Saturday, May 27, 2006
Keep it safe: IRL president Brian Barnhart made his ritual plea for safety Saturday and reminded the drivers that pole-starter Sam Hornish Jr. will control the pace as the field heads toward the green flag at the start of the race. "Sam has earned the pole and that responsibility," Barnhart said during the annual drivers meeting. "The key to a good start is patience and discipline. Don't waste a month's worth of time and effort and money by crashing on the first turn of the first lap." The pace car will bring the field around the fourth turn onto the front straightaway at about 105 mph to 110 mph. Once the pace car pulls off the track, each row is to maintain that pace and keep the same distance behind the row in front of it until the green flag falls. Helio Castroneves, a two-time winner and Hornish's Penske Racing teammate, will start in the middle of the front row; defending champion Dan Wheldon of Ganassi Racing will start on the outside. "If I get the jump on the start, then I'm going to lead them into Turn 1," Hornish said. "If not, the big thing is to just be patient and make sure that we make it all 200 laps." Hornish has never made it the entire 500 miles, and his best finish in six Indy races was 14th in 2001. Three of his races have ended in crashes. "A lot of times in the past, I've come into this race saying, 'How can I win?' This year, I'm saying, 'Why can't I?' ... I think if we make it to the end, we'll be right there fighting for it."
Busiest driver: Rookie Marco Andretti's 635 laps in practice this month were the most by any of the 33 drivers in today's race and 140 more than the next active driver, Scott Sharp. "I'm learning every lap out," Andretti said Saturday. "Fortunately for me, there haven't been too many surprises. As a rookie, that's all you can ask for." The 19-year-old son of car owner and teammate Michael Andretti was the fastest of five rookie qualifiers and will start ninth, on the outside of the third row. His father, whose last race was in 2003, will start 13th, on the inside of the fifth row. "I'm really excited to get it going," Marco said. "It's going to be nervous until the green flag comes. ... The best feeling is after the first couple of laps when you get away and get ready for the 500 miles."
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