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Well,
I've finally arrived, and just as I predicted, in time for the rains to
start. Dennis and I stopped in to pick up my credentials went down
Georgetown R. to the tunnel, and by the time we came out the other side it
was raining.
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(An
update, we lost the final 90 minutes of practice to rain) Earlier in
the month I reported that the teams wouldn't get engine's for their
"T" cars unless something happened to the primary car. Leave it
to Team Penske to come up with a work-around of the rule that will dictate
what all the other teams will have to do the rest of this week. Team
Penske opened with "T" cars this morning, got them up to speed
early, took them back to the garages, pulled the engines and stuck them in
the primary cars. Sam Hornish lost one-mph plus in the switch, while Helio
lost about half that, but Team Penske is the only entrant on the grounds
with laps on both sets of cars. Now that's attention to details and
preparation folks. Between the four cars of Marlboro Team Penske and
Target Chip Ganassi Racing, they fill the top 6 positions on the final
T&S chart. Looking at the rest of the cars on the track today, you
have to go all the way down to 11th in the running order to see Tony
Kanaan with an AGR car. I like the collective results of the three Vision
Racing entries. Tomas Scheckter, who is way-good at IMS, was the first of
the non-MTP/TCGR cars in 7th this afternoon and T Bell, always fast until
he crashes, was 10th. At 2:30 today Ed Carpenter was 5th to the two
powerhouses and ended up 12th. Buddy Rice was the "sleeper" in
the mix today, doing much the same thing as he did in 2004, running under
the radar. In 2004 Rice was an almost invisible top seven runner in
practice, quietly confirming race speed setups, then being impossible to
catch in the race.
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***
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It's been
about 4 hours since I posted the first T&S chart, so now is what may
become the final posting of the day. That's it, track closed for the
day...
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Pos
|
Driver
|
|
Best Time
|
Best Speed
|
|
1
|
Sam Hornish Jr (6T)
|
|
40.0336
|
224.811
|
|
2
|
Helio Castroneves (3T)
|
|
40.1595
|
224.106
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3
|
Dan Wheldon (10)
|
|
40.1936
|
223.916
|
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4
|
Scott Dixon (9)
|
|
40.2150
|
223.797
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5
|
Sam Hornish Jr (6)
|
|
40.2294
|
223.717
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6
|
Helio Castroneves (3)
|
|
40.2887
|
223.388
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7
|
Tomas Scheckter (2)
|
|
40.3257
|
223.183
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8
|
Buddy Rice (15)
|
|
40.4018
|
222.762
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9
|
Scott Sharp (8)
|
|
40.4037
|
222.752
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10
|
Townsend Bell (90)
|
|
40.4413
|
222.545
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11
|
Bryan Herta (7)
|
|
40.4651
|
222.414
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12
|
Ed Carpenter (20)
|
|
40.4740
|
222.365
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13
|
Jeff Simmons (17)
|
|
40.4873
|
222.292
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14
|
Vitor Meira (4)
|
|
40.4956
|
222.246
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15
|
Tony Kanaan (11)
|
|
40.5431
|
221.986
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16
|
Marco Andretti (26)
|
|
40.5517
|
221.939
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17
|
Dario Franchitti (27)
|
|
40.5714
|
221.831
|
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18
|
Eddie Cheever Jr. (51)
|
|
40.6375
|
221.470
|
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19
|
Kosuke Matsuura (55)
|
|
40.6440
|
221.435
|
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20
|
Michael Andretti (1)
|
|
40.7775
|
220.710
|
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21
|
Danica Patrick (16)
|
|
40.8530
|
220.302
|
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22
|
Felipe Giaffone (14)
|
|
41.1312
|
218.812
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23
|
Buddy Lazier (5)
|
|
41.2539
|
218.161
|
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24
|
Al Unser Jr. (31)
|
|
41.2593
|
218.133
|
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25
|
PJ Chesson (91)
|
|
41.6291
|
216.195
|
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26
|
Marty Roth (25)
|
|
42.2094
|
213.223
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***
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I’m
late into Indy, and until I connect on a time meter from Greater
Cincinnati airport, I don’t even know what I’m missing. For the last
45 days I’ve “lived by the sword,” last night it caught up with me.
My son Michael is working for Delta Airlines; and because of that I get a
limited number of free flights on a standby basis. Well last night Delta
left me “standing” at the
SLC
Airport
as the plane left
without me. Knowing the weather forecast I almost turned around and headed
home, but the magnetic attraction of IMS overrode common sense again, and
I’m almost “back home again in Indiana.” As soon as I pick up the
credentials I’ll make up for lost time… The “digital” has fresh
batteries; watch for more pictures, not that Dennis is any slouch in that
department… At least I'll post the latest T&S chart, and
comment on it later. I can't say I see any surprises!
|
|
Pos
|
Driver
|
|
Best Time
|
Best Speed
|
|
1
|
Sam Hornish Jr (6T)
|
|
40.0336
|
224.811
|
|
2
|
Helio Castroneves (3T)
|
|
40.1595
|
224.106
|
|
3
|
Dan Wheldon (10)
|
|
40.1936
|
223.916
|
|
4
|
Scott Dixon (9)
|
|
40.2792
|
223.440
|
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5
|
Ed Carpenter (20)
|
|
40.4740
|
222.365
|
|
6
|
Jeff Simmons (17)
|
|
40.4873
|
222.292
|
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7
|
Bryan Herta (7)
|
|
40.4973
|
222.237
|
|
8
|
Marco Andretti (26)
|
|
40.5517
|
221.939
|
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9
|
Tony Kanaan (11)
|
|
40.6346
|
221.486
|
|
10
|
Scott Sharp (8)
|
|
40.6435
|
221.438
|
|
11
|
Vitor Meira (4)
|
|
40.6783
|
221.248
|
|
12
|
Buddy Rice (15)
|
|
40.6788
|
221.245
|
|
13
|
Kosuke Matsuura (55)
|
|
40.7104
|
221.074
|
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14
|
Michael Andretti (1)
|
|
40.7775
|
220.710
|
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15
|
Townsend Bell (90)
|
|
40.8156
|
220.504
|
|
16
|
Danica Patrick (16)
|
|
40.8941
|
220.081
|
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17
|
Dario Franchitti (27)
|
|
40.9482
|
219.790
|
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18
|
Eddie Cheever Jr. (51)
|
|
41.0693
|
219.142
|
|
19
|
Buddy Lazier (5)
|
|
41.2686
|
218.083
|
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20
|
PJ Chesson (91)
|
|
41.6291
|
216.195
|
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21
|
Marty Roth (25)
|
|
42.2094
|
213.223
|
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22
|
Al Unser Jr. (31)
|
|
2:09.6603
|
69.412
|
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