After a wild Pole Day that determined the first 24 positions, the Indianapolis 500 grid will be fully loaded this afternoon.
Bump Day proceedings will get started at Noon ET down in Indianapolis, with regular four-lap qualifying filling the final nine spots and then bumping afterwards. There are some big names on the list of drivers that are still on the outside looking in, including 2004 IZOD IndyCar Series champ Tony Kanaan, 2002 Indy 500 runner-up (or winner, depending on your point of view) Paul Tracy, fan favorite Sarah Fisher, and the seemingly indestructible Vitor Meira for A.J. Foyt Racing.
Kanaan’s problems are continuing to escalate at this hour after a practice crash earlier this morning did heavy rear-end damage to his backup No. 11 Andretti Autosport entry. It’s the second car he’s crashed in the last two days, as he wrecked his primary car during a qualifying attempt yesterday. Even more strange, the backup crash began in almost the same spot that the primary crash began — right off of Turn 1, going into the short chute. We’ll see what he and his team propose to do in order to get him into the show today.
But whatever happens, Bump Day will have to go a long way to be as exciting as Pole Day activity was on Saturday. Helio Castroneves killed the Fast Nine shootout early, but other than that, the fans seemed to take to the new Indy 500 qualifying format. The format basically turns one show into two — the race to get into the Fast Nine and the race to get into the top 24 positions and qualify for the show — and even on TV, you could notice a stronger attendance level and spirit amongst the fans, who gave noticeable ovations to Castroneves and Simona de Silvestro, and also gave Danica Patrick a cascade of boos.
It was just a really strange day, overall — at least, outside of the usual Penske/Ganassi dominance. Potential pole and Fast Nine contenders instead found calamity and struggle, while outsiders like Graham Rahal and Ed Carpenter were able to break into the final shootout. Both American pilots have no full-time sponsorship and are in one-off situations here at Indy, which is simply a bad statement to have to write.
Unfortunately, such is the nature of the sport and the economy — until both of them improve, backers willing to invest in a full season of racing are likely to remain elusive. Fans can only hope for strong finishes from the both of them, which might help their efforts to be regulars again.
However, the biggest hero amongst fans begging for the “Big Two” teams to get toppled seems to be Alex Tagliani. The former Champ Car star and his FAZZT Race Team — a newcomer to the Brickyard — have been phenomenal so far at the Speedway. “Tag” will start fifth on the grid next Sunday and held the pole for about three and a half hours before Castroneves took P1 from him in the first segment.
You have to remember how far the Canadian has come from last year at IMS, when he was left on the qualifying line as time ran out, and all he could do was watch as Ryan Hunter-Reay knocked him out of the field. He had to replace Bruno Junqueira in order to race in the ‘500.’ Now, he’s a contender for the race win and has ‘Junky’ in a second car for the team he co-owns. It’s simply a great story.
But now, the scene has shifted. It all starts in less than 90 minutes, so remember to keep up with updates on my Twitter page, which you can access by clicking the “T” icon in the Social Media box here on the front page. I’ll also have updates periodically during the day here on IndyRacingRevolution.com, so keep both sites in your browser as the field gets set for the Greatest Spectacle in Racing.
