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Saturday, May 12
Ganassi pulls another fast one
By Robin Miller
ESPN.com
INDIANAPOLIS – A few hours after qualifying for the 85th Indianapolis 500, Tony Stewart asked his engineer, Bill Pappas, why they wouldn't be running Sunday afternoon. "There's been a slight change in the plans," replied Pappas.
Has there ever.
|  | | Bruno Junqueira is as surprised as everyone else that he will get a shot to qualify for the Indianapolis 500. |
Owner Chip Ganassi, who pulled off one major coup this month by getting Jimmy Vasser and Stewart to drive for his defending champions, threw another curve ball to the Gasoline Alley populace Saturday afternoon.
He decided to run his two regular drivers.
"You know Chip, anything to stay on the front page," laughed Vasser as Ganassi's team scrambled to fit Bruno Junqueira and Nicolas Minassian into the other two Target cars.
In one of the wilder scenarios of pole day history at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Ganassi watched Stewart and Vasser qualify, seventh and 12th, respectively and then decided to put his full-time drivers on the CART circuit into the mix.
"This wasn't pre-meditated, I didn't decided until two hours ago and then I asked my crew what they thought," said Ganassi, who originally opted to park his rookies because they had no previous oval-track experience until last week's CART show at Nazareth, Pa.
"I'm not going to take anything away from Tony's and Jimmy's effort but I figured we had four fast cars and four fast drivers so why not?"
Nobody was more shocked at Ganassi's change of heart than the Brazilian and Frenchman.
"I had accepted I wouldn't be running here and I was just thinking about our next (CART) race in Japan but this is very good news," said Junqueira, who captured the pole position at Nazareth and finished seventh in his oval-track debut.
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I'm not going to take anything away from Tony's and Jimmy's effort but I figured we had four fast cars and four fast drivers so why not?” |
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—Ganassi |
"I want to run this race very badly and I'm ready to get in and qualify. Right now."
Minassian, who crashed here last month during his rookie orientation program when the engine blew and locked up the rear end, had resigned himself to being a spectator in Ganassi's pits come May 27.
"Chip is very unpredictable sometimes and always pulls a surprise. This is a good unpredictable," he said. "It's a big, big surprise and I'm thankful for the opportunity."
Ganassi, whose Indy rookie a year ago, Juan Montoya, posted a dominating victory, isn't sure what he's going to do on race day since he doesn't have enough employees to crew all four cars.
"We'll worry about that down the road," he said. "We weren't trying to be cute with Tony and Jimmy, we just wanted them safely in the show and then I decided at the last minute to run Bruno and Nic.
"Regardless of whether they qualify or not, this will be a good experience. What do they say? Nothing ventured, nothing gained."
Understandably, Stewart didn't seem too thrilled that his two-car effort had doubled but Vasser was his usual laid-back self. He not only welcomed his new teammates, he drove over to Ganassi's shop and brought back some equipment for the backup cars.
"I think it would be pretty neat to see four Target cars in the race," said the 1996 CART champion, who was fired last year by Ganassi despite having one year left on his contract. "I've got a great race car and so does Tony so we're in good shape.
"If Bruno and Nic get in, I'll try to get Jim McGee and my CART crew to come in and run me on race day."
Like Vasser said, Ganassi has a flare for the dramatic.
On a day where the Indy Racing League regulars claimed the front row, the CART team that came in and stole all the glory and money in 2000 was again the talk of Gasoline Alley.
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