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It's official, after the Marty Roth crash
used up too much time; It's official, after the Marty Roth crash used up
too much time the Foyt/Briscoe car will not run, the 2006 Indy 500 field
is full. The back row this year will include Arie Luyendyk Jr., PJ
Jones and Thiago Medeiros. The idea that there could be a 13.25 mph speed
differential in the field of 33 for the Indy 500 that was so reprehensible
to me yesterday, is a little more palpable now that the field is full and
I have had time to digest the possibility. the Foyt/Briscoe car will not
run, the 2006 Indy 500 field is full. The back row this year will
include Arie Luyendyk Jr., PJ Jones and Thiago Medeiros. The idea that
there could be a 13.25 mph speed differential in the field of 33 for the
Indy 500 that was so reprehensible to me yesterday, is a little more
palpable now that the field is full and I have had time to digest the
possibility. I still have concerns about three drivers that have so few
laps at real speed that they will be able to safely keep up with the race
pace. In the end, Marty Roth had practiced over 1,000 miles, but even with
all the rain delays and three spins, there was no urgency to build speed
until it turned out to be too late. Roth had good people on his crew, and
reported through the last two days had help from Mitch Davis of TCGR, and
finally Larry Curry of Vision Racing. Marty Roth is not an Indy rookie, he
has started two 500's, but he has never been safely fast. Roth has helped
to fill the 500 field twice, and will help the IndyCar series in the same fashion
for the rest of the season. Perhaps Marty could learn to enjoy the car
owner role, and get someone to drive the car for him.
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***
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It looks like they are going to go
through the motions of attempting to put Ryan Briscoe in the show. Briscoe
hasn't turned a lap in the car, and I expect he will run a couple of
installation laps, fool around a little and run out of time. Briscoe isn't
even in the car at the moment. I doubt there is much interest in knocking
the PDM car out of the race, and Foyt would be the last one to want to do
it...
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***
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Marty Roth, probably trying too hard and
turning in too late, while trying to go "flat," finally found a
wall he couldn't avoid. Roth pushed up into the turn one wall hard, lost
the brakes and steering and then hit the wall again at a steeper angle and
really tore the right side off the car. Roth is out of the car and
reported to be OK.
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***
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As Thiago Medeiros was
being briefed prior to his "Q" run, Ryan Briscoe was seen bound
for the AJ Foyt #48 pit. We had thought Jimmy Kite would get the ride. I
also thought Marty Roth would be the first in the field today, but they
have been tweaking on the car all afternoon, and for some reason Roth has
no speed. Medeiros finished his run and filled the field. No other car is
ready to go, so PJ Jones is out running laps in case he has to bump back
in the field.
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***
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Indy
500 Bump Day Qualifying Results.
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Car
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Driver
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18
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(P) Thiago Medeiros ,
215.729, this speed puts Medeiros on the bubble, three
laps into the run he was faster than PJ Jones, but the
final lap was too slow
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***
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Dennis (aXe) says he's looking at mirrors
here, I doubt it. He's either "watchin' the birdie," or MY
friend Jamie is standing next to his son, who must have taken the picture.
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***
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I think this car has had three numbers now,
41, 41T and now 48, it's the Foyt Panoz with a history. Last year before
Felipe Giaffone put the "bump" back in Bump Day with it, it was
the AJ Foyt IV crash dummy on the streets of St. Pete. For AJ to get an
engine from Honda and do all this work, somebody had to be nervous
enough about not filling the field to make all this happen. In times of
need, who better to turn to than AJ Foyt, he's done this stuff often
enough...
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***
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Just in case anyone is wondering why PDM is
still working with Medeiros at this late hour on Bump Day, the sidepod
should provide the answer.
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***
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Here's our four men of the final hour, and
the guy that looks the best is Arie Jr., and he won't even have to make a
run unless three drivers run faster than his 216.352 4-lap average. Arie
should be working on race setups, he's in the field. The way I see it now,
Roth, who has run few laps, fills the field at a speed faster than
Luyendyk and Jones. Than either PDM Medeiros or Kite/Foyt, yet to be seen
on pit road would bump the Jones low speed.
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Pos
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Driver
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Best Time
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Best Speed
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Last Lap
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24
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Arie Luyendyk Jr (61)
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41.4334
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217.216
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19
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27
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PJ Jones (98)
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41.5053
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216.840
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27
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28
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Thiago Medeiros (18)
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41.6806
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215.928
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42
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29
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Marty Roth (25)
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42.1250
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213.650
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19
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***
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(4:00 IMS time) There are two hours left for
bumping, and the field isn't even filled yet. Sam Hornish just had a minor
incident in his "T" car, which is why they use them after
qualifying. (I just saw the crash, it wouldn't be "minor" if
I had to write the check. I'll say this, there have been several of
these backend washouts, something is wrong this year, I suspect tire
compound. If nothing else, perhaps we just learned the high speed limit in
race trim... I'm loving Scott Sharp's positioning in almost every
T&S chart, and the Vision Racing boy's aren't in bad shape either. Tony
Kanaan looks racy today as well, and Marco Andretti continues
to impress everyone. Like Danica Patrick last year, Marco has hardly ever
put a wheel wrong. Until he gives me reason not to, I'll continue to extol
the results of Kosuke Matsuura, I think he's got it now.
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Pos
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Driver
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Best Time
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Best Speed
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Last Lap
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1
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Sam Hornish Jr (6T)
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39.7779
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226.256
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50
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2
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Helio Castroneves (3)
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39.9559
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225.248
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57
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3
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Tony Kanaan (11)
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40.0783
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224.560
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50
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4
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Scott Sharp (8)
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40.2859
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223.403
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117
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5
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Dan Wheldon (10)
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40.3318
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223.149
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49
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6
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Scott Dixon (9)
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40.4209
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222.657
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54
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7
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Tomas Scheckter (2)
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40.4619
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222.431
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80
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8
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Bryan Herta (7)
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40.4782
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222.342
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82
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9
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Marco Andretti (26)
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40.5414
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221.995
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65
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10
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Kosuke Matsuura (55)
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40.6150
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221.593
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73
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11
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Townsend Bell (90)
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40.6353
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221.482
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73
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12
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Buddy Rice (15T)
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40.6399
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221.457
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21
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13
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Ed Carpenter (20)
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40.7025
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221.117
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65
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14
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Vitor Meira (4T)
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40.7304
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220.965
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60
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15
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Dario Franchitti (27)
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40.8001
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220.588
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50
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16
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Danica Patrick (16T)
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40.8034
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220.570
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39
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17
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Eddie Cheever Jr (51)
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40.8920
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220.092
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67
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18
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Max Papis (52)
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40.9463
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219.800
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31
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19
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Felipe Giaffone (14)
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41.0896
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219.034
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70
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20
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Jaques Lazier (21)
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41.1756
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218.576
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46
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21
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Buddy Lazier (5)
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41.1916
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218.491
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49
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22
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Michael Andretti (1)
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41.2414
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218.227
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34
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23
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Roger Yasukawa (12)
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41.4120
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217.328
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21
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24
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Arie Luyendyk Jr (61)
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41.4334
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217.216
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19
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25
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Stephan Gregoire (97)
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41.4969
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216.884
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15
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26
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Al Unser Jr (31)
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41.5034
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216.850
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