E.J.Viso's HVM team works with pennies on the dollar compared to most of the Indy 500 entrants. Because of the current qualifying format, they'll be forced to spend more money to try and get into the field. (LAT)
The first weekend of qualifying for the 93rd Indianapolis 500 produced its usual batch of good stories but not enough to mask the obvious problems in the current system.
There's not enough cars, sponsors or money to justify four days of time trials; only allowing 11 cars to make the show on opening day is insane; the daily "bumping" procedure is too costly for the smaller teams and five days of practice spread over two weeks adds nothing in the way of momentum.
Yes, this is the same drum I've been beating for a couple Mays, but more and more of the IndyCar paddock voiced the same complaint over the weekend. Some drivers, mechanics, owners and even a couple officials agreed the schedule needs an overhaul.
Let's look at the facts and examine the flaws.
Only locking in 11 cars on Saturday and 11 on Sunday is the Speedway's worst idea since guaranteeing 25 starting spots in 1996.
It's an expensive and needless waste of time, tires, engines, labor and nerves and it hurts the smaller teams that can't afford to keep pounding around the track day after day at the same speed.
Consider this. John Andretti qualified at 221 mph early Sunday. It was about the same speed he's been running all week. In the old days, his team would have accepted the time and this morning he'd be sitting in the eighth or ninth row.
Instead, because only spots 11-22 could be locked in, he had to go back out and try to find one mph. He lost control, smashed into the wall and cost the Dennis Reinbold's squad a lot of money.
E.J. Viso averaged 221.7 mph for Keith Wiggins' under-funded HVM team, which was faster than he'd practiced. Yet he's still outside looking in on May 24 because Scott Sharp knocked him out of that No. 22 slot on the last run of the day.
Ryan Hunter-Reay, who crashed earlier in the week, waved off after three laps at 221 mph even though it was as fast as he'd gone and that's plenty quick enough to make this year's field.
Those three teams shouldn't have to go through this Dog & Pony Show again. They should be scrubbing tires and working on race setups instead of spending more money to go run the same speed they ran last weekend.
And the risk vs. reward factor is laughable. Does a team get paid $50,000 for qualifying 11th instead of 12th or 22nd instead of 23rd? Of course not.
Indy must go back to its old way of qualifying. If 27 cars post times on the first day, then they're in the race unless somebody bumps them out. Go back to three tries instead of 12 per car. Don't limit that first day to 11 cars because it simply penalizes the little guys.
I understand what the Speedway was attempting to do. Because it's been struggling to field 33 cars each May, it decided to change time trials and try to make all four days "exciting" with "bumping."
This was going to bring back the crowds and the buzz and we all know that hasn't happened. The pole day turnout was a little better than the past couple years but still couldn't have reached 10,000. The few folks who showed up Sunday got five and a half hours of boredom for 30 minutes of action.
Scott Roembke, team manager for Rahal/Letterman Racing, has a good idea that could placate everyone. From noon to 5 p.m. on Pole Day, open qualifying to everyone that wants to post a time. Whether it's 14 or 24, they're ranked in order of speed but then, at 5 p.m., the fastest 11 all get one more run to determine the pole and the other top 10 slots.
The fast guys get a nice TV window and the little guys don't get hosed.
Having four days of qualifying when you only have 33-36 cars is crazy, especially when so many of those cars don't have sponsors or can barely afford to be competing.
There isn't much money in Gasoline Alley these days and streamlining the schedule to two weeks saves everyone a lot of money, time and headache. Five days of practice and two days of qualifying makes cents in every way.
THINGS I GOTS TO KNOW
•Did did the Honda officials ask the IRL tech crew to take oil samples from certain cars?
•Why did one IRL official say Helio Castroneves blew his engine Sunday after an oil line came off and another IRL official said an oil plug came loose and the motor did not expire?
•Why did the IRL say Graham Rahal's car was legal at Kansas City and then bust it for the same thing on Saturday after he qualified the first time?
•Could 2004 Indy winner Buddy Rice still end up with Rahal/Letterman? Was the most pleasantly surprising run turned in by Mario Moraes, Justin Wilson or Raphael Matos?
•By the third time they've been through the qualifying line, on the same day, do the drivers really need another pep talk and handshake from Brian Barnhart?
~Robin
The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEEDtv.com, SPEED, FOX, or NewsCorp.
Robin Miller became an Indy-car junkie in late 1950s and stooged for his hero, Jim Hurtubise, at the 1968 Indy 500. He went on to work as a vent man and board man on Indy pit crews from 1971-77. Miller bought a Formula Ford from Andy Granatelli in 1972 and raced it in SCCA until 1974 when he purchased a midget from Gary Bettenhausen, competing in the USAC midget series from 1975-82.
Robin flunked out of Ball State College in 1968 and began working at The Indianapolis Star sports department in 1969, covered motorsports there from 1969-2000.
In addition to his broadcast work. Miller's also covered IndyCar racing for Autoweek, Autosport, Car & Driver and On Track magazines over the past 35 years.
The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator
and are not necessarily those of SPEED.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or SPEED
