The great news today was Dragon Racing officially getting Chevrolet engines and hitting the race track. Now we have thirty-three car and engine combination and I think everyone can breathe a sigh of relief. Tomorrow will be the first time these times get to practice with their extra turbo boost that will also be allowed for the qualifying day. I would like to make a few observations known that came to mind to me today.
What is up with KV Racing?
If you look at the combined practice results after Thursday, the primary cars were 21st (Kanaan), 26th (Rubinho) and 30th (Viso). Unless they have only been focused on race day setup to this point, they have been the slowest of the Chevrolet teams. One had to expect that Rubinho would have struggled a little bit due to the fact that he had never been on an oval before the month of May. However, Kanaan knows Indianapolis very well and too many is the best driver at Indianapolis who has yet to win there. Maybe I am speaking too soon but I think many expected Kanaan closer to the top ten.
Is Justin Wilson finally getting a hang of ovals?
He was fifth fastest today andthat time was good enough for ninth fastest for the whole month. When unification occurred, Wilson was seen as only a threat on road and street course but many felt once he got a hang of ovals he would become a force to be reckoned with and a few people had him rumored to be going to Ganassi Racing a few years back. Well that did not happen as we all know and he did not have the best of luck at Dreyer & Reinbold. But Dale Coyne seems to be his team. If he qualifies as well as he has been practicing, this maybe a great jump start for Wilson as the season heads into summer.
Could we see a 34th entry?
Now I know this seems far fetched but I cannot stop thinking about it. First off, as long as AJ Foyt is alive anything is possible. Ed Carpenter left his second entrant on the entry list so could we see an eleventh hour deal there and what hope is there for Mike Shank?
A Few Anniversaries
This year marks the fiftieth anniversary of Rodger Ward's second victory, fortieth anniversary of Mark Donohue's victory, thirty-fifth anniversary of AJ Foyt's fourth victory, thirtieth anniversary of Gordon Johncock holding off Rick Mears, twenty-fifth anniversary of Al Unser's fourth victory, twentieth anniversary of the closest finished in the history of the Indianapolis 500 with Al Unser Jr. beating Scott Goodyear and this is the tenth anniversary of the infamous 2002 Indianapolis 500. The trophy and record book say Helio Castroneves but Paul Tracy begs to differ.
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