Thiago
Medeiros during a practice this week destroyed his
car in an accident. He only had one car and the weather
had been on and off for days. When the call was made
to try and get some times in on his car, the result was
not good. His only car wrecked his team began to scramble
for replacement cars or parts to get his ride back inorder and
ready for the big race.
HORNISH CLAIMS
WORLDPOINTS VISA CARD POLE AWARD FOR 90th INDIANAPOLIS 500
INDIANAPOLIS, Saturday, May 20, 2006 – Sam Hornish
Jr.’s speed in practice paid off in qualifying for the 90th
Indianapolis 500.
The two-time IRL IndyCar® Series champion won
the WorldPoints Visa Card Pole Award after recording a four-lap average
of 228.985 mph (2 minutes, 37.2155 seconds) in front
of a large and enthusiastic crowd on Coca-Cola Throwback Day.
“This is the best day of my life at the Speedway,”
Hornish said. “Hopefully we can be in this same position next Sunday,
too.”
Hornish’s 10th career pole start will come in the largest one-day
sporting event on the planet – a race he’s dreamed about winning before
he climbed into a go-kart two decades ago. It was the 13th Indianapolis
500 pole for team owner Roger Penske.
“I would trade all my championships and awards to
win this race,” he said. “I came here wanting to get the pole and
starting second is starting second. I want to be first. Starting from
the pole is a great way to start this race off.
“The only thing left that could go wrong this month
is the race. That’s what tends to go wrong for me is the race. But
everything has been above and beyond what we’ve expected. Hopefully it
continues that way and a little bit of that luck continues on to the
race.”
Thirty-two other competitors won’t concede anything
to the Ohio-bred driver on May 28, including teammate Helio Castroneves
(228.008) and reigning Indianapolis 500 and IndyCar Series champion Dan
Wheldon (227.338). They’ll share the front row with Hornish.
Scott Dixon (226.921), Wheldon’s Target Chip Ganassi Racing teammate,
2005 pole sitter Tony Kanaan (226.776) and Panther Racing’s Vitor Meira
(226.156) will be on Row 2.
Thirty-two cars qualified for the 33 spots, with six
hours of qualifying remaining May 21 on Bump Day. Two cars that
recorded practice laps this month did not make qualifying attempts.
Vision Racing’s Townsend Bell was the only qualifier to utilize the
three-attempt opportunity. The team withdrew the No. 90 Rock &
Republic Dallara/Honda/Firestone, which was on the inside of Row 6
(223.659 mph), and Bell was back on the track with 25 minutes left in
the session. He moved up one spot (15th; 224.374 mph).
***
WORLDPOINTS
VISA CARD POLE QUALIFYING NOTES:
• This is Sam Hornish Jr’s. second pole position this season and the
10th of his IndyCar Series career.
• This is Marlboro Team Penske’s third pole position of the season and
its 22nd pole in the IndyCar Series. The team has won the pole for
three of the four IndyCar Series events in 2006.
• This is Hornish’s first WorldPoints Visa Card Pole Award. His
previous-best Indianapolis 500 start was second last season.
• It is the sixth time that the #6 car won the pole for the
Indianapolis 500. The last time was in 1985 with Pancho Carter.
• This is car owner Roger Penske’s 13th pole position for the
Indianapolis 500 and at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. His last
Indianapolis 500 pole was in 2003 with Helio Castroneves.
• This is car owner Roger Penske’s 13th pole position for the
Indianapolis 500 and at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. His last
Indianapolis 500 pole was in 2003 with Helio Castroneves.
• Helio Castroneves qualified second. He will start on the front row
for the second time in six Indianapolis 500 starts.
• Dan Wheldon qualified third. It is his second front-row start in four
Indianapolis 500s.
***
Teammates in close proximity are represented throughout the field:
Fernandez Racing’s Kosuke Matsuura (seventh at 225.503) and Scott Sharp
(eighth; 225.321); Tomas Scheckter (11th; 224.659) and Ed Carpenter
(12th; 224.548); Bryan Herta (16th; 224.179) and Dario Franchitti
(17th; 223.345); Max Papis (18th; 222.058) and Eddie Cheever Jr. (19th;
222.028); P.J. Chesson (20th; 221.576) and Jeff Bucknum (22nd;
221.461); and Felipe Giaffone (21st; 221.542) and Larry Foyt (23rd;
221.332). INDIANAPOLIS
- Qualifying Saturday for the 90th Indianapolis 500 IRL IndyCar Series
event on the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway, with starting
position, car number in parentheses, driver, chassis-engine and speed:
1. (6) Sam Hornish Jr., Dallara-Honda, 228.985
2. (3T) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Honda, 228.008
3. (10) Dan Wheldon, Dallara-Honda, 227.338
4. (9) Scott Dixon, Dallara-Honda, 226.921
5. (11) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Honda, 226.776
6. (4T) Vitor Meira, Dallara-Honda, 226.156
7. (55) Kosuke Matsuura, Dallara-Honda, 225.503
8. (8) Scott Sharp, Dallara-Honda, 225.321
9. (26) Marco Andretti, Dallara-Honda, 224.918
10. (16T) Danica Patrick, Panoz-Honda, 224.674
11. (2) Tomas Scheckter, Dallara-Honda, 224.659
12. (20) Ed Carpenter, Dallara-Honda, 224.548
13. (1) Michael Andretti, Dallara-Honda, 224.508
14. (15T) Buddy Rice, Panoz-Honda, 224.393
15. (90) Townsend Bell, Dallara-Honda, 224.374
16. (7) Bryan Herta, Dallara-Honda, 224.179
17. (27) Dario Franchitti, Dallara-Honda, 223.345
18. (52) Max Papis, Dallara-Honda, 222.058
19. (51) Eddie Cheever Jr., Dallara-Honda, 222.028
20. (91) P.J. Chesson, Dallara-Honda, 221.576
21. (14) Felipe Giaffone, Dallara-Honda, 221.542
22. (92) Jeff Bucknum, Dallara-Honda, 221.461
23. (41) Larry Foyt, Dallara-Honda, 221.332
24. (21) Jaques Lazier, Panoz-Honda, 221.151
25. (5) Buddy Lazier, Dallara-Honda, 220.922
26. (17T) Jeff Simmons, Panoz-Honda, 220.347
27. (31) Al Unser Jr., Dallara-Honda, 219.388
28. (12) Roger Yasukawa, Panoz-Honda, 218.793
29. (88) Airton Dare, Panoz-Honda, 218.170
30. (97) Stephan Gregoire, Panoz-Honda, 217.428
31. (61) Arie Luyendyk Jr., Panoz-Honda, 216.352
32. (98) P.J. Jones, Panoz-Honda, 215.816
2006
INDIANAPOLIS 500 WORLDPOINTS VISA CARD POLE
WINNER’S
PRESS CONFERENCE
Sam Hornish Jr., Tim Cindric, Roger Penske
Saturday, May 20, 2006, Indianapolis Motor Speedway
MODERATOR: One thing for certain, we know this, every driver that comes
in here says this, winning a pole at Indianapolis is certainly an
accomplishment for a driver, but it is really an accomplishment for a
team. We're talking about a team that's done this 13 times now here at
Indianapolis with Marlboro Team Penske. Their first since 2003.
Your drivers have been strong all month long. That look of satisfaction
tells it all because it means your men in the shop have given your
drivers the equipment necessary to be successful.
Roger, why don't you talk about the month, the first step toward a
sense of satisfaction this gives you.
ROGER PENSKE: Well, I think the demonstration all month shows how good
the team is. Ironically, this is the same team that's been here the
last couple years. I think there's no question that we were at some
disadvantage because of the power. We didn't say anything about it.
We're really not complaining about it today. We had commitments to
people. We live with them. We've had that from a tire perspective in
the past.
But I think the real success story here is to see Sam, who is so
passionate about this track, wants to win so bad. I think he came on
our team hoping we'd give him the tools to do that. His companionship
with Helio has been terrific. Obviously, he knows Helio is going to
keep him honest, and vice-versa. They've shared information, been fast
all month. It's a credit to our guys Tom and Ron, the other engineering
person we have, Matt, and certainly the crew chiefs that have put these
cars together continually. To me, that makes the difference, it's the
team.
We're excited for our sponsors. I think it was an interesting day
today. It was interesting that Ganassi didn't go out. We were expecting
him to make a run. I think he said he ran out of time, wanted to make
sure they could run quick enough. You don't want to run a third-,
fourth-place starting position away, especially at the Indy 500.
Just a great day for us. Gives us momentum going into the weekend. For
Sam, obviously he has reached another goal that
I'm sure he's had in his mind for a long time.
MODERATOR: Tim Cindric, I'm watching you over there taking
a couple big gasps of air. I would think this is a stressful time for
you, as well. Obviously, had you a great month, a great run early. Then
there was a mystery in the decision making you and Roger had to go
through.
TIM CINDRIC: It could have been worse, I guess. I mean, I think Sam's
run was solid throughout the time. It was a matter of preparing our
self for what we do there.
I think all things considered, with the way the format is, so forth, to
put the numbers on the board, the pressure really goes on to the
competition at that point in time.
We were fortunate enough to go out and do our times early. Like Roger
said, that's a testament to the confidence we have in the drivers, as
well as the team that puts the thing together, really.
MODERATOR: We talked earlier about being the fastest all but one time
here. It's been darn near, Roger, a clean sweep here at Indianapolis
for you. I know you're well aware there's so many variables that can
get in your way in terms of the ultimate prize.
PENSKE: I think now we have the pit stop competition coming up. We're
going to run some more tomorrow. We're going to change engines out of
the race cars, put them in our backup cars so we do not risk those cars
tomorrow as we do the final running in race setup conditions.
A lot more work to do. We'll go back, rebuild our gearboxes,
suspensions. I also think it's interesting to see that we came here and
ran one engine for probably 800 miles in each car with no issues.
Certainly a cost reduction, which people should realize. We've done
that with gearboxes. I think we're on our way to getting the sport more
realistic from a cost perspective. I take my hat off to the rules. I
think it's been a plus for us.
Again, the things that we have to do this week is go through that car.
We can't a mistake. This is not a Sick Sigma situation; it's a zero
defects when it comes to the race on Sunday.
Q: Roger, are you disappointed not to get a challenge at the end of the
day, from a competitor's standpoint?
PENSKE: No, I'm not disappointed at all. They took a lot of pressure
off us when they didn't run because that team has the capability to
knock us off where we were. Obviously, we weren't going to run both
cars. But you never know. As things turned out, Helio was ready. We'd
have pulled in the line right after the two Ganassi cars at least to
try to hold our position.
I think Chip made the right decision. He didn't have a chance to go out
and run at the end, see where he was time-wise. That way they ran out
of time. Believe me, they're going to be the toughest competitors along
with Andretti Green. There's a few other cars which are going to have
-- we're going to have to worry about on race day. We have a long way
from the end.
Q: After all your success here, 13th pole, been here quite a while,
what motivates you? You seem just as excited as you were 30 years ago.
PENSKE: You know, I guess when you go racing, it's about the race
you're in. It's the pole you're trying to run for. You can't look back.
You got to look forward.
The key thing is, when we go to the tracks, we come with experienced
people. I'm thrilled for them. For all of our 34,000 employees around
the world that work for us, when we have a pole or a win, it's a real
plus for them. I guess that's why I'm excited and want to continue to
be successful in the sport.
MODERATOR: We'll bring up the pole winner, Sam Hornish Jr.
Congratulations, Sam.
Q: Roger, I know you don't like to compare drivers, but he's kind of
had a Rick Mears-like month in terms of being fastest every day, today.
He didn't have to go out at the end of the day like Rick usually did
when he won a pole. Do you see a similarity there?
PENSKE: Well, I guess if you had to compare someone to Rick, Sam would
be a great comparison. I think he's done a terrific job. As I said
earlier, he's passionate about the Speedway, what he wants to do here
to win a race. When we got together, that was a goal. I said I'd try to
work together with Tim and the entire team to put him in that position.
He and Helio are great competitors against each other. He not only has
to win against 31 other people; he's got his teammate. Rick knew that.
Certainly Rick has had a lot of conversations with Sam over the years.
I think this pole position, to run over 229 like he did, almost a 229
average, certainly put a stake in the ground even for Helio. Helio
would say that himself. For me, it would have been tough for anybody to
beat him. You don't want to run at the end; you don't want to have to
do that.
MODERATOR: Sam, while you've kept your eyes on the ultimate prize,
earlier today you made some statements that I thought were interesting.
He said there's a lot that goes with this: money, trophy, ring. If you
want to put something additional on your racing resume, winning a pole
at Indianapolis is one of those things. You've done that, added that on
top of being the winningest driver in the history of the Indy Racing
League. That's a great accomplishment.
SAM HORNISH JR.: Thank you. You know, I don't know if anything can
compare to this other than winning the race. A lot of people have
always asked, What would it mean to win the race? I said, I'd do a lot
to win that race, but I can't imagine what it would be like to win it.
I think going through what I've gone through today, the knots that you
have in your stomach, you're thinking about, ‘Yeah, they haven't showed
that they can go out there and beat us yet, but that doesn't mean
they're not going to be able to.’ It's truly never over till it's over.
It's just been a great day for us. I can't imagine a much better day
here at the Speedway than what I've had today.
MODERATOR: Questions for our pole winner.
Q: You've been consistently just ahead of Helio pretty much the whole
time. Do you know why?
HORNISH: I don't know. Helio is a tremendous competitor. I think as far
as just being a little bit quicker than him, that's just – sometimes
it's just your day, sometimes it's your track, you feel comfortable,
the car is just right, you feel everything is right. It's kind of like
when we go to a road course and he consistently –
I've got the fastest time at the end of the day, then he beats me by
2/10ths at the end of the day. I get to think about it for the next
night. The same thing happens the next day, the next day.
We push each other real hard. I think that when I first came to Penske
Racing, there was a little bit of – I felt like I had to prove
something, and he also felt a little bit like he had to prove
something. I think more and more, we're understanding each other, and
we're able to work together better. I think instead of a rivalry that
maybe wasn't a hundred percent healthy at all times, it's become a lot
more healthy. It's making both of us better.
I think that it shows here today. It also shows in the championship.
Helio is leading the championship by what he is, me being third, I
think that's efforts of not only the team but all of us working
together.
Q: Had we seen the format run the way it was intended, do you think we
would have seen more gambling, more guys trying to take a shot at the
pole? Do you think the fact Sam was so much faster pretty much led
everybody to believe, ‘What is the point?’
CINDRIC: I think what you would have seen is a lot more running between
4:30 and 6. If you're not in the top 11, you're going to go run again.
Between 4 and 6, at least in those ranges, there would be a lot more.
To say they would go for the pole, I guess they're doing that by
running. But at that point you're going for the top 11, and whatever
happens, happens.
MODERATOR: There's different perspectives with regards to that. Out of
curiosity, from a fan's perspective, that sounds to us like a lot of
fun. From a mechanic and driver perspective, what does that feel like
to you if we ever get to use that format?
CINDRIC: It would be great to watch if you're on the other side of the
fence. Sitting on our side of the fence, it might be a little bit more
difficult than what it was. I think when it does play out, although I'm
a traditionalist, but when it does play out, I think it will be fun to
sit there and watch because there will be a lot of dynamics involved in
what you do and when you do it.
Q: Roger, if you could answer that, as well.
CINDRIC: You didn't like my answer (laughter)?
PENSKE: I think one of the things you saw today was Sam's dominant run.
If that run would have been last week, I think he would have been in
the same position: tough to beat. Even Helio. But there might have been
more action in the top 11.
Certainly we wouldn't have gone out today unless we saw someone in
practice could have run quicker. We were watching the other
competitors, how they were running after qualifying, when they're up on
their own in practice. There wasn't anybody close. At that point you
weren't going to risk your situation.
Q: Sam, we know you traditionally don't get very excited. You smile a
bit here. Are you starting to get a pumped up now? Is the pole step one?
HORNISH: That's definitely step one. I'd like to skip about six years
walking out of here feeling like I couldn't drive the race car. But,
you know, today was an unbelievable day. I feel I've often said if I
ever did win the race, I don't think that I'd be able to talk, and it
would be a terrible interview. With how things have gone so far this
month, I don't know if I'd be able to shut up. That might be the better
of the two.
Q: When you went out there and were sitting on your rear tire, you had
all those cameras, what was going through your mind? How tough was it
to just kind of take in the moment and you have to wait for another
hour before you can celebrate?
HORNISH: I was sitting there kind of just watching what everybody was
doing. I was sitting at the back because I could see out of my eye that
Helio was still sitting in the car, which was making me a little bit
nervous. Finally he waves me over, said, ‘Am I making you nervous yet?’
I said, ‘Yeah, you're making me nervous.’ He just kind of laughed a
little bit.
I was just basically trying to think about anything other than, you
know, somebody going out there and going faster than us. I was hoping
all these other guys kept getting in line and going out and running
qualifying runs because I was pretty happy where we were at, and I know
it's not over till it's over.
Q: The reward is that you start the race from the front row. Can you
explain starting the race from the front row, what that is going to be
like, what kind of advantage that gives you on Race Day?
HORNISH: I went from -- you know, last year when I came here, my goal
was just to start in the first two rows. We ended up starting second.
This year I felt a little bit like if I didn't start on the front row,
I would be a little bit disappointed. We start on the pole.
I think it just – being able to see the beginning of the race, bringing
it on at the pace, I think that you can win this race from anywhere, so
it doesn't mean just because you start on the pole, you know, that
you've got it made, that it's going to be your day. I think for me
being able to put that – check that thing off on your racing resume,
saying that you're an Indianapolis 500 pole sitter, the only thing that
trumps that is Indianapolis 500 race winner.
I feel much more better than I've ever felt at the Speedway, maybe
except for the day that I qualified for the first time here. It's been
a heck of a day.
Q: Roger, jump forward a week. What are we thinking for race pace this
year?
PENSKE: Well, I think you're going to see laps, you know, obviously in
the 224, 225. Light loads of fuel, we get some more rubber on the
track, we make some adjustments in the car during the race, I think
you're going to see some speeds, maybe even higher at some point. It's
a difficult thing to get the gears right. If it's a slower pace, you
have too tall of gears, you're not going to be as competitive off the
corner.
One of the other things that really wasn't mentioned here, there's a
real by-product of the pole, and that's getting the first pit spot
going out. That's a huge advantage which we'll be in the first two
spots. That gives you the benefit of once you're in, you don't have to
worry about someone coming out and getting into you as you're coming
out. That's going to be very important.
To me, Tim and I talked about it earlier, I know Tim is always keen on
getting the best pit selection. I think that's going to give us a real
opportunity.
Race pace will be in the (2)21, (2)22. I think early on it might be
quicker because there won't be the traffic. You're going to have to be
very careful. It's going to be tough to pass. Cars running 217, 218,
you're running 221, you have to be awful careful making a pass.
Q: Game plan for tomorrow? Doing any more full-tank runs or button it
up and let everybody else go out?
PENSKE: The plan tomorrow is to take the engine, since we only have one
engine, take the engine out of the qualified cars and put those engines
into our backup cars, run as much as we can tomorrow with race fuel,
race setup as the track, I think we'll have a lot of time, the weather
is warm, hopefully that's the way it will be on Race Day. That will be
some of the main things we'll do. Look at our fuel mileage, really run
these engines out.
CINDRIC: I'm sure we'll prepare for the pit stops and so forth. Toward
the end of the day, you'll see a lot of pit stop action toward the end
of the day.
PENSKE: We'll also be scuffing tires. We'll want to have a number of
scuffed sets of tires ready for the race. We'd like to get that done
tomorrow. On Carburetion Day, it's go out, make sure the car doesn't
have any leaks in it, it feels good, there's no vibration,
then we'll put it away. If you ran 50 miles, it would be a lot.
MODERATOR: Thank you very much. Congratulations on a great month.
