| LIVE UPDATES Tuesday, May 13 - TRACK CLOSED |
NOTES: Updates are listed with most recent post at the top. If you have any specific questions that I can
answer regarding activities at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, please e-mail them to me HERE and I'll do
my best to post a response below.
Tuesday, May 13 PHOTOS (track closed)
UPDATES:
3:15 pm
Just received official word that Chuck Buckman, the Dale Coyne Racing chief mechanic who was injured last
Friday after being hit on pit lane by Danica Patrick's car, has been released from Methodist Hospital.
1:30 pm
Most of the teams are hard at work getting ready for their next practice (whenever that might be), with the
exception of Ganassi, who's probably taking some well-deserved time off after sweeping the top-two position,
Andretti-Green and Roth Racing - none of those teams appeared to be here today.
One team that has been here all day both Monday and Tuesday is Penske Racing. They don't take days off,
even when they qualify both drivers, which is probably why they have won this race 13 times.
Michael Andretti was in pit lane filming some sort of commercial or promotional announcement this afternoon.
Hearing Jon Herb has been sniffing around the empty Beck Motorsports ride. Not sure if he has money to bring,
but I would assume so if he thinks he's got a shot at that opportunity. No one has been announced as the driver
of that entry so far, with Alex Barron, Roger Yasukawa and Jimmy Kite in the running. Expect Greg Beck to make
a decision by Wednesday.
I did not see any of the second weekend teams actively working or moving into the garage area, with the
exception of Beck, who has been here since early last week.
I don't know of any year in recent memory that has had so few rumors on drivers/rides, etc. as this year. There's
simply very few opportunities available to any driver not already assigned to a car this year. Foyt is usually good
for a mystery car or two, but he just announced Jeff Simmons as the driver of #41, teaming with Darren Manning.
11:00 am
Today's another quiet day here at the Speedway. Very little activity anywhere. The weather is great once again,
but unfortunately, it's wasted as there's no on-track action today. There's an 80% chance of rain on Wednesday,
40% on Thursday and 20% on Friday, so there's some hope that we'll see some practice by the end of the week.
However, just because it stops raining doesn't mean we can practice, as it takes at least two hours to dry this
massive 2.5-mile facility. I am hearing it's going to rain tonight and up until around 10:00 am tomorrow, so maybe
we'll be able to get the cars on track by mid-afternoon.
I'm headed to the garage to see what's going on and will be back in a bit with an update.
answer regarding activities at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, please e-mail them to me HERE and I'll do
my best to post a response below.
Tuesday, May 13 PHOTOS (track closed)
UPDATES:
3:15 pm
Just received official word that Chuck Buckman, the Dale Coyne Racing chief mechanic who was injured last
Friday after being hit on pit lane by Danica Patrick's car, has been released from Methodist Hospital.
1:30 pm
Most of the teams are hard at work getting ready for their next practice (whenever that might be), with the
exception of Ganassi, who's probably taking some well-deserved time off after sweeping the top-two position,
Andretti-Green and Roth Racing - none of those teams appeared to be here today.
One team that has been here all day both Monday and Tuesday is Penske Racing. They don't take days off,
even when they qualify both drivers, which is probably why they have won this race 13 times.
Michael Andretti was in pit lane filming some sort of commercial or promotional announcement this afternoon.
Hearing Jon Herb has been sniffing around the empty Beck Motorsports ride. Not sure if he has money to bring,
but I would assume so if he thinks he's got a shot at that opportunity. No one has been announced as the driver
of that entry so far, with Alex Barron, Roger Yasukawa and Jimmy Kite in the running. Expect Greg Beck to make
a decision by Wednesday.
I did not see any of the second weekend teams actively working or moving into the garage area, with the
exception of Beck, who has been here since early last week.
I don't know of any year in recent memory that has had so few rumors on drivers/rides, etc. as this year. There's
simply very few opportunities available to any driver not already assigned to a car this year. Foyt is usually good
for a mystery car or two, but he just announced Jeff Simmons as the driver of #41, teaming with Darren Manning.
11:00 am
Today's another quiet day here at the Speedway. Very little activity anywhere. The weather is great once again,
but unfortunately, it's wasted as there's no on-track action today. There's an 80% chance of rain on Wednesday,
40% on Thursday and 20% on Friday, so there's some hope that we'll see some practice by the end of the week.
However, just because it stops raining doesn't mean we can practice, as it takes at least two hours to dry this
massive 2.5-mile facility. I am hearing it's going to rain tonight and up until around 10:00 am tomorrow, so maybe
we'll be able to get the cars on track by mid-afternoon.
I'm headed to the garage to see what's going on and will be back in a bit with an update.
