The Field is Now Set…and Re-Set
The field is now set for the 110th Running of the Indianapolis 500; and it has now been re-set. Two cars failed post-inspection last night, for pretty much the same infraction that disqualified two Andretti cars from the post-race results last year.
We arrived home last night around midnight central time. After unloading the car and before going to sleep, we learned that the No. 4 car of Caio Collet (AJ Foyt Racing) and the No. 24 car of Jack Harvey (Dreyer & Reinbold Racing) had been found to have an illegal modification of the Electronic Management System (EMS) cover. Those two cars will be moved to the back of the grid for Sunday’s race and everyone else will move up two spots.
This punishes Collet a lot more than it does Harvey. Harvey had a poor performance in Sunday’s qualifying and had only qualified twenty-ninth, in the middle of Row Ten. He will now start thirty-third, so he loses four spots. Collet, on the other hand, had qualified tenth, and was the fastest rookie in the field. He will move back to thirty-second, right next to Harvey – a loss of twenty-two spots. With both of their speeds wiped out, Mick Schumacher is designated as the fastest rookie in the field.
My question is…how does this happen?
You had two Andretti cars busted for what sounds like the exact same infraction last year after the race. Some rules appear to have a gray area, but this one is about as black & white as you can get. It essentially says that the cover for the EMS must be the one provided by Dallara, and cannot be modified whatsoever. That doesn’t sound like there’s much room for interpretation.
I also find it curious that the other team cars to the violators passed inspection. This tells me that someone down the food chain probably made a decision out of ignorance, instead of maliciousness. But where was the oversight? Somewhere along the way, someone should’ve instructed everyone to what happened in last year’s race with the Andretti cars, and used this as an example as what not to do. Instead, we had teams that didn’t learn from other’s mistakes. At least, this happened before the race. Both cars showed throughout the month that they are fast. They can make up a lot of positions in 500 miles.
There are two more practices before Sunday’s race – one today (Monday) at 1:00 pm EDT on FS1. There is a storm system moving in from the St. Louis area that could threaten the two-hour practice. There is also the two-hour Carb Day practice on Friday morning starting at 11:00 am EDT. The long-range forecast calls for a 91% chance of thunderstorms on Friday. The good news is that it is currently showing a 30% chance of rain on Race Day – at least on my weather app. Both of those will surely change as the week progresses.
I am hopeful that our safe month continues and no one wads up a car this afternoon (or Friday). You don’t want to start the Indianapolis 500 in a car you’ve not driven before.
I am closing with a few random shots Susan got yesterday during the first round of qualifying. I am also including a revised lineup to reflect the two penalized cars. Please remember to get your Trivia Contest entries in by 6:00 pm EDT on Tuesday May 19 (tomorrow). Also please remember that there will be new and original content here every day in May through Memorial Day. That includes a post tomorrow on one of the less known about winners of the Indianapolis 500. You will learn why no one likes to talk about him.
George Phillips
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