Indy in arrears due to practice delays

The weather only permitted 11 drivers to qualify for the 33-car field so far.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Ladies and gentlemen, start your scrambling.

The rain that washed out 3 1/2 days of practice and one day of qualifications for this year’s Indianapolis 500 is now forcing teams to adjust schedules, spend more time deciphering computer analyses and, of course, look for more speed.

Those cramming sessions could continue all week.

With a forecast calling for more rain Wednesday and a chance of rain later in the week, teams will have to figure out the best way to prepare for the second weekend of qualifications as well as race day.

“It’s a little tough,” said Oriol Servia, the Spanish rookie at this race. “We had rain all week, so we couldn’t test as many things as we wanted. We’re going to have to go qualifying next weekend, which means that this next week instead of focusing 100 percent on race setup, we’re going to have to think of qualifying setup.”

Drivers and teams weren’t the only ones disappointed with the latest cancellation Sunday.

It may also complicate the efforts of drivers like Roberto Moreno and Jimmy Kite, who are unemployed, to find a ride for the May 25 race. Many teams that might be tempted to fill extra cars are unlikely to do that until the regular drivers are assured of starting spots.

The weather only permitted 11 drivers to qualify for the 33-car field Saturday. Track officials hope to fill the remaining 22 spots next Saturday, leaving Sunday as the traditional Bump Day when non-qualified drivers can attempt to make the race by knocking the slowest qualifiers out of the field.

Joie Chitwood, the Speedway president, and Brian Barnhart, the Indy Racing League’s president of competition, wanted cars to get at least three hours to practice and qualify Sunday when starting spots 11 through 22 were scheduled to be filled.

Now they’ve been pushed back to next weekend.

“I think when you deal with something like that, you go with your last resort,” Chitwood said.

Chitwood said that with no practices scheduled for Monday or today, many team members already had plans to return home, and track officials didn’t want to create any more complications.

Now the teams still trying to qualify must figure out how to balance race preparations with qualifying preparations.

There is only one day of practice scheduled for race week and that is a brief session May 23, making this week’s three full practice sessions — Wednesday, Thursday and Friday — likely to be extremely busy. Presuming, of course, it is dry.

“We don’t have a whole lot of track time to be out there squandering around working on qualifying trim,” IRL veteran and new team owner Sarah Fisher said. “There’s not just enough time to do that. We have to make the best use of our time we can.”