.
10:00 AM
Welcome to Pole Day for the 96th Indianapolis 500 - one of the best days of
the month!
Weather is, once again, perfect today - but will be warm and humid, with
temps nearing 90 degrees. The Indiana State Police are sending out
tweets reminding people to hydrate on such a warm day. I saw a lot of
tailgaters in the infield parking lot already early this morning consuming
"beverages" - does that count?
After this morning's practice, Helio tops the chart at over 227 mph,
followed by Ana Beatriz (running a satellite operation for Andretti
Autosport) at more than 226 mph - that could be interesting!
Pippa Mann just tweeted that her Bump Day opportunity to qualify for this
race is gone. She said she was "gutted" after being told this decision.
Wonder what that means for the Lotus-powered operations, as she was
rumored to be one of the drivers to hop in a more potent Honda or Chevy
backup machine, which would have surely bumped one of the Lotus cars
out of the field.
Great to hear Bryan Clauson, who has done VERY well in this last week of
practice driving for Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing, on this morning's live
"Bob and Tom" show, held in the Firestone garage. He was relaxed, funny
and gave a great interview! So cool that he's running the Indy 500 this
year, and hope his good showing for Sarah's team gives him the
opportunity to run some more races this year (good sign...they just picked
up Angie's List as a primary sponsor on his car).