Surprise! Buddy Rice takes Indy 500 pole

Kenny Black's substitute driver topped 21 other qualifiers.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Buddy Rice wasn't the driver everyone expected to win the pole for the Indianapolis 500.
Perhaps the only one not surprised to find Rice at the top of the tentative grid for May 30 race after Saturday's opening round of time trials was the youngster himself.
"That's obviously what I was brought here to do when I came to sub for Kenny Brack," said Rice, who replaced the injured former Indy 500 winner and IRL champion this season.
Despite winning his first IRL pole in the season-opener at Homestead, Rice wasn't even among the favorites going into the first of three days of qualifying at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
At the end of the day, though, it was the man filling in at Rahal Letterman Racing who topped 21 other qualifiers with a four-lap, 10-mile average of 222.024 mph.
"I'm not sure we knew we were going to run 222, but we knew we had enough to go for the pole, for sure," the 28-year-old Rice said. "People say we were under the radar all month.
"I just think that we don't cheat ourselves. We make sure we know where we're running and where we need to be."
Practice leader
Tony Kanaan, the fastest driver during the six days of practice leading to the first of three days of qualifying, said he was surprised by Rice.
"Yeah, everybody was," said Kanaan, who wound up a disappointing fifth at 221.200, trailing Andretti Green Racing teammates Dan Wheldon (221.524) and Dario Franchitti (221.471) as well as Newman/Haas Racing's Bruno Junqueira (221.379).
Helio Castroneves, last year's polesitter and a two-time Indy winner, was a disappointing eighth at 220.882. His Toyota-powered Dallara was the only car without a Honda engine to break into the top nine.
"We had a range where we were going from being brave to being stupid," Castroneves said. "Unfortunately, this place is amazing. That's why it's so difficult because it's constantly changing."
Saturday was not vintage Indy, though. The day began without enough car-driver combinations in line to fill the traditional 33-car field.
Wet track
To make matters worse, morning rain delayed the start of qualifying for more than three hours and unseasonably cold temperatures held down the crowd and made the 21/2-mile asphalt oval slower and more treacherous than usual.
"The weather played into our hands a little bit," Rice said. "We didn't know it was going to be this cold but, obviously, in this weather, some of the other drivers dropped off and our car maybe picked up."
Running on cold tires and on the cold track, Bryan Herta, Felipe Giaffone and Alex Barron all crashed moments after taking the green flag for the start of a qualifying run. Herta came away from his collision with the energy-absorbing SAFER Barrier at close to 220 mph with some abrasions, Barron bruised his right knee and Giaffone was not injured.
All three are expected to try again today, along with Tora Takagi and rookie Marty Roth, the only other drivers who have been on the track since practice began last Sunday.
With more practice scheduled next week, and the final day of time trials on May 23, several backup cars are still expected to be made available to other drivers looking for rides.
But, with the possibility of not filling the field for the first time since 1947, some drivers took slower qualifying numbers Saturday than they might have in previous years.
The two entries of four-time Indy winner A.J. Foyt, grandson A.J. IV and son Larry, brought up the rear Saturday with speeds of 213.277 and 214.256, respectively.
"My dad's thinking was that it's plenty fast to be in the race," Larry Foyt said. "He's been here a long time and he knows the big payday comes on race day."
Roger Yasukawa and Vitor Meira, who also are driving for co-owners Bobby Rahal, the 1986 Indy champion; and TV personality David Letterman, qualified on Saturday.
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