| LIVE UPDATES Thursday, May 15 - PRACTICE |
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.
Thursday, May 15 PHOTOS
UPDATES:
6:00 pm
This was a fantastic day of practice here at IMS. For a day that should have been rained out from start to finish
according to the weather reports, the teams got a LOT of running time, minus about 30 minutes at the end of the
day when light sprinkles shut the track down. And, to their credit, all of the teams ran a smart day of practice -
logging 2628 incident-free miles. Some teams - both qualified and un-qualified - to practice pit stops, something
that usually is left for Carb Day. It was a bit cold and windy, but everyone did a great job navigating the weather
and giving them a fighting chance to stick their machines in the field on Saturday.
3:30 pm
The Indy 500 can be heard on the IndyCar Series Racing channel on XM (channel 145) starting with a pre-race
show at noon (ET) May 25. Qualifying May 17-18 will be carried on Ch. 145, along with May 23 Carb Day events -
including the Firestone Freedom 100 and the IMS Radio Network show "Indy Live." A full list of dates and times
are online at www.xmradio.com/irl . Andretti Green Racing drivers Danica Patrick, Tony Kanaan, Marco Andretti
and Hideki Mutoh will join team co-owner Michael Andretti live from the Speedway for a special edition of their
weekly XM radio show "Andretti Green Racing Hour" on May 21 (7-8 pm ET on XM Sports Nation, XM Channel
144). XM Sports Nation has daily coverage of the Indy 500, led by "Powershift" hosted by Joe Castello (8-10 pm
ET weeknights on XM 144). Castello will host the show live from the Speedway on May 22 and 23, and he will host
special editions of the show at noon May 24 and 11:00 am May 25.
The #98 CURB Records/hh gregg/Real Power Beck Motorsports car driven by Roger Yasukawa carried the logo
of the National MPS Society on its sidepods during practice in recognition of International MPS Awareness Day.
Indiana Pacers forward-guard Danny Granger was the honorary starter of today's practice.
2:45 pm
They just had a 15 minute yellow flag for a track inspection. As of that yellow, there's been 1690 total laps turned
today - a VERY busy day on the track. I believe 35 of 36 drivers have been on track today so far, the 36th being
Phil Giebler and their American Dream Motorsports team (former Playa Del Racing), who is still putting together
the mechanical aspect of their program. Even with all of the traffic, there's been no on-track incidents today, a bit
surprising because there's some wind, combined with the relative lack of on-track time for many of the transition
teams. Everyone is doing a great job so far today.
This does NOT feel like a regular Thursday at IMS during May. It has a bit of buzz to it - lots of fans, lots of track
activity, constant noise, and half-way decent weather. It has not rained at all today, and the skies even were a bit
bright at times. There is rain in the area, so we probably won't be able to finish the day and run until the planned
6:00 pm shut-down time, but any on-track time at this point is fantastic.
12:10 pm
You want some traffic? Within the first 10 minutes of practice, we've seen 25 cars on track, running 183 laps
total. A correction to the note below - it's not just the non-qualified cars that are taking advantage of some early
clear weather today. Everyone is out, led by pole sitter Scott Dixon who tops the charts early! Nice to see Milka
Duno immediately above 220 mph this early in practice.
11:30 am
So far, the weather is cooperating this morning. After some showers overnight, it's clear, about 60 degrees and
dry and the two-seater is on the track. However, that good news may be short-lived, as showers are expected on
and off all day today here at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Tomorrow looks to be the best day of the week -
partly sunny and about 72 degrees. Saturday we might see some qualifiers as it's supposed to be clear part of
the day. If they don't fill the field on Saturday with the remaining 22 qualifiers, they'll probably be out of luck for
Sunday's Bump Day action, as it looks like - as of today - we're supposed to have an all-day rain.
There are quite a few fans here today - surprising for a rainy Thursday. The parking lots are filling up this
morning. I think, because of the drastically limited on-track time we've experienced so far, that fans are holding
onto any chance to see cars practice and are coming out whether the forecast is grim or not. I don't blame them -
the media and teams are just as anxious to see some fast cars.
There's lots of activity on pit lane, as almost all of the unqualified cars are getting ready for a noon start to the
practice time, knowing that today's on-track activity will most likely be limited due to rain.
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.
Thursday, May 15 PHOTOS
UPDATES:
6:00 pm
This was a fantastic day of practice here at IMS. For a day that should have been rained out from start to finish
according to the weather reports, the teams got a LOT of running time, minus about 30 minutes at the end of the
day when light sprinkles shut the track down. And, to their credit, all of the teams ran a smart day of practice -
logging 2628 incident-free miles. Some teams - both qualified and un-qualified - to practice pit stops, something
that usually is left for Carb Day. It was a bit cold and windy, but everyone did a great job navigating the weather
and giving them a fighting chance to stick their machines in the field on Saturday.
3:30 pm
The Indy 500 can be heard on the IndyCar Series Racing channel on XM (channel 145) starting with a pre-race
show at noon (ET) May 25. Qualifying May 17-18 will be carried on Ch. 145, along with May 23 Carb Day events -
including the Firestone Freedom 100 and the IMS Radio Network show "Indy Live." A full list of dates and times
are online at www.xmradio.com/irl . Andretti Green Racing drivers Danica Patrick, Tony Kanaan, Marco Andretti
and Hideki Mutoh will join team co-owner Michael Andretti live from the Speedway for a special edition of their
weekly XM radio show "Andretti Green Racing Hour" on May 21 (7-8 pm ET on XM Sports Nation, XM Channel
144). XM Sports Nation has daily coverage of the Indy 500, led by "Powershift" hosted by Joe Castello (8-10 pm
ET weeknights on XM 144). Castello will host the show live from the Speedway on May 22 and 23, and he will host
special editions of the show at noon May 24 and 11:00 am May 25.
The #98 CURB Records/hh gregg/Real Power Beck Motorsports car driven by Roger Yasukawa carried the logo
of the National MPS Society on its sidepods during practice in recognition of International MPS Awareness Day.
Indiana Pacers forward-guard Danny Granger was the honorary starter of today's practice.
2:45 pm
They just had a 15 minute yellow flag for a track inspection. As of that yellow, there's been 1690 total laps turned
today - a VERY busy day on the track. I believe 35 of 36 drivers have been on track today so far, the 36th being
Phil Giebler and their American Dream Motorsports team (former Playa Del Racing), who is still putting together
the mechanical aspect of their program. Even with all of the traffic, there's been no on-track incidents today, a bit
surprising because there's some wind, combined with the relative lack of on-track time for many of the transition
teams. Everyone is doing a great job so far today.
This does NOT feel like a regular Thursday at IMS during May. It has a bit of buzz to it - lots of fans, lots of track
activity, constant noise, and half-way decent weather. It has not rained at all today, and the skies even were a bit
bright at times. There is rain in the area, so we probably won't be able to finish the day and run until the planned
6:00 pm shut-down time, but any on-track time at this point is fantastic.
12:10 pm
You want some traffic? Within the first 10 minutes of practice, we've seen 25 cars on track, running 183 laps
total. A correction to the note below - it's not just the non-qualified cars that are taking advantage of some early
clear weather today. Everyone is out, led by pole sitter Scott Dixon who tops the charts early! Nice to see Milka
Duno immediately above 220 mph this early in practice.
11:30 am
So far, the weather is cooperating this morning. After some showers overnight, it's clear, about 60 degrees and
dry and the two-seater is on the track. However, that good news may be short-lived, as showers are expected on
and off all day today here at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Tomorrow looks to be the best day of the week -
partly sunny and about 72 degrees. Saturday we might see some qualifiers as it's supposed to be clear part of
the day. If they don't fill the field on Saturday with the remaining 22 qualifiers, they'll probably be out of luck for
Sunday's Bump Day action, as it looks like - as of today - we're supposed to have an all-day rain.
There are quite a few fans here today - surprising for a rainy Thursday. The parking lots are filling up this
morning. I think, because of the drastically limited on-track time we've experienced so far, that fans are holding
onto any chance to see cars practice and are coming out whether the forecast is grim or not. I don't blame them -
the media and teams are just as anxious to see some fast cars.
There's lots of activity on pit lane, as almost all of the unqualified cars are getting ready for a noon start to the
practice time, knowing that today's on-track activity will most likely be limited due to rain.
