The field for the Indianapolis 500 is currently filled, but with more than three hours remaining in Bump Day, expect the back end of the grid to be quite fluid as drivers attempt to get in or get back in the field. Right now, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is in practice mode with no qualifiers in line to make an attempt.
As of 2:25 p.m. ET, Bruno Junqueira has been the fastest driver this afternoon after putting a second FAZZT Race Team machine at 25th position with a four-lap average of 225.662 m.p.h. — an amazing accomplishment since the machine had only taken a handful of practice laps before the four-lap run.
So far, one bump has taken place as Sarah Fisher Racing’s Jay Howard managed to put KV Racing Technology’s Takuma Sato out of the field with a four-lap average of 223.824 m.p.h. Sato had put up a first run averaging 221 m.p.h. You can check out the provisional live grid on IndyCar.com to see how the field stands at this point. The current driver on the bubble is rookie Sebastian Saavedra (223.634) in the No. 29 Bryan Herta Autosport car.
Tony Kanaan has yet to qualify for the grid after Andretti Autosport team members took parts from one of Ryan Hunter-Reay’s machines to help patch Kanaan’s No. 11T machine together again. Kanaan crashed his backup car this morning in practice. Since returning to the track, he has run a fast lap of 223.3 m.p.h. in practice mode.
Keep up with the drama of Bump Day with updates on twitter.com/estradawriting.
