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2006 INDIANAPOLIS 500    QUALIFYING

2006 RACE SCHEDULE

• May 7: THE STAR AND CAREERBUILDER.COM OPENING DAY / ROOKIE ORIENTATION PROGRAM
  Noon-5 p.m.
• May 8: ROOKIE ORIENTATION PROGRAM
  Noon-5 p.m.
• May 9-11: PRACTICE (All drivers)
  Noon-6 p.m.
• May 12: FAST FRIDAY PRACTICE (All drivers)
  Noon-6 p.m.
• May 13: WORLDPOINTS VISA CARD POLE DAY QUALIFYING
  9-11 a.m., Practice
  Noon-6 p.m., WorldPoints Visa Pole Qualifications
  6 p.m., WorldPoints Visa Pole Award Ceremony (Victory Podium)
• May 14: SECOND DAY QUALIFYING
  Noon-6 p.m.
• May 17-19: PRACTICE (All drivers)
  Noon-6 p.m.
• May 20: COCA-COLA THROWBACK DAY QUALIFYING
  10:15-11:15 a.m., Practice
  Noon-6 p.m., Qualifications
• May 21: BUMP DAY (Final day of qualifications)
  10:15-11:15 a.m., Practice
  Noon-6 p.m., Qualifications
• May 25: FREEDOM 100 PRACTICE, QUALIFYING
  9-9:45 a.m. and 11-11:45 a.m., Freedom 100 Practice
  1:15 p.m. -- Freedom 100 SWE Race Car Parts Pole Qualifying
  3:40 -4 p.m. -- Freedom 100 Final Practice
• May 26: MILLER LITE CARB DAY
  11 a.m.-noon, IndyCar Series Practice
  Noon,, Freedom 100 Pre-Race
  12:30 p.m., Freedom 100
  1:30-3 p.m., Checkers/Rally's Pit Stop Competition
  3:30 p.m., Miller Lite Carb Day Concert
• May 28: RACE DAY
  1 p.m., 90th Indianapolis 500-Mile Race

HONDA DAY 11 REPORT    (TOP OF PAGE)

• Action-Filled Qualifying Expected Saturday at Indy
• Practice in preparation for qualifying for the 90th running of the Indianapolis 500 concluded today with "Fast Friday II", a nearly-full day of on-track action at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, with 34 of the 35 drivers and teams entered to date taking to the track.
• Marlboro Team Penske's Sam Hornish Jr. posted the fastest lap speed today at 227.925 mph, but Target Chip Ganassi Racing's Dan Wheldon heads the combined speed charts for all seven practice days at 228.663 mph.
• In all, Hornish has been fastest in six of the seven practice days, but Wheldon claimed overall speed honors in the practice held on Sunday, May 14, just before rain washed out qualifying. Tony Kanaan was the 2005 pole qualifier with a four-lap average of 227.566 mph.
• This year, it has been the "Month of Rain" in Indianapolis, with nearly every day of practice shortened by adverse weather conditions, and last weekend's scheduled first two days of qualifying completely rained out. However, the weather forecast for the coming weekend is encouraging, with only a chance of occasional showers predicted as Honda prepares to supply engines to the entire 33-car starting field for the first time.
• A total of 35 drivers have turned 8,094 laps in practice this week, for a total of 20,235 miles. There have been three Honda engine changes thus far at Indianapolis, with Buddy Rice and Thiago Medeiros receiving new engines as a precaution following their crashes earlier this week. Friday, Bryan Herta also received a new engine for the remainder of practice and qualifying due to an internal problem detected by telemetry.
• Roger Griffiths (Race Team Technical Leader, Honda Performance Development) on qualifying all 33 cars in one day: "We're in pretty good shape for qualifying, I believe, and we have a pretty reasonable plan developed for our race preparations as well. I'm amazed by the ability of some of these teams to assemble a '500' program in so short a period of time. It shows how well developed the overall IRL package has become. It should be an exciting weekend, and I'm looking forward to it."

CHIP GANASSI DAY 11 REPORT     (TOP OF PAGE)

• Indianapolis, IN, Thursday, May 19, 2006- In the final full day of practice before Pole Day qualifying, Target's Scott Dixon stepped out of the shadows as he posted the second fastest lap at Indianapolis Motor Speedway with a speed of 227.322 mph. While Dixon has been in the top ten in every session, Friday's fast time put him just ahead teammate Dan Wheldon who posted a lap speed of 227.040 mph. Sam Hornish Jr. (227.925 mph) was fastest once again, with Helio Castroneves and Tony Kanaan rounding out the top five spots.
• "I think a lot of us focused on full tanks this morning, and then there was a bit of a layover to transfer the cars into qualifying setup for later this afternoon," said Dixon. "I was pretty happy with the race car right out of the box this morning. I think we were a little light on downforce, and Dan proved a bit later when you put some in the car it was a lot better to drive. That's always nice. The car's pretty consistent. We've still got a bit of work to do to try to beat the Penskes."
• "Sam did a lot of qualifying simulations today," said Dixon after Hornish set consistently quick laps, "and we sort of realized that tomorrow's going to be a bit different, so we wanted to save the tires. We trimmed out, but didn't really get to run. Our first run was pretty conservative, and Dan's was pretty conservative as well, so I think everybody's probably got a little bit left on the table."
• The defending race winner Wheldon still retains bragging rights for the fastest lap of the month in practice with a 228.663 mph and while he won last year's Indy 500 from a 16th place starting position, he's looking to be much strong in qualifying this time around.
• "It was a busy day, to tell you the truth, and we had to work very hard on the Target race car," said Wheldon. "With Pole Day being pushed back a week, you come up against how many sets of tires do you save for Pole Day and how many runs do you allow yourself in race trim with full fuel. I think we balanced that out pretty well. I think the car definitely has the potential to be on the pole. Sam (Hornish Jr.) has been very quick the whole month but I'm pretty happy with where we're at. We're going to give it everything we've got to get pole tomorrow. I would hazard a guess, depending on weather conditions if they were similar to today, I think an average around 227.5 would be pretty good for the pole. Maybe a bit more than that.
• "I don't think you'll see many people go out when they're supposed to, or they won't follow the line," added Wheldon."I think you'll see the line's going to go so quick, you can get through it now pretty much in 2 1/2 hours because nobody has T cars and stuff like that. I think you'll see people let the line go through, and then people will start testing. I'm pretty sure that the pole speed won't be laid down until later in the day."
• Pole Day qualifying will take place Saturday, with all 33 positions up for grabs and Bump Day on Sunday. The 90th running of the Indianapolis 500 will air live on ABC Sports on Sunday, May 28 at 1:00 p.m. EDT.

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