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I was correct in assuming that T&S locked up in the final minutes of practice, but patience prevailed, and after a short wait, they posted the final results, shown here. I'll return after work to wrap this up.

(20 minutes left in happy hour) The track is still under yellow, but "commentary" shows "1 minute to go," this could be interesting, and fun as well. Green flag, feeding time at the zoo! Matsuura is out, the only other top-ten car shown is Dario, he is known to run a last-minute flyer. Franchitti close to 227 now, but back in the pits. Buddy Lazier up to 15th, his fastest lap of the day. Dana spins, with light contact and is being "towed back to the pits," he had just moved to 216.728 mph, too fast for him I guess, about par though, 11 mph off the pace. Green flag again, Matsuura back out, Dixon as well, with his fastest lap of the day, right off pit road. Matsuura has a tow, but only running 221. Jeff Ward makes a move at the bottom of the chart, finally, up to 217.310, but this year, if you aren't above 220, you better find a time machine and a ticket back to 2004. Two minutes to go... I am beginning to suspect that T&S is locked. It is, we will have to wait for the final results, I think it locked up when the last green flag came out.

(5:00, Indy time)  It is now officially happy hour. Here are the conditions, temperature in mid-60's, wind lessening, but still above 10-mph. So far there has been little happy hour action, perhaps a victim of the need to get the "SportsCenter" moment, TV time for the sponsors. Dixon seems to be on the move, he did that yesterday as well. Junqueira is highlighted in T&S green, but he is mid-pack, a long way to climb on the chart. Wheldon alert,  could this be a flyer in the making, to get one on tape for "SC"? Miera out as well,, nope, it appears that Dan is on a 4-lap simulated "Q" run, all above 227! Caution, Manning in the fence, "heavy contact in turn two." I hope he is OK, "rear contact, same as Rice, and in the same place on the track.  "SC" is on, Manning  building speed and up to  225, "lost it," and didn't hit "Rice-hard." They should get the track cleaned up and open again. Did you see that SAFER give, I have been waiting to see an example of this, and with perfect camera placement, this is the best view so far. With all that heavy steel, I never thought it would deflect that much. Buddy Rice's hit was "only 78 G's," credit the SAFER as playing a part in lessening the impact. Five years ago, the results of a crash like that could have been tragic.

(2:30,  Indy time)  The  track is under an "extended caution period" again today for "sweeping the turns, " this appears to be a planned occurrence, "tidying up the house" before serious late afternoon, happy hour "company" comes to call. It is a good time to look at the chart from top to bottom and see what can be learned. Today's conditions could be termed "adverse" at best wind wise, but the engines love the cool air. The humidity also helps the power, but the "heavy" air adds to the  aero drag. So we have a mixed bag of good and bad.

We have the AGR Duo of Kanaan and Wheldon at the top of the chart,  a spot usually reserved for Dario Franchitti at most other tracks. OBTW, the green flag is out again. Back to commentary, Meira and Matsuura are in their usual position in the top five, followed by Franchitti. For some reason Dario doesn't have the same zest for Indy than he has elsewhere, perhaps he doesn't like the speeds. I'm going to ask him about that when I see him at Indy, after we talk about "choppers." Danica is a solid top five or six lock lately and Scott Sharp is always "lurking," and trust me, that is what he is doing, I think Sharp is a serious pole contender. Next, here's a call for the little guy, Richie Hearn and "Sam's" team, for the 2nd day in a row, this team is solidly in the top ten, and top Chevy as well. Then there is Scott Dixon, who now appears to be back to leading the TCGR forces. Don't be fooled by not seeing Team Penske at the top of the chart, they don't want to be there, they want to have a solid setup for the race, and they work hard at it. They may take an occasional flyer to see how they stand in the "mine is bigger than yours" race, but that is just a fun trip for them. (Speaking of Penske "flyers, here comes Sam, up to 5th in his "T" car, a 226 run, proving my contention as I write this.) Let's talk about Panther Racing as a whole, this great team wants badly to win at Indy, they may have to wait until next year to have a Honda, but there is nothing wrong with the Chevy, but I have my doubts reliability-wise. It just doesn't appear that the Chevy will run "full-song" for an entire race, it may finish, but when the need for speed arises at the conclusion of the race, the engine appears to "lay down." back to Panther Racing, I think the reason Hearn holds fast Chevy honors is because Panther is letting him. Lately, in IndyCar events Panther drivers have taken the Penske route (if you're going to copy someone, why not the best), working setups, not raw speed in all practice sessions, or taking the duel/split practice agenda that AGR uses. That's tough to do when one of the drivers is a rookie, but here at Indy, I think Panther is sending our Lazier to play around with some masked speed, while Scheckter works setups, and Enge finds his comfort zone at IMS. Now for the visiting "firemen," the Newman Haas team, make no mistake, Bruno Junqueira is a rock solid contender at Indy, the Honda gives him an edge as well, all he needs is for the team to get the Panoz setups right, and with little IndyCar track time, that is where the problem lies. This team needs to run a couple of other IndyCar events each season to become a real contender, perhaps a race each for both drivers, one at Phoenix and Milwaukee as examples, to better learn how to make the cars handle. Sebastien Bourdais is more than a fresh face, this guy can race, and he has the deep thinker's attitude about open wheel racing that bypasses the politics. Newman Haas was a dangerous IndyCar adversary with just Bruno in a car, now, when you add Bourdais to the mix, and they get twice the data and input, watch out for this team in the 500. Danica Patrick has now moved to the top of the speed  chart, and there were darn few cars on the track when it happened. "SportsCenter will undoubtedly show the run, we'll see how "alone" she was, towgate may now be over. Danica posted a 227.633, fastest speed of the month. Earlier I mentioned AGR and their "split" agendas, the workhorse driver is Bryan Herta, who is often out of the speed limelight, working setups the rest of the team can race on. Watch Bryan in the 500, he has the road racer's feel for IMS, and is easily top-five material, and as smart as he is, could win. In 1994 Herta ran a Foyt car back when AJ had the funding and desire he was once known for. Bryan finished 9th, and I was at the Foyt pit during the race. Had Herta not stalled the engine twice during the race on pit stops, he would have been a serious contender. In wrapping this up before happy hour, I'll mention one more contender, the three cars centered around Adrian Fernandez, I have already mentioned Matsuura and Sharp, Kosuke could win the Indy pole, and that would play huge in Japan and with Honda, but he isn't likely to win the race. Fernandez and Sharp can do both, Sharp has been on the pole at Indy, and in the cars he has now, will win at least one IndyCar race this year, it might come at Indy. As for Adrian, reportedly he has a brand new Panoz and an Indy win would most likely translate to the sponsorship need to run the remainder of the IndyCar season. Adrian is hungry for an Indy win, and with Indy guru Mo Nunn in his camp, it could happen.

(3:10,  Indy time)  I'm back The track is "green and there is on car out , Bourdais, respectable at 225, 10th on the chart.. I'm looking at the bottom of the page, and it is almost rubber stamp like, same teams every race. We have Barron in 22nd, below that is Carpentier, I'll skip over Jaques, he'll get better, then Ward, Dana, Bucknum in Yasukawa's usual position, and Larry Foyt holding up Anthony's traditional spot. The temperature is 64 degrees, the wind has "lessened" to 15 mph.

(1:30,  Indy time) Danica is now 4th on the chart at 225 (I wonder, is she going to become the next one-name star), and there is little enough going on  that I think I'll run some errands I have been putting off, that can only be done during business hours, back at 3:00 Indy time, or sooner, this town is only so big. Marty Roth is on the track, I can't stand to watch his progress (?).

(1:15,  Indy time)  TK is out there again at 226, with only three other "tow-mates," but perhaps Carpenter can pull him along, Ed is at 153!

(1:00,  Indy time)  I'm sitting here watching Danica climb the speed charts, one lap after another, I should be used to it by now, but when you see the size of the girl... She could be a jockey, but I bet she would dazzle them in horse racing as well. Well there it is wrong again, but it was Kanaan that did it, with a 226. 804, I wonder who he'll claim he got the "tow" from this time, Ward @ 215? I can just hear him know... I like Tony, but that is a bunch of crap. 227.5 now, and four cars on the track, it can't be Wheldon, he's slower, and been out there for all of TK's laps, he would have had to be behind him by then. I know, Roth, on pit road! Tow this... It's good to see Larry Foyt up to 98-mph.

(12:40,  Indy time) Wonder of wonders, the Marty Roth car is on pit road, Meira still setting the pace, now above 225. here comes Wheldon also at 225, and I said, "those winds will be a day-killer though, I don't expect 226's until they lay down." In a matter of minutes Dan will prove me wrong. Now Franchitti is takin' his shot at me, but still 225's. It must be ugly out there, but they have to run in all conditions, for all we know, Pole Day or even the race could be a clone of these conditions. Just think, I could have been their today had I not been forced to change my plans.

(12:20  Indy time)  The track wasn't open 10 minutes before they went to caution, they are back to green now. Larry Foyt is our in the #48 Panoz. Vitor Meira is setting the pace at 223-something. Looking back and studying yesterday's results, it is easy to confirm how lame an operation Vision Racing is, in spite of the $millions spent on it. Yesterday Jaques Lazier, in no more than a start-up, one off team, posted a better result than either "Vision" driver, on their first day on the track EVER, and beat them easily! Today I expect that team to surpass the other IndyCar lame operation, Foyt's. Team Cheever  (?) will be the next easy target. Tomas Enge is at the top of the chart now, but no one is at 224 mph yet, besides the wind, all the rubber built up over the last four days as gone as well.

(5-12-05, noon IMS time) I am amazed they are on the track already. When I got off shift this morning at  5:30 IMS time, I made a couple of phone calls to people I knew would be awake and they were talking of no chance for that to happen, so what do we all know? I have watched IMS dry in the past, and it is a two hour possess when it is sunny AND warm and at 10:00 AM there it was neither. It must be the strong, 16 mph winds that got the job done. Those winds will be a day-killer though, I don't expect 226's until they "lay down."

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