Junqueira

INDIANAPOLIS -- Bruno Junqueira went from hero to zero at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Thursday.

The pole winner for the 86th Indianapolis 500 was running fast laps in practice before he crashed just one hour and 27 minutes into the session.

Junqueira crashed into the outside retaining wall in the fourth turn when he was trying to enter the pit area. The car veered right just before the start of the pit wall and did a 180-degree spin before making contact with the outside wall.

Junqueira was not injured and the car suffered slight damage.

"I was coming into the pits a little too fast, and the brakes locked up on me," said the CART driver from Brazil. "I was going too fast, so I tried to get back out on the track, and the car just came around. The car is not bad at all.

"The Team Target crew will probably have the car fixed this afternoon, and it will be ready to go. Luckily, the car was not damaged that badly and we'll be fine for next two weeks. We did some race simulation laps this morning, and the car is pretty good in race trim. I can't wait to get back in the car."

According to Mike Hull, the managing director of Target/Chip Ganassi Racing, the damage to the car easily could be repaired.

"With our staff or highly trained professionals, we'll be back together pretty soon, but actually we intend to run next on Carburetion Day (next Thursday)," Hull said. "We were very near the end of running with Bruno anyway. He and his engineer were into the fine strokes there, so we're OK."

Punxatawny Paul
Paul Tracy has had a frustrating return to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The CART driver has yet to qualify into the 33-car starting lineup in his first appearance at the track since 1995 and the team continues to struggle to get the car up to speed.

Tracy's fastest lap on Thursday was 224.870 miles per hour.

"Ever see the movie 'Ground Hog Day?'" Tracy asked. "Well, I've been living the same day every day for the past two weeks. It was 'Groundhog Day' all over again. We only got one run in. We're going to change the engine overnight."

According to chief mechanic Eric Haverson, the windy conditions on Thursday affected the team's strategy for practice.

"It was really windy out there, so we had more downforce on it than we would for qualifying because we obviously don't want to wreck another one," Haverson said. "Our times were acceptable. Our times were about what we thought."

Popularity Contest
Defending Indianapolis 500 champion Helio Castroneves is one of the most popular drivers in the Indy Racing League. He showed why on Thursday when he presented a loyal group of fans that hang outside the Gasoline Alley entrance -- known as the Alley Cats -- a case of Miller Lite Beer.

He then signed autographs for the fans before returning to his garage area.

Castroneves in a good mood may send his competitors into despair on race day as the driver attempts to become the first since Al Unser in 1970-71 to win back-to-back Indy 500s.

"I'm much happier with the Marlboro Team Penske car after today's practice," Castroneves said. "Even though the track conditions were not ideal, we were able to run 76 laps and made good progress with our race setup. We still need more time on the track, so hopefully the weather will cooperate and we'll get some more work done tomorrow."

Herbert's struggles
Former Formula One driver Johnny Herbert still can't get up to speed with his fastest lap at 224.308 on Thursday. It may take at least a 226.5 to make the race on Sunday's final round of qualifications.

"Just nothing new to report," Herbert said. "We changed engines this morning thinking that might solve some of our problem, but it didn't seem to make much difference. Otherwise, we continue to make chassis adjustments, but we've not hit on the right combination to free the car up, so we're still losing far too much speed through the turns.

"There's still time though, and the Western Union Speed Team isn't giving up yet."