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Saturday, May 12
Unser back on the map at Indy
Associated Press
INDIANAPOLIS -- There was a time Al Unser Jr. would have
scrubbed his qualifying attempt, gone back to the pits for a few
tweaks of the wrench and tried again.
Not anymore, not with equipment at a premium.
|  | | Al Unser, Jr. averaged 221.615 mph during his qualifying run at Indianapolis on Saturday. |
"I thought I was going to run a little quicker than that,"
Unser said Saturday after a four-lap average of 221.615 mph put him
in the Indianapolis 500 lineup far behind the leaders.
"We had a slight understeer," said the two-time Indy winner,
who was 19th among the 27 who qualified on the first of the three
days of time trials, putting him on the inside of the seventh row.
"In the past, I've had a slight understeer and been off maybe two
or three tenths (of a second) and I've waived it off and spent the
rest of the day trying to get the speed back.
"The best thing was to get it in the show and go on from there.
Getting it in the show was far more important than searching for
speed.
Unser, who qualified for his 14th start at Indianapolis, and
rookie teammate Casey Mears were involved in an 11-car crash in the
most recent Indy Racing League race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Then
Mears crashed again in practice on Tuesday. Another Galles Racing
rookie teammate, Didier Andre, also has been struggling for speed
during practice.
"It's definitely an advantage for the sponsors on the car,"
Unser said of the three-car effort. "With Casey and Didier, it
gives Galles a better opportunity for championship points. That's
what it comes down to.
"But because of our wreck in Atlanta -- both me and Casey wiped
out our cars -- that left me with no spares. I've only got one set
of suspensions. We just kept plugging along and we're in the show
now. Now we've got a little time to regroup and get at it with both
barrels loaded."
Mears did not attempt to qualify on Saturday, and late in the
day Andre qualified at 220.985 mph, 22nd-fastest among the 26 who
earned spots in the tentative lineup.
Unser turned in four consistent laps in his qualifying run, with
his fastest and slowest laps separated by less than one-half mph.
"We missed it by a little bit. We ran a little better this
morning (in practice)," he said. "But the front end pushed a
little too much. There was just enough change I couldn't run turn
one wide open, and that cost me all the way around the track."
Last year, in his first race at Indianapolis since he won in
1994, Unser finished 29th, the worst of his career.
"What wins this race is a good consistent car, good pit stops,
catching the yellows right, a hell of a lot of luck, no matter if
your starting 33rd or first," said Unser, who also won in 1992.
"We'll just work our way towards getting a good, consistent race
car and go from there. My guys are one of the quickest teams in the
pits and (car owner) Rick Galles calls a great strategy from the
pits."
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