Foyt

INDIANAPOLIS -- A.J. Foyt IV covered as much ground going backward as he did going forward on his first qualification attempt for the Indianapolis 500.

The 18-year-old grandson of the four-time Indy winner made a 180-degree spin coming out of the second turn on his first qualifying lap Sunday. He avoided hitting the wall, and his car fishtailed in reverse until he brought it under control, coasting backward almost the entire length of the backstretch.

"It was a pretty interesting ride, one I'm not sure I'd want to repeat," the younger Foyt said.

The car came to a stop facing backward near the end of the 3,300-foot backstretch. Foyt was not injured. He came back later in his backup car and qualified at 224.177 mph, becoming the youngest known starter in Indy history.

"My front end was dragging on my warmup laps, but I didn't think it would affect my run," Foyt said of his earlier attempt. "It just broke loose coming off of Turn 2. I was really lucky to stay out of the wall. Probably if I had spun a little earlier, I would have been in the wall."

Foyt was the second-slowest qualifier for the May 25 race, putting him between Robbie Buhl and Sarah Fisher in the provisional lineup.

"I'm just glad to be a part of it," Foyt said.

His grandfather and team owner started 12th and finished 16th in his rookie race in 1958. The elder Foyt retired as a driver before qualifications in 1993, the year before his grandson started racing junior dragsters.

"A lot of mistakes were made today. That's the slowest he's run since his rookie test," the elder Foyt said. "At least he stayed out of the wall."

Foyt IV, whose father, Tony Foyt, is A.J.'s eldest son, was the champion last year in the new Infiniti Pro Series, the IRL's developmental program.

Slow qualifiers

	Buhl

Robbie Buhl, struggling for speed all week, was more than happy to accept a four-lap average of 224.369 mph, the third-slowest among the 24 drivers in the tentative Indy 500 lineup.

The slowest was his Dreyer & Reinbold Racing teammate, Sarah Fisher, at 224.170.

"Sure, it's disheartening to see the other guys do 229s, but we have the car as trimmed out as much as we can, and that's it," Buhl said. "We did what we wanted to do in the window that we had. During the whole week, 224 was the target we had set for ourselves."

Last year, Buhl qualified at more than 231 mph for a start from the middle of the front row. Dreyer & Reinbold, which he co-owns, switched from the Infiniti engine to a Chevrolet, which has not been as competitive as the Hondas and Toyotas.

"Now it's time to focus on getting the car set up for the race," Buhl said. "I usually hold a little back for qualifying, but this week I didn't do any of that. I gave it everything I had. I can sleep tonight with a 224 average."

Fisher, who started ninth and finished 24th last year, also has struggled for speed.

"We're in it as a team. We're sticking it out," Fisher said. "We're going to go back this week and try to come up with some speed."

That's my boy
Mario Andretti remembered the first time his son, Michael, passed him on the race track.

"It was at the Meadowlands," Mario recalled. "I started from the pole and Michael was behind me.

"We got to a real tight corner and he tried to go by me. I said, 'No way.' But he gave me a little love tap and went by. I was really mad for a minute. Then I thought, "That's my boy."

The two Andrettis were teammates for several years with Newman/Haas Racing.

Michael Andretti, who has the most wins among active drivers in American open-wheel racing, will retire following the May 25 Indianapolis 500 to focus on running his new Andretti Green Racing team. The 40-year-old driver began his Indy Car career in 1983.

His 63-year-old father, who retired following the 1994 season, said at a retirement party for Michael on Saturday night, "I know he wants to be like (team owners) Carl Haas, Roger Penske and Chip Ganassi, but he's going to be Michael.

"As a driver, he loves to see the checkered flag. He'll be the same as an owner."

Michael Andretti qualified at 227.739 mph Sunday for his 14th start at Indy. His best finishes were second in 1991 and third in 2001.

Safety foam
The foam barrier that Billy Boat blew to smithereens did its job.

The Styrofoam-like material attached to the concrete wall that separates the track from the pit entrance absorbed the energy from the hard impact, producing a spectacular, debris-strewing crash but only slight back pain for Boat.

He was examined at Methodist Hospital and released later Saturday afternoon. Boat is expected to get medical clearance to make a qualification attempt May 18.

"It worked very well, because the attenuator stayed in place," said Kevin Forbes, director of engineering and construction for the Speedway. "The car didn't redirect the attenuator. It did exactly what we hoped it would do. It stayed intact for the full duration of the impact."

The attenuator was installed in 1992 after three crashes against the pit wall from 1986-91. The form-fitting foam is the same material used inside drivers' helmets for safety.

Boat, who started from the pole in 1998, was the slowest qualifier each of the past two years.

Extra practice
Tomas Scheckter, who qualified for his second Indy start, was allowed a few extra laps Sunday after his car brushed the wall during the first of two practice sessions.

Scheckter was not injured.

"The wind just pushed the car a little," he said. "You run so close to the walls here that an extra foot or two will change your line. We'll be fine."

Scheckter, son of 1979 Formula One champion Jody Scheckter, came back later and qualified at 227.769 mph. Last year he started 10th, led 85 laps before crashing with 28 laps to go and was named Indy co-rookie of the year with Alex Barron.

Power out
More than half of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was without electricity for a brief time Sunday when a power line outside the track failed.

Affected areas included the scoring and timing tower, the media center, Gasoline Alley suites and the track's television compound.

"The power outage was only for about two seconds, but it took us a few more minutes to send men out around the Speedway to reset some of the breakers," said Kevin Forbes, director of the track's engineering and construction.

Indianapolis Power and Light Co. said the outage resulted from possible lightning damage during storms that washed out qualifications on Saturday.

Happy birthday?
Helio Castroneves, the two-time defending Indianapolis 500 winner, celebrated his 28th birthday with a surprise cake from ABC Sports. But that wasn't his only surprise.

As Castroneves was being interviewed Saturday with Penske teammate Gil de Ferran and Andretti Green Racing driver Tony Kanaan, Kanaan grabbed the cake and planted it in Castroneves' face.

Laughing, his face covered with cake and frosting, Castroneves turned to announcer Gary Gerould and said, "Can we go to a commercial?"

Castroneves was the fastest qualifier Sunday with a four-lap average of 231.725 mph and will start the race from the pole position.