I am not in Indy yet, but O/IRR has two friends that will be at IMS almost daily to offer pictures and commentary, I'll sit home and play "editor and feature writer" until I can't stand it any longer and hop on a plane for Indy. That could come as soon as Wednesday, but my son says I'm nuts to shell out hundreds of dollars for about 8 hours at IMS, he must favor his mother, he didn't get that rational thinking from me. He's threatened to chain me to this computer to keep me home, he's already confiscated my plastic, and he outweighs me by 100 pounds. Not to fear, I still have the numbers. As soon as the track opens I'll be here to do a live running recap of the days events. there are those that think we will learn little about what to expect speed-wise from this rookie crop, because there aren't any Penske Toyota's or HPD built Honda's. I'll remind you that it was an Ilmor built Honda that won the 500 last year, a team car to Danica Patrick's  Panoz Honda. In addition, Ryan Briscoe drives for Indy winner Target Chip Ganassi Racing. Both Patrick and Briscoe are road racers, and road racers are well suited to the "four corners" of IMS. Last year we got a hint of what was to come from ROP when Kosuke Matsuura balloon footed he way through ROP at a 215 mph pace, then shared most session top speed honors with teammate Adrian Fernandez. I expect to see speeds close to 218 mph in the next two days, and I expect Bourdais or Carpentier (if he runs) to be the pacesetter. See you when the track opens. I have also gone into ROP  in greater detail earlier in the week here...

(7:00 PM, 5-08-05, IMS Time) Six of the eight Indy 500 "rookies finished the mandatory portions of the 2005 Rookie Orientation Program today, with Danica Patrick the pacesetter at a remarkable speed of 214.463 mph, a speed that would have placed her 4th in last years Indy 500 field. Last years ROP pacesetter was Ed Carpenter, and his best speed was 7 mph slower than the 2004 pole speed. If you compare the same speed factors, we might expect to see a pole speed in the 228-229 range this Saturday, a number I have already predicted. Danica's speed run came in the heat of a warmer than expected afternoon, further indicating that if conditions were right, far more speed could be expected. Ryan Briscoe was 2nd fastest today, but also above 220 mph in a Panoz Toyota, the engine/chassis combination rated to be the slowest of all in the series. Patrick Carpentier ran the most laps today in placing 3rd on the speed chart, and Carpentier was quoted in the IMS Trackside Report as saying that "at first the team was going to pass on ROP (he was not required to participate), but decided at the last minute to run." He also said that "at first the car was really bad," "that it was pushing badly." This is a team that many feel doesn't have all the right stuff, they have been at IMS with the IRL cars since day one, that car should have been setup correctly and ready to run. Even though Carpentier is a Indy rookie, he has thousands of Indy type miles of competition at these speeds, he shouldn't need 275 miles of practice to be 3rd fastest on the day to 2 "real" rookies. This team has been off-pace all season, and rather than looking in the mirror, team owner Eddie Cheever has been mentioned lately as pointing fingers at Carpentier in placing the blame for the team's poor results. Looking further down the speed chart, Tomas Enge was the first rookie to pass ROP, he posted an early 218.219, a mark I was expecting to see top the charts today, and Panther Racing parked the car. Larry Foyt took a Refresher Test in Scott Mayer's Dallara, perhaps doing double duty, satisfying an IndyCar requirement while setting up the Mayer car and proving the car capable of running ROP speeds. Larry's speed today was faster than either Foyt car qualified at Indy last year. Jeff Bucknum and Paul Dana eased through ROP in 63 and 54 laps respectively, posting laps of 214.657 and 211.786. I had concerns about Dana, who hasn't been able to run at race pace in three outings this year. The Trackside Report mentioned that Dana's engineer is IMS specialist Tim Wardrop. I'm not sure if Wardrop is a recent addition to the team to kick the results up a notch, or has been with the team all along. Scott Mayer passed three phases of ROP today and CCWS winner Sebastien Bourdais got through two. Both drivers will have to finish up on Monday. This crop of rookies will also be able to run again tomorrow at whatever speed they are comfortable at, it will be a test of resolve for Team Cheever as far as I'm concerned. Cheever has complained that the lack of testing time has hurt his team and was even thinking of taking an R&D turn in the car, let's see if the team runs tomorrow. They have the additional tire allotment, why not? The Monday weather outlook calls for somewhat cooler temperatures and "scattered thunder storms, with the rain probability at 40%."

(6:45, IMST) I'm back to wrap things up, neither Danica Patrick or Ryan Briscoe returned to the track after I left this recap. Patrick, Briscoe, Carpentier, Enge, Bucknum and Dana have completed there ROP duties. Scott Mayer is through with three phases and Sebastien Bourdais has two phases to go. Bourdais was quoted in the Trackside Report as saying the #37T car wasn't his car," that "the #37 is." That may mean that Newman Haas may have only three Panoz chassis for two drivers. Bourdais was able to get one shakedown lap in the #37 car. Don't always believe what the Entry List says. As an example, the "EL" says PDM entered two cars, when they probably don't have any, just an engine deal.

(4:15, IMST) The track was closed for a while foe inspection, since I feel that most of the real action is over, I'll return to recap the day as the track closes. Any day at IMS is better than anywhere else to me, but 9 drivers can't make much of a dent in 5 hours of track time. IMO, they should used the 6-hour weekday schedule, and alternated the ROP cars with the regular field in half-hour segments. In that way, we would have gotten an idea of how close these tyro's were to what the regulars were capable of running.

(3:45, IMST) Big moves on the speed chart now, I am now officially wrong in my speed estimate as Ryan Briscoe is now at 219.593 and Danica Patrick is above 218. We all knew these cars would run 223, because several veterans posted those numbers in the Firestone tire test, but I didn't expect this crop of rookies to go this quickly so soon. Don't forget, we are close to 5 mph faster than 2004 ROP numbers, and less than 3 mph off of the 2004 pole speed. Scott Mayer is finished with phase two of his ROP program. Danica now above 220, at 220.803 and appears to gain speed with every lap. Now 220.997, faster still. Go girl, go, 221.463 as she heads for pit road. Her speed would have placed her 4th on the 2004 Indy 500 grid.

(3:15, IMST) There has been increased action since I last posted, Danica Patrick has been back out on the track and is up to 217.811 and must have passed ROP. Bourdais is finished with phase two, and Scott Mayer (the Ralph Nader driver, unsafe at any speed) is up to 200 mph. I just checked back to the T&S reports of 2003, but there is no ROP listing. I can't recall what the speed was when they stopped Mayer's ROP effort. With Mayer now shown at 204 mph, he must be into phase two. In fact "Oscar" is faster than Bourdais at this point. Go Oscar, go!

(2:30, IMST) Gonna make a lunch run, back in a few...I'm back, very little change, Bourdais now into phase one, having run 16 labs. Back in 15 minutes. Briscoe is also finished with all four phases. Scott Mayer is now in the #41, we are about to see if AJ Foyt can do the near impossible, get this squirrel through ROP, they didn't even let him get close the last time he tried. I wonder if AJ, having sent Larry out for a refresher in the same car, wanted to show that the car would run respectable speed, removing any Mayer excuses in advance.

(2:15, IMST) T&S is now claiming that Bourdais is on the track for the first time, but the chart doesn't support that., 5 minutes later Bourdais has now run 6 laps and is at 188 mph. Danica has been shown at 54 laps for nearly an hour now, lunch break or a problem?

(2:00, IMST) Include Patrick Carpentier to the list of those above 216, there are now five of the "rookies" over 215, as Enge just posted a 217, close to the 218 lap I thought would be the fastest speed we would see today. With Enge now shown at 218.219, he is now finished all ROP phases. Enge will now be allowed to practice at whatever speed he feels comfortable at. Here is a link to today's "Trackside report," as I suspected, Larry Foyt is doing a refresher test, http://www.indycar.com/news/story.php?story_id=4491 In running his 216 mph lap today, Larry Foyt has run faster than either Foyt car qualified last year at Indy.

(1:45, IMST) Briscoe is now well above 210 and Foyt is immediately up to 213 mph. Briscoe and Foyt are now both above 216, Briscoe must now be into phase four. Carpentier has run the most laps at 57, but is only up to 213 mph. With Briscoe at 216.894 now, that speed eclipses the 2004 pace of Ed Carpenter, I think that is a further indication of how much faster these cars and engines will be this year, and also how much faster the track will be. Jeff Bucknum has now passed phase three.

(1:30, IMST) Danica is now shown above 210 mph, so she must be into phase four. The T&S link is now showing the "Larry Foyt" #41 on pit road, Larry may either be going to do a refresher test or sorting out a car for Scott Mayer. Larry didn't run anywhere but Indy last year in the IndyCars, and at IMS he didn't go the distance, crashing on the backstretch.. It's very likely he is being required to do a refresher test. Paul Dana is into phase three and the car of Sebastien Bourdais is now on pit road, interestingly, he is listed in the "T" car, indicating that Newman Haas actually has four Panoz cars. Foyt is now on the track, the #41 is the Scott Mayer car, Foyt is entered in the #48 car

(1:12, IMST) Danica is now at the top of the charts, a little under 210, with no cars shown on the track. Jeff Bucknum is now into phase two and Enge is now shown at 207, so he must be in phase three. The track is under a debris caution.

(1:00, IMST) There were no cars on the track the last time the T&S link managed to flash 10 seconds worth of data. Bucknum and Dana have both been on the track now, and Briscoe is now shown as having passed phase two, Patrick is above 205 now, so perhaps she has as well. Ah, yes she has. Dana is now passed phase one. Still missing from pit road  are the cars of Scott Mayer and Sebastien Bourdais.

(12:45, IMST) Danica has now passed phase one in is now up to 203 mph. Timing and Scoring is just as crappy now as it was from Motegi, I thought the issue there was the distance the data had to travel. Today you are getting a dead screen more often than an active one, and it is the same with both options. Now Briscoe is shown done with phase one, Danica should be finished with phase two soon. Patrick Carpentier is now above 207, because he has years of experience, he may not be on the same program as the rest.

(12:35, IMST) Enge is reported on the t&S link to have completed phase one of his ROP test. It isn't uncommon for these cars to run out of fuel, these teams want to find out how much of the fuel in the car is usable. They will now take the car to the fueling station and fill it up and see how much fuel it will take. Patrick Carpentier has also been out and ran 10 laps, Briscoe has run seven. Patrick is now the fastest car of the day @ 198.

(12:20, IMS time) Both Patrick and Enge are close to 200 mph, and will be in the 4-step ROP Phase now.

1. Ten laps between 195-200 mph, 2, ten laps between 200-205 mph, ten laps between 205-210 mph, and the final 10 laps at whatever speed the driver feels comfortable at above 210 mph. With Tomas Enge at the top of the chart at 198, the track is under caution to tow his car in, the car reported to be out of fuel. Here is the T&S link http://scoring.indyracing.com/html/results_only.php

(12:10, IMS time) Now the T&S link is working and there are three cars listed as having been on the track, Patrick, Briscoe and Enge, with Patrick the fastest at 174 mph. The cars of Carpentier and Bucknum also appear to have passed the T&S strip that indicates they are on pit road, but haven't been on the track. Danica was up to 174 in 5 laps.

(Noon, IMS time) Welcome to my 15 days of little sleep, the track is open at IMS and Danica Patrick was first out, earlier I was going to "call" that, but passed on the notion. What I expect RLR Racing will do with Danica is keep a lot of downforce/wing in the car and leave her with a little "push," none of these teams want these rookies in a loose race car. Right now timing and scoring is not working, and I have looked at both the IndyCar site and IMS sites, and there is no mention of "streaming Video.

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