Indy 500 Entries - Can We Get 33?

[Bob Riebe]

Originally Posted by Kicking-back

I think anyone who reads these forums regularly will know I don't post bigoted opinions - and I am quite even handed in terms of praising or criticising ChampCar and IndyCar.

I am astonished anyone would try to defend the racing abilities of Jack Miller.

Brave and enthusiastic he may be.

Nice guy he may be.

Top class racing driver of Indy 500 standard - I think not.

He made the effort to qualify, successfully, with an engine that definetly handicapped him, which says more about his persona.
It takes more guts and talent to try to make a long shot work, than getting into top rate car, which is almost guaranteed to work.
World class drivers have failed to cut the mustard at Indy, by repeatedly qualifying, mid-field in a budget short, in a car with an engine no one else could make work, he showed that he had far more talent than those who failed to qualify.

There is that old saying about walking a mile in another's shoes that I think far too many here should look up and take to heart.

Bob

[marcus]

OMg , what just happened here.

I am going to find myself agreeing with Bob

despite his (alledged) lack of ability jack Miller has done it folks.

He qualified and raced in the Indy 500 and thats more than I or probably anyone posting here at ten tenths has done.

I hate slamming drivers , i think its wrong , these guys share a passion with us that is racing cars and they got off their bums and made it happen , It doesnt matter if the talent level may have been a bit lower they did it.

to me you still need nerves of steel to steer a car around Indy at 200 , 210 or 220 MPH , thats blindingly quick in anyones language.

well done Dr Jack miller for living your dream , it didnt turn out the way you wanted it to but hey you made it happen




P.S Great news if davey hamilton can get back to Indy , he was superb before his accident , I for one hope this happens

[Kicking-back]

Yes.

A talented driver, Davey Hamilton.

It would be marvellous if he could get back to his best.

Good luck to him.

[BootsOntheSide]

Nothing personally against Jack Miller, but he wasn't racing against fields of the strength of today (or pre-1995), and I'm srue he'd've raced a Chevrolet rather than a Nissan given the option - I doubt 'loyalty' really comes into it. He couldn't cut the mustard at all today, like it or not. I'm astonished that anyone could get so angry as to make personal attacks in response to honest criticism of such a driver.

Davey Hamilton returning would be a real positive thing, it's a shame the championship had largely left him behind by the time he'd returned to fitness.

[JohnSSC]

Whoa there folks!

Clearly a nerve has been touched here, but I think Bob is trying to make a good point: Through the years at The 500, however deep the field, there were always the "one-off" type drivers who only came to Indy to grab the milk bottle.

Look up Pat Bedard. How deep were the fields he ran in? Jim Crawford? Dick Simon? Stan Fox? Look at the qualifying grid for nearly every race and you will see someone who came and perhaps did not conquer, but looked Indy in the eye and competed.

Yeah, sometimes I joke about Pat Bedard making the field, but he did, and I never will!

[BootsOntheSide]

Maybe guys like Robbie McGehee and Billy Boat are equivalent to people like Bedard and Simon, they are just made to look like top-line racers by the fact that they ran regualrly in the IRL when it wasn't as strong? In any case, Miller is not among the best drivers likely to miss out on the 500.

[GP Racer]

Perhaps the best racers in the world, are not the best racers for this series though.

I suspect there are more than a few IRL fans that would rather see McGhee, and Boat, than Enge, Briscoe, Takagi or Lotterer...

[BootsOntheSide]

Originally Posted by GP Racer

Its alittle to early to tell, but I think they'll make it, barely. The money and final deals usually only happen in the the month of May. Some possibilities I see:

1 - one or two CC entries
2 - Marty Roth
3 - AJ Foyt will add a car
4 - Fernandez should be there
5 - D&R could add a car
6 - Robby Gordon for sure, and maybe a second car for him?
7 - Helmegarn is a good possibility, with Paul Dana at the wheel
8 - Sam Schmidt has has a strong IPS team, he could do the race
9 - Playa Del Racing is a possibility, with Ed Carpenter?
10 - Possible third entry for Penske
11 - Mo Nunn should be there
12 - Maybe Pat Patrick to!
13 - Let's hope Access gets onto the grid to

I'm probably missing some, but I'm optomistic about makng 33. Be nice to see a real Bump Day though...

Just to bring this back and update it, we've got 22 full season entries, which means we'd need 11 extras to fill the grid. Looking at this list, #7 has happened, and #9 is effectively equivalent to Vision, so that leaves 11 required from elsewhere. #1 looks likely with 2 Newman Haas entries, #11 and #4 could happen with Mo Nunn running a Fernandez entry for Adrian, #5 saw D&R announce Jeff Bucknum, and #6 appears very likely as well. Beyond that we've got a third Panther entry. 33 seems quite possible right now.

[GP Racer]

Although there has been absolutely no news on Access Racing, I gotta believe that Greg Ray will make it into the 500 also. I also havn't heard anything about his driver Mark Taylor either. I find it troubling that a team can be forgotten by a series so easily like this. There should be some news about them coming from the IRL, but there hasn't been any that I'm aware of.

What about Patrick? Has anyone heard anything on that front?

Playa Del Racings web-site is still up for some reason, but there is nothing new on it.

[Hazza]

And remember that unless Sam or Helio write off their spare car, some one allways qualifies the spare Penske chassis. So thats an almost definate +1

[Down F0rce]

http://www.indycar.com/news/story.php?story_id=4235

Mo Nunn/Fernandez deal is confirmed.

[Kicking-back]

Good news.

Sounds like it may be Adrian's last race: "I've nothing left to prove"

[BootsOntheSide]

That's great news, Adrian richly deserves a final fling, and so does Mo. As far as the thrid Penske is concerned, maybe Sam Schmidt will put one of his IPS drivers in the car?

[Team Owner]

Playa Del Racing has leased a shop over on Girls School Road in Indy and is in the process of buying a car from Ganassi to run Indy with Jaques Lazier behind the wheel.
Sam Schmidt announced today that they will run Ritchie Hearn at Indy.
Panther will announce Buddy Lazier in a third car Thursday.
Carl Haas is supposed to announce a 2 car effort soon.
One more announcement is close with Honda engines.
Jeff Bucknam tested D & Rs car at Phoenix Monday and is supposed to run a second car for them at Indy.
Access has not had anyone at their shop in Indy for 4 weeks now.
Marty Roths car has been put together except for an engine deal.
There should be a second car for Nunn-Fernandez racing at Indy is what I was told today.

[rush1]

I don't know if this was added but Richie Hearn has found a ride with Sam Schmidt as well!

http://www.indystar.com/articles/0/231104-9450-102.html

[Kicking-back]

Sounding good.

Lets hope some of those deals Team Owner mentions can stay around for the whole season.

[Down F0rce]

Great stuff, sounds like a fuller field already.

[macdaddy]

This, from SpeedTV:

Adrian Fernandez has confirmed today the creation of Nunn Fernandez Racing... for the pairing’s Indy one-off next May.

...to field a Panoz/Honda for Fernandez with backing from Investment Properties of America, an Indianapolis-based real state company which will also support another two Indy entries...

To the obvious question of how (Fernandez) will he feel about battling his own cars... "Of course we’ll never do something that could damage each other’s chances, but at the end of the day, we will be racers competing against each other."

Go win it, Adrian!!!

[macdaddy]

My apologies, this has already been covered in another thread!

[Down F0rce]

No problem I'll just merge them.

[Down F0rce]

A few more tidbits from this aticle:

A.J. Foyt’s team expects to run two extra Toyota-powered cars, for Scott Mayer and Larry Foyt.

...In Toyota’s camp, as many as 15 entries could be fielded. The major additions would come from a second Vision Racing entry, likely to be steered by IPS ace P.J. Chesson...

Chevy claims it can supply a total of six cars in the month of May. That leaves another three entries to add to Panther’s, one of them expected to be fielded by Infiniti Pro Series regulars Sam Schmidt Motorsports. The other two could go to currently-inactive squads PDM Racing and Beck Motorsports, pending on sponsorship.


Looks like we'll get over 33 this year, maybe around the 35/36 mark?

[Team Owner]

The Playa Del Racing deal hit a snag today as the check for the chassis never made it to the Ganassi shops.

[trow]

Originally Posted by Team Owner

The Playa Del Racing deal hit a snag today as the check for the chassis never made it to the Ganassi shops.

What happened, it wasn't a national holiday?

<jk>

[GP Racer]

Amazing that this Playa team just can't get it together, especially considering the list of big name sponsors they seem to have, like DHL, and Sirius Radio to name a couple.

Yeah, things are looking good for this 500, no doubt about it. Dare I say that we may have a proper bump day this season? Or would that just jinx things? When TG said that 33 is just a number, maybe he meant that more than 33 would be OK.

[BootsOntheSide]

Wow, there seem to be load sof deals in the pipeline. Even if only half of these come together we'll still have a full grid. It'd be great if a few of these entries either appear before Indy (perhaps at Motegi) or get backing to stick around for the whole season. A few of the deals are questionable, I'm not sure I can trust Playa Del after last time and I don't know if Beck or PDM have any sponsorship going, but we can hope.