Tracy, Hinch, Tag in tough at Indy

The 100^th anniversary of the Indianapolis 500 is rapidly approaching - it will go to the post on Sun., May 29, to be precise - and while the great race itself promises to be terribly exciting, just getting into it is going to a major accomplishment that might turn out to be more exciting than the “500” itself.

Why?

Because only the 33 fastest drivers will make the field and, for the first time in years, there will be many more than 33 drivers on hand to try to qualify.

As of this writing, 40 drivers are officially entered for the 41 cars that have been registered and you can bet that by the second day of qualifying, maybe even earlier, the second car entered by Sarah Fisher Racing will have a driver in it.

 (The Speedway lists 79 cars entered but the vast majority of those are spare cars for the entered drivers – in case something happens to the primary car – and won’t see action.)

Now, the part that’s really interesting here is that all of the 40 drivers named to date — with the exception of one, and maybe two — are talented racers with histories. There are very few weak brothers or sisters in this group.

Among the one-offers - drivers without a regular ride in the IZOD IndyCar Series who have been signed to drive in this one particular race - are 2005 Indy 500 winner Dan Wheldon, 2004 winner Buddy Rice, 2002 winner Paul Tracy (not officially, but you know what I mean), ex-CART and Formula 3000 star Townsend Bell, ex-F1 test driver and IRL veteran Tomas Scheckter, CART veteran Bruno Junqueira and CART and NASCAR star John Andretti.

Indy Lights veteran Pippa Mann has got a ride and nobody should pooh-pooh her because she won an Indy Lights race on an oval last year and among the people she defeated was Canada’s newest IndyCar star, James Hinchcliffe of Oakville.

Three Canadians – Tracy, Hinchcliffe and Alex Tagliani — are among the 40 drivers listed and all three should be up to the task of driving around the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway fast enough to be among the top 33.

But you never know.

Once upon a time, the cars and stars of Indy car racing spent the entire month of May at the Speedway. They practiced for the first two weeks of the month, then they held the first two days of qualifying, then they practiced some more, then they held a third day and finally on the last day of that second weekend, they conducted what's called "bump" day in which faster cars could "bump" already qualified cars out of the field.

Then, when the field of 33 was finally set, they'd have another week of pretty much waiting around and then they'd run the race on either the U.S. Memorial Day itself, May 30 (as was the case for years and years), or the last Sunday in May on the Memorial Day weekend (since the 1970s).

This year, they're packing qualifying all into one weekend - a week out from the race itself. Qualifying will take place on Sat., May 21, and the fastest 24 cars will be locked in. In fact, at 4:30 in the afternoon, the nine fastest cars will go out again and battle it out for the pole position. Sun., May 22, will see the remaining nine spots filled to get to the magic 33 and then bumping will take place until 6 o'clock, when qualifying will end.

It promises to be a frantic time.

Here is a list of the drivers entered.

 

Car	Driver	Hometown	Car Name	Entrant
2	Oriol Servia	Pals, Spain	Telemundo Newman/Haas Racing	Newman/Haas Racing
2T	Oriol Servia	Pals, Spain	Telemundo Newman/Haas Racing	Newman/Haas Racing
3	Helio Castroneves (W)	Sao Paulo	Shell V-Power/Pennzoil Ultra Team Penske	Team Penske
3T	Helio Castroneves (W)	Sao Paulo	Shell V-Power/Pennzoil Ultra Team Penske	Team Penske
4	JR Hildebrand (R)	Sausalito, Calif.	National Guard Panther Racing	Panther Racing
4T	JR Hildebrand (R)	Sausalito, Calif.	National Guard Panther Racing	Panther Racing
5	Takuma Sato	Tokyo	KV Racing Technology - Lotus	KV Racing Technology - Lotus
5T	Takuma Sato	Tokyo	KV Racing Technology - Lotus	KV Racing Technology - Lotus
6	Ryan Briscoe	Sydney	IZOD Team Penske	Team Penske
6T	Ryan Briscoe	Sydney	IZOD Team Penske	Team Penske
7	Danica Patrick	Roscoe, Ill.	Team GoDaddy	Andretti Autosport
7T	Danica Patrick	Roscoe, Ill.	Team GoDaddy	Andretti Autosport
8	Ho-Pin Tung (R)	Wenzhou, China	Schmidt Dragon Racing	Dragon Racing
9	Scott Dixon (W)	Auckland, New Zealand	Target Chip Ganassi Racing	Target Chip Ganassi Racing
9T	Scott Dixon (W)	Auckland, New Zealand	Target Chip Ganassi Racing	Target Chip Ganassi Racing
10	Dario Franchitti (W)	Edinburgh, Scotland	Target Chip Ganassi Racing	Target Chip Ganassi Racing
10T	Dario Franchitti (W)	Edinburgh, Scotland	Target Chip Ganassi Racing	Target Chip Ganassi Racing
11	Davey Hamilton	Nampa, Idaho	HP/Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
11T	Davey Hamilton	Nampa, Idaho	HP/Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
12	Will Power	Toowoomba, Australia	Verizon Team Penske	Team Penske
12T	Will Power	Toowoomba, Australia	Verizon Team Penske	Team Penske
14	Vitor Meira	Brasilia, Brazil	ABC Supply Co A.J. Foyt Racing	A.J. Foyt Enterprises
14T	Vitor Meira	Brasilia, Brazil	ABC Supply Co A.J. Foyt Racing	A.J. Foyt Enterprises
17	Raphael Matos	Belo Horizonte, Brazil	Automatic Fire Sprinklers, Inc.	AFS Racing
17T	Raphael Matos	Belo Horizonte, Brazil	Automatic Fire Sprinklers, Inc.	AFS Racing
18	James Jakes (R)	Leeds, England	Acorn Stairlifts	Dale Coyne Racing
18T	James Jakes (R)	Leeds, England	Acorn Stairlifts	Dale Coyne Racing
19	Alex Lloyd	Manchester, England	Boy Scouts of America	Dale Coyne Racing
19T	Alex Lloyd	Manchester, England	Boy Scouts of America	Dale Coyne Racing
20	Scott Speed (R)	Manteca, Calif	Dragon Racing Fuzzy’s Vodka	Dragon Racing
22	Justin Wilson	Sheffield, England	Z-Line Designs/Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
22T	Justin Wilson	Sheffield, England	Z-Line Designs/Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
23	Paul Tracy	Scarborough, Ontario	WIX Filters/Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
23T	Paul Tracy	Scarborough, Ontario	WIX Filters/Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
24	Ana Beatriz	Sao Paulo	Team Ipiranga/Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
24T	Ana Beatriz	Sao Paulo	Team Ipiranga/Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
26	Marco Andretti	Nazareth, Pa.	Team Venom	Andretti Autosport
26T	Marco Andretti	Nazareth, Pa.	Team Venom	Andretti Autosport
27	Mike Conway	Bromley, England	Hire Heroes USA/7-Eleven/Dr Pepper	Andretti Autosport
27T	Mike Conway	Bromley, England	Hire Heroes USA/7-Eleven/Dr Pepper	Andretti Autosport
28	Ryan Hunter-Reay	Boca Raton, Fla.	Team DHL/Sun Drop Citrus Soda	Andretti Autosport
28T	Ryan Hunter-Reay	Boca Raton, Fla.	Team DHL/Sun Drop Citrus Soda	Andretti Autosport

 

30	Bertrand Baguette	Verviers, Belgium	The RACB/Aspria RLL Special	Rahal Letterman Lanigan LLC
30T	Bertrand Baguette	Verviers, Belgium	The RACB/Aspria RLL Special	Rahal Letterman Lanigan LLC
34	Sebastian Saavedra	Bogotá, Colombia	Conquest Racing	Conquest Racing
34T	Sebastian Saavedra	Bogotá, Colombia	Conquest Racing	Conquest Racing
36	Pippa Mann (R)	Ipswich, England	Conquest Racing	Conquest Racing
36T	Pippa Mann (R)	Ipswich, England	Conquest Racing	Conquest Racing
38	Graham Rahal	New Albany, Ohio	Service Central	Service Central Chip Ganassi Racing
38T	Graham Rahal	New Albany, Ohio	Service Central	Service Central Chip Ganassi Racing
41	Bruno Junqueira	Belo Horizonte, Brazil	A.J. Foyt Racing	A.J. Foyt Enterprises
41T	Bruno Junqueira	Belo Horizonte, Brazil	A.J. Foyt Racing	A.J. Foyt Enterprises
43	John Andretti	Indianapolis	Team Window World	Richard Petty/ Andretti Autosport
43T	John Andretti	Indianapolis	Team Window World	Richard Petty/ Andretti Autosport
44	Buddy Rice (W)	Phoenix	Panther Racing	Panther Racing
44T	Buddy Rice (W)	Phoenix	Panther Racing	Panther Racing
57	TBA		Sarah Fisher Racing	Sarah Fisher Racing
59	E.J. Viso	Caracas, Venezuela	PDVSA – KV Racing Technology- Lotus	KV Racing Technology – Lotus
59T	E.J. Viso	Caracas, Venezuela	PDVSA – KV Racing Technology- Lotus	KV Racing Technology – Lotus
67	Ed Carpenter	Indianapolis	Dollar General/Sarah Fisher Racing	Sarah Fisher Racing
67T	Ed Carpenter	Indianapolis	Dollar General/Sarah Fisher Racing	Sarah Fisher Racing
77	Alex Tagliani	Lachenaie, Quebec	Bowers & Wilkins/Sam Schmidt Motorsports	Sam Schmidt Motorsports
77T	Alex Tagliani	Lachenaie, Quebec	Bowers & Wilkins/Sam Schmidt Motorsports	Sam Schmidt Motorsports
78	Simona De Silvestro	Thun, Switzerland	Nuclear Clean Air Energy HVM Racing	Nuclear Clean Air Energy HVM Racing
78T	Simona De Silvestro	Thun, Switzerland	Nuclear Clean Air Energy HVM Racing	Nuclear Clean Air Energy HVM Racing
82	Tony Kanaan	Salvador, Brazil	GEICO – KV Racing Technology – Lotus	KV Racing Technology - Lotus
82T	Tony Kanaan	Salvador, Brazil	GEICO – KV Racing Technology – Lotus	KV Racing Technology - Lotus
83	Charlie Kimball (R)	Camarillo, Calif.	Levemir and NovoLog FlexPen	Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing
83T	Charlie Kimball (R)	Camarillo, Calif.	Levemir and NovoLog FlexPen	Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing
88	Jay Howard (R)	Basildon, England	Service Central Schmidt-RLL Racing	Sam Schmidt – RLL Racing
88T	Jay Howard (R)	Basildon, England	Service Central Schmidt-RLL Racing	Sam Schmidt – RLL Racing
98	Dan Wheldon (W)	Emberton, England	William Rast – Curb/Big Machine	Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb/Agajanian
98T	Dan Wheldon (W)	Emberton, England	William Rast – Curb/Big Machine	Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb/Agajanian
99	Townsend Bell	San Luis Obispo, Calif.	Herbalife Schmidt Pelfrey Racing	Sam Schmidt Motorsports
99T	Townsend Bell	San Luis Obispo, Calif.	Herbalife Schmidt Pelfrey Racing	Sam Schmidt Motorsports
06	James Hinchcliffe (R)	Toronto	Sprott Newman/Haas Racing	Newman/Haas Racing
06T	James Hinchcliffe (R)	Toronto	Sprott Newman/Haas Racing	Newman/Haas Racing
07	Tomas Scheckter	Cape Town, South Africa	Team REDLINE Xtreme – Circle K	KV Racing Technology – SH Racing
07T	Tomas Scheckter	Cape Town, South Africa	Team REDLINE Xtreme – Circle K	KV Racing Technology – SH Racing

Forty-one (41) entries, seventy-nine (79) cars entered. All cars use Dallara chassis, Honda engines and Firestone tires.

(R) – Indianapolis 500 Rookie; (W) – Indianapolis 500 Winner Issued: 5/9/2011

Now, before I close off this post, I want to apologize to the early readers of my Monday blog post. It contained incorrect information.

I watched the Southern 500 on TV Saturday night and watched the contretemps in the pits afterward in which Kevin Harvick got out of his car and went to punch Kyle Busch. I could have sworn Harvick's car moved by itself and wrote about how dumb a move that was and suggested that Harvick be suspended.

Early Monday morning, I got an email from a guy who told me I was a dumb cluck and that if I bothered to look at the video replay I would see that Kyle Busch had used his car to push Harvick's car out of the way. I did, then revised the post to straighten out the record and urged NASCAR to sit them both down for their stupidity.

I mean, if they want to have a fist fight, fine. if they want to wreck each other out on the speedway, fine. But don't do stupid things that might hurt other people, like starting a driverless car on a solo journey through the pits. Or leaving your car in neutral when you climb out to take a swipe at somebody.