Dateline: Indy 500 INDIANAPOLIS

You like drama? Last second, hair raising, edge-of-your-seat drama? Then you had to love the action at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway during the first weekend of qualifications for the 93rd Indianapolis 500.

On an overcast windy day in the month of May, a Brazilian race car driver, who just weeks ago was waiting to hear from a Federal jury regarding his incarceration or his freedom, stood the test of time and was known as the fastest in the land. Helio Castroneves, the two time Indy 500 winner and winner of 2007′s Dancing With the Stars, proved that he was too fast. Driving a four lap average of 224.864mph, Helio took his car to the top of the pole. In doing so, he edged his Team Penske team mate Ryan Briscoe and slid the #6 car into P2.

Shortly before the gun to end the first day of qualifications, Ryan Briscoe withdrew his P2 entry and went back out to re-qualify the #6. It was a gutsy move, but it showed once again the meaning of this race to the entire Penske Organization. For any other race, a one-two qualifying order is pristine…but at the 500, it’s a whole new level. Briscoe ended up P2 after the 2nd attempt. It was a gamble, but it didn’t hurt them at all after it was all said and done.

Justin Wilson, who had taken the first qualification attempt of the day, only to be bumped later in the day went out for the final run of the afternoon. As the gun sounded, Wilson didn’t have the speed to qualify on day one. The first 11 had qualified.

SUNDAY: DAY 2 of Qualifications

Another day of drama waited for the next 11 to qualify. There were several moments of drama and a lot of bumping as the fastest 11 of the 2nd day tried to get into the show. There were two moments, I will never forget about the 2nd day of qualifications this year.

Paul Tracy in the 2nd KVRT entry had qualified at 222.7 earlier in the day. Due to concerns in staying withing the teams budget for the month, they had intended to go out, qualify for the show and save tires for close to race day for practice and tuning. A few hours before the 6pm ending to the day, the GEICO team of Paul Tracy sent a text message to the CEO of Geico telling him they know they could do a better lap and push themselves further up the grid. The text message came back and said something to the effect of, “Go get ‘em”. This was a risky move for the Canadian who had already solidly qualified for the race, in a car where he was running on a shoestring budget. If he had put the Geico machine into the wall, who knows what could have happened for the rest of the month. But being risky, is what Paul Tracy has come to be known for. They KV Racing team withdrew Paul’s qualifying time of 222.7 and sent him back out. He ran four solid laps and did in factpush his spot up further into the grid. At 223.111mph he drove the second quickest qualification time of the 2nd day and move up 4 spots from where he had previously qualified. For GEICO, andthe CEO who authorized the second attempt, it was a brilliant move. These teams pay a lot of money for sponsorship, andto let a thousand dollars ( about a set of new Firestone Firehawk Indy tires) keep your 220mph billboard in the garage would have been a shame. Instead that red, white, and blue GEICO machine rolled through the 2.5 mile oval and placed himself solidly in the Indianapolis 500. Money well spent, if even a few people switch to Geico.

The second moment I will remember came just before the end of the day. With just minutes remaining, Scott Sharp and the PATRON machine rolled into the qualification line. There were two cars ahead of him, and time wasn’t on his side. Scott Sharp is also a full time driver in the American Le Mans Series andthey have a race next weekend…he needed to get in now. EJ Viso, who was in line in front of Paul Tracy had already qualified and could have gone out to try to re-qualify and kept Scott off the grid. However, great sportsmanship ensued, and as the gun was being cocked, Scott Sharp rolled out onto the famed speedway. With a four lap average of 222.162, Scott Sharp secured his spot in the Greatest Spectacle in Racing, and will be able to continue with his commitments to the ALMS. My hat goes off to EJ Viso and HVM racing for a move that was 100% class.

It was a great weekend of qualifications and now there are 22 qualifiers in the show. They are:

Row 1
Pos. 1 Helio Castroneves Car # 3 D/H/F Speed/Time: 224.864/2:40.0967	Pos. 2 Ryan Briscoe Car # 6 D/H/F Speed/Time: 224.083/2:40.6546	Pos. 3 Dario Franchitti Car # 10 D/H/F Speed/Time: 224.010/2:40.7068
Row 2
Pos. 4 Graham Rahal Car # 02 D/H/F Speed/Time: 223.954/2:40.7470	Pos. 5 Scott Dixon Car # 9 D/H/F Speed/Time: 223.867/2:40.8098	Pos. 6 Tony Kanaan Car # 11T D/H/F Speed/Time: 223.612/2:40.9934
Row 3
Pos. 7 Mario Moraes Car # 5 D/H/F Speed/Time: 223.331/2:41.1958	Pos. 8 Marco Andretti Car # 26 D/H/F Speed/Time: 223.114/2:41.3522	Pos. 9 Will Power Car # 12 D/H/F Speed/Time: 223.028/2:41.4146
Row 4
Pos. 10 Danica Patrick Car # 7 D/H/F Speed/Time: 222.882/2:41.5205	Pos. 11 Alex Lloyd Car # 99 D/H/F Speed/Time: 222.622/2:41.7093	Pos. 12 Raphael Matos Car # 2 D/H/F Speed/Time: 223.429/2:41.1252
Row 5
Pos. 13 Paul Tracy Car # 15 D/H/F Speed/Time: 223.111/2:41.3545	Pos. 14 Vitor Meira Car # 14 D/H/F Speed/Time: 223.054/2:41.3958	Pos. 15 Justin Wilson Car # 18 D/H/F Speed/Time: 222.903/2:41.5051
Row 6
Pos. 16 Hideki Mutoh Car # 27 D/H/F Speed/Time: 222.805/2:41.5764	Pos. 17 Ed Carpenter Car # 20 D/H/F Speed/Time: 222.780/2:41.5942	Pos. 18 Dan Wheldon Car # 4 D/H/F Speed/Time: 222.777/2:41.5969
Row 7
Pos. 19 AJ Foyt IV Car # 41 D/H/F Speed/Time: 222.586/2:41.7355	Pos. 20 Scott Sharp Car # 16 D/H/F Speed/Time: 222.162/2:42.0441	Pos. 21 Sarah Fisher Car # 67 D/H/F Speed/Time: 222.082/2:42.1022
Row 8
Pos. 22 Davey Hamilton Car # 44 D/H/F Speed/Time: 221.956/2:42.1942

So, with 22 of the 33 drivers filled in here is the schedule for the 2nd week of Qualifications.

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday – NO TRACK ACTIVITY

Thursday, Friday – PRACTICE from 12-6pm

Saturday – Day 3 of Qualifications. The next 11 qualify to fill the field.

Sunday – Day 4 of Qualifications. BUMP DAY! For the drivers who haven’t yet found the speed to make the show, this is their last chance.

Check back next Monday for the Indy 500 Preview and follow me on Twitter for any breaking news or updates pertaining to the 93rd running of the Indianapolis 500.