Saturday, May 22, 2004
Today is the last full day of practice before Sunday's final round of time trials.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- When Al Unser Jr. looks around the Patrick Racing garage at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway he sees mostly unfamiliar faces.
The two-time Indy 500 winner came here this month knowing there was going to be a steep learning curve for everybody on a team that was cobbled together at the last minute.
"The only thing from Patrick Racing in the past is [team owner] Pat Patrick," Unser said Friday after spending a good portion of the day working on the speedway's 21/2-mile oval to find the right combination of speed and balance in his Chevrolet-powered Dallara.
He got up to 212.974 mph, a good bit below his qualifying speed of 217.966 that placed him 17th among the 26 qualifiers last weekend. But, after several days of struggle, Unser said the team was headed back in the right direction.
More work needed
"I've been unhappy with the car, but not today," he said. "We got the car back to where we qualified it and we're going to get in a lot more work tomorrow."
Today is the last full day of practice before Sunday's third and final round of time trials. After that, the only time the drivers will get back on track before the May 30 race is during the traditional two-hour "Carburetion Day" practice on Thursday.
Unser would like to have more time, particularly for his untried crew.
"Just about everything is new," Unser added, smiling. "All the guys are new. We're starting pretty much from scratch."
That's also something new for Unser, who has come to the speedway in the past with veteran teams like Team Penske, Galles Racing and Kelley Racing.
In his 16 starts since arriving at Indy in 1983, Unser has been among the favorites to win the race most years. This time, an Unser victory would be considered a big upset.
Still, he is grateful that Patrick, who folded his team in the rival Champ Car series after the 2003 season and started the all new operation last month, came calling.
The 42-year-old Unser lost his IRL ride with Kelley after his primary sponsor left the team at the end of last season. Then he fractured his pelvis when he was thrown off a four-wheeler while chasing a coyote on his ranch.
A month ago, Unser, who has completely recovered from the injury, didn't know if he would have a ride at all, let alone one that would give him another shot at his beloved Indy, the track where his father won four times and his uncle, Bobby, won three times.
"The fact that this is all so new has definitely showed in our performance," Unser said. "But the guys have done a terrific job for the amount of work that had to be done to be here."
With all the work of getting the car together and getting Unser qualified and prepared for the team's first race, there hasn't been any time for pit stop practice. With new, smaller fuel tanks making more stops in the race likely, that could be a real handicap for Unser.
"They're going to do the best job they can do, and that's all we can ask of them," Unser said. "This is going to be a very good race team once we have been working together for a while."
Adrian Fernandez and two-time race winner Helio Castroneves topped 22 already-qualified drivers who practiced Friday. Fernandez hit 218.257 and Castroneves 218.040.