Overheard at Indy – Bump Day – 2
The big news for the day so far is that AJ Foyt pulled his grandson, AJ IV, out of the car in favor of Jaques Lazier. AJ IV wasn't comfortable in the car, and certainly couldn't find the speed to qualify — his morning practice speed was only 221.823. Jaques has yet to attempt a qualification attempt.
Bruno Junqueira has the fastest speed of the day, in the sister car to Alex Tagliani's car. Having only 8 laps of practice today, his 225.662 is fast enough to have been in the top nine shootout yesterday. Sponsor problems prohibited this purchase of enough go-fast parts for both cars to be qualified on the first day.
John Andretti qualified one of the Andretti Motorsports entries with a solid 224.518. However, John was clearly distracted, and during the press conference he spilled the beans — one of his children is a patient in Riley Children's Hospital. John admitted that Indy wasn't the first thought on his mind today, but his effort should be fast enough to avoid any bumping problems.
Sarah Fisher qualified her car as well, but it was an unnerving experience. " Helio said he saw Jesus yesterday," she commented. "I had to go meet him too." (Helio's quote: "I saw Jesus three times out there! Dario said, 'Well, I spoke with him many times.'" tpw) Sarah might be safe from bumping, but her team mate Jay Howard is currently in the 31st spot, and will have a very nervous day.
The field was filled by 12:50 pm, and a few minutes later Takuma Sato became the first bumpee of the year. Takuma's speed of 221.622 was the second slowest of the day, and the slowest of any completed qualification attempt. Earlier in the day Milka Duno has a scary ride, and abandoned a run after having to lift to avoid hitting the wall.
Around 1:10 pm the green flag opened up the course to practice, and Tony Kanaan was among those putting in some practice laps in his newly-repaired car. Tim Wohlford reporting from Indy