Conor Daly Crashes – Indy Thursday Practice report
05/16/13
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| Daly hits the Turn 1 wall |
| Mike Young/IRL |
Conor Daly crashed heavily in the south short chute around 2:15 pm, between turns 1 and 2. It appears as though he got in too high, and as he tried to bring it back into the groove the rear end stepped out. The car hit flush with the right side of the car, pretty much destroying everything on that side. Conor was checked and released back into the pool (cleared to drive); the incident is the first of the month. AJ Foyt racing was rumored to be considering a third car, so should it be necessary they do have at least 1 spare car.
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| Daly hits the Turn 1 wall |
| Mike Young/IRL |
The comments from drivers all seem to be from the same copy writer: “We got out yesterday, ran some laps, mile’d out on the motor. We’ll see how it goes today." The engines have to go at least 1850 miles between changes this year, with a maximum of 2000 miles. This means that most of the teams will hit that number sometime Friday, “necessitating" a motor change for Pole Day — although Chevy representatives think that this strategy is a secret or something.
Just as last year, the full time teams all get 5 motors to last them the entire season. However, there are 3 more races than last year, so the mileage between changes was simply adjusted accordingly. Chevy representatives thought that dependability would not be a problem, unless of course there was some human error involved. Just as last year, an untimely motor change garners a 10 spot penalty. Chevy will power 17 cars for the 500 this year, up from 15 last year.
At 2:30 in the afternoon, Jr Hildebrand lead the day’s speed charts at 224 and small change. Hunter-Reay was second, followed by AJ Allmendinger, Townsend Bell and EJ Viso.
So, we must as the question – will there be bumping on bump day? No doubt there are enough cars, and rumors abound of drivers with a bit of cash (rumored price for a ride starts at $500,000). IMS says that 67 cars are entered, including “T" cars, but pundits peg the number at 35.
There is a threat of rain both today and tomorrow, with light showers already showing up west of Indy.
— Tim Wohlford, reporting from Indy!!