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Friday, May 11
Andretti struggling to adapt to IRL cars
ESPN.com news services
INDIANAPOLIS – When Michael Andretti announced he was
returning to the Indianapolis 500 for the first time since 1995,
he said he didn't expect it to be easy, that he wasn't going to
come in and rule the month of May.
He was right.
|  | | Michael Andretti predicted his return to Indianapolis would not be a walk in the park. He was right. |
Andretti's name hasn't been on top of the speed list this week.
In fact, his fast lap of 222.927 miles per hour Thursday ranked
him seventh -- the highest he has been for any day of practice
at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
The CART veteran has led 383 laps at the Indianapolis 500, more
than any driver who never has won the race. But Andretti is
driving an Indy Racing League car for the first time at Indy.
"We are trying to figure it out," Andretti said. "It's a
different race car so I don't know exactly what we need yet. But
we are working on it. We just don't know exactly what we need
here because it is a different animal. We are working on that.
It's a little frustrating because we are up against the clock. I
wish we had a few more days to figure it out."
Andretti is hoping to sneak into the top-10 in Saturday's pole
qualifications, which begins at 11 a.m. EST and last until 6 p.m.
"Hopefully, if we get a good pick, we should be in good shape,"
Andretti said. "I'm not going to worry about it until I have to
worry about it."
Andretti's car was prepared by Panther Racing in cooperation
with Andretti's Team Green CART operation. Sam Hornish Jr. drives for Pennzoil Panther Racing and won the first two races
of the IRL season. But he isn't running well, either, so
Andretti hasn't been able to draw off his information.
"I'd have a little more confidence if Sam Hornish was running
well," Andretti said. "We are both not getting it right yet. We
are watching each other to try to help each other."
Although he has been away from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway
for so long, Andretti feels like he has returned home. The
Andretti name has been synonymous with the Indianapolis 500,
with his father Mario winning in 1969 and all the other
victories that got away.
"It feels pretty similar, kind of like old times," Andretti
said. "Like I've been saying, the cosmetics are different, but
the nuts and the bolts of this place are the same."
Team owner Barry Green has had a pensive look on his face most
of the week. His brother, Kim, is the general manager at Team
Green and has been in charge of Andretti's Indy 500 effort.
Kim Green admits the team has struggled this week at Indy but is
confident it will do well on May 27.
"The pole position will probably be 225 or 226 (mph), depending
on how the weather will be," Kim Green said. "I'm not sure we
are pole position. We haven't put any qualifying motors
together yet. We're just aiming for the top 10 in qualifying,
which is probably 222 or 223."
Green's crew members are working with a different race car than
the one Andretti drives in the CART series. The team has not
been in the Indy 500 since its driver at the time, Jacques
Villeneuve, won in 1995.
Although the cars are different, the challenges remain the same.
"I think the race cars are a challenge to get right," Green
said. "In cool conditions, they are quite easy to go flat all
the way around but you lose quite a bit of downforce when the
temperature comes up. They are a bit of a challenge and if the
race day is hot, it will be a pretty interesting race.
"You face the same problems getting the car comfortable through
the corners. This race track may be a touch more unique than
some of the CART ovals we run on. Other than that, there is no
difference between now and when we were here in 1995."
Green applauds the IRL for creating a car that is fast enough to
be exciting but slow enough to be safer at the speedway. When
Green's team last competed here, speeds were in the 234 mph
range. The fastest lap this month has been Scott Sharp's 226.137
mph.
"I think the IRL formula is the right formula for this track,"
Green said. "With the rules and engine competition in the CART
series, every time we think we take boost and horsepower away at
the end of the season, it's back again at the beginning of next
season because the engine manufacturers are working so hard
against each other. If you had more engine manufacturers in
this series, you would see a little bit more development going
on and maybe the speeds would increase."
Green also is impressed with the quality of the IRL teams,
particularly Team Menard and Kelley Racing, Cheever Indy Racing
and Treadway Racing.
"There are a lot of small teams in the IRL that do a real good
job, like Jeff Ward," Green said. "He's doing very well. The
bigger you get from my position, you start to lose touch with
the day-to-day things going on the shop floor. The more people
you have, the less chance you have to communicate with those
people. To me, growing big has been the biggest disappointment
because I thought we were always good at communication."
Green and Andretti have been trying to squeeze two weeks worth
of work into the first week of practice. After this weekend,
they have to leave for Twin Ring Motegi in Japan, the site of
the next CART event on May 19.
That is why the team has been so hard at work at Indy, trying to
find the right combination that will make the return worthwhile.
"The race is what is important, we have to make sure we qualify
safely so that we can go to Japan and race that race and feel
comfortable we are in the show," Green said. "Anytime on any
race weekend when things aren't going well, you ask, `Why don't
I have a real job where I have the weekend off and I'm playing
golf. But the weekends when the car is running good, that's what
makes it worth it."
Andretti and Green may have been gone for the biggest race in
the world for five years, but both admit it seems like yesterday
that they were competing in the race.
"It doesn't feel like we have been gone that long," Green said.
"It's hard to believe it was so long ago. The biggest difference
is the new grandstand suites behind the pits. There are an awful
lot of the old faces around, still."
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