Oilpressure

The Fast Nine has now been set for the 100th Running of the Indianapolis 500. More on that in a minute, but I have some really important news to report. The old-school classic Jumbo Tenderloin at the track has been located. It took a total of four days at the track over two weekends, but I finally found a concession stand under the Paddock stands, near Section 7. One the old Grill 33 sells them for $9. That’s a hefty jump from the 2013 price of $6, but is well worth it.

The hot handful of goodness wrapped in foil felt familiar as I unwrapped it. The toasted bun and the irregularly shaped meat told me this was the real thing.The seasoned batter was unmistakable. Why the few vendors that sell them can’t replicate this is beyond me. They are endangered, but they are not extinct. Let’s make sure that stand sells out so that they will recognize what the public wants for future races.

So, aside from that excitement, there was some on-track action to report. Pippa Mann crashed on her qualifying run. She spun coming out of Turn Two and hit the inside wall. The car was not too heavily damaged and Pippa was fine, but she was done for the day. It was later determined that her car suffered a rear wing end fence failure. Conor Daly’s car was pulled from the qualifying line to make sure the same thing didn’t happen to him as happened to his Coyne teammate.

I’m not completely clear on the rules, but it appears that Pippa and Max Chilton will both be relegated to the back row of the grid.

At the opposite end, are the Fast Nine that is now set. From today’s quickest times to the slowest, the Fast Nine will be James Hinchcliffe, who had a four-lap average speed of 230.946 mph. By being the fastest today, he will have the honor of going last – when the track is the coolest. The rest of the Fast Nine in order of speed are Ryan Hunter-Reay, Will Power, Helio Castroneves, Townsend Bell, Josef Newgarden, Mikhail Aleshin, Carlos Muñoz and Simon Pagenaud.

Curiously missing are defending Indianapolis 500 champion Juan Montoya and all four cars from Chip Ganassi Racing. Also missing is two-time pole winner Ed Carpenter.

The big question leading into the day was if the Chevy powered cars were sandbagging. Since only four Chevys made the Fast Nine, I’d say they were not. We’ll see what transpires at the end of the day tomorrow when the Fast Nine battle it out for the pole.

On another note, Susan is moving slowly today at the track. She is still working on her post, but it will not be up until tomorrow. Her medication seems to be working and she’s feeling much better. Let’s hope she still feels good when it wears off tonight.

Anyway, we’ll be here much earlier tomorrow. The qualifying runs made tomorrow actually count for something. What a unique concept! Check back early and often tomorrow for updates.

George Phillips

This entry was posted on May 21, 2016 at 6:49 pm and is filed under Indianapolis 500. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.