rpm.espn.com: Teams scramble to qualify on Sunday

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Sunday, May 13

Teams scramble to qualify on Sunday
Associated Press

INDIANAPOLIS – Buzz Calkins wasn't about to wait to see if his speed would keep him in the Indianapolis 500 field.

After qualifying with a four-lap speed of 220.039 mph, the slowest of the 27 first-day qualifiers, Calkins knew he had made a terrible mistake -- and he wanted to make amends Sunday.

"We're going to try to bump it ourselves," Calkins said as he waited to qualify his second car. "We want to keep ahead of the curve. I think we'll be the fourth or fifth car out because I think we know what's going to happen."

Calkins was the sixth car out, but his concerns were well-founded.

After four cars qualified in the opening moments of practice Sunday, Calkins withdrew his entry.

"Looking back at it, it was stupid, really, really stupid," Calkins said of the decision to keep the speed. "But the cardinal sin here is waving off a time that would have gotten you into the field."

As Calkins watched other drivers qualify and practice, he quickly realized his speed was nowhere near fast enough.

That made for a restless night.

"It's awful," Calkins said. "You know you made a bad decision, and you know you're going to have to go through qualifying again, at least today."

Calkins, however, rebounded nicely. He took his No. 12 car onto the track at about 4:40 p.m. and posted a 222.467 -- good enough to get himself back into the field with what he hopes is a much more solid entry.

"I don't think the weather is going to get much better than it is today," Calkins said. "I think the field is going to be set today."

Calkins wasn't the only driver taking that tact.

Michael Andretti and Eddie Cheever Jr. both withdrew their qualifying cars and requalified in their backups. Andretti had a speed of 223.441 and Cheever had a 222.152 -- both significantly better than their original speeds.

PETA protests
The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has found its latest protest target -- the Indianapolis 500.

On Saturday, Indianapolis Motor Speedway received a faxed letter from PETA asking it to change its tradition of having the race winner drink dairy milk in Victory Lane. Instead, PETA wants the speedway to insist on either soy milk or orange juice.

The first winner to drink milk was Louie Meyer, nearly 70 years ago.

Occasionally, the tradition has been change. One exception occurred in 1989 when Emerson Fittipaldi, who owned a 500,000-acre orange plantation in Brazil, drank orange juice following his victory.

But don't look for Indianapolis Motor Speedway to impose a change anytime soon. One of the Race Day sponsors is the American Dairy Association, which offers a $5,000 award to the race winner and a $500 award to the winning chief mechanic.

"We'll have to study it because we need time to digest it," IMS spokesman Fred Nation said of PETA's request.

Putting it all together
One day after Tom Kelley's team put Scott Sharp on the pole and Mark Dismore on the inside of the second row, it was helping another team.

On Saturday night, the Kelley team loaned one of its motors to Davey Hamilton's No. 99 car, which is owned by Sam Schmidt.

On Sunday afternoon, Hamilton qualified with a speed of 221.696 mph.

"I want to thank Kelley," Hamilton said. "They stepped up and loaned us a great motor. Ilmor made a great motor and that's where we found the speed."

Hamilton wasn't the only qualifier to overcome bundles of problems and qualify Sunday. Jeret Schroeder, who drives for the cash-strapped PDM Racing team, also made the field -- after having to prepare two new cars after crashes.

It was a welcome relief to co-owner Paul Diatlovich.

"Fortunately we had insurance on it, but we had to pay a deductible," Diatlovich said. "So we went from being one of Dallara's worst customers to outspending (Roger) Penske in a 48-hour period."

A mother's memory
Patsy Erwin, the mother of driver Brandon Erwin, died Saturday night in Texas.

Linda Mansfield, spokeswoman for McCormack Motorsports, said she had no immediate details about the death. She said Erwin, who drives for McCormack, was en route to Texas on Sunday morning.

McCormack announced Saturday that Erwin would be replaced by Jimmy Kite in the No. 30 car for the Indianapolis 500 but that Erwin would drive again for its team for the June 9 race in Texas.

"McCormack Motorsports was saddened to hear about the death of Brandon Erwin's mother last night," team owner Dennis McCormack said in a statement. "The team sends its condolences to Brandon and his family."

Blown opportunity
Just when you thought Eliseo Salazar's luck couldn't get any worse this week, it did.

After crashing twice, Salazar finally started a qualifying run. His first three laps were good -- 222.684, 223.176 and 223.535. But coming off the final turn of the last lap, he blew an engine and coasted across the finish line with the checkered flag displayed.

Fortunately, for Salazar, track officials ruled the yellow flag disqualified the run. That means he can try to requalify next Sunday.

Pit stops

Schroeder said his Mother's Day present was having his mother in Pit Row -- when he qualified.

Hamilton is the only driver to have started every IRL race.

Stan Wattles was involved in another accident Sunday, when he did a half-spin in Turn 1 and backed into the outside wall. Wattles was not injured and is expected to return to practice Wednesday.

Buddy Lazier, Wattles' teammate, also crashed his No. 93 car late in practice. Lazier spun in Turn 1 as the rear of the car hit the outside wall. He was not injured.

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