Wilson & Rahal Sets No.2 And No.18 In Practice At Glen
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Jul 06, 2008
Ron McQueeney/IMS
Justin Wilson, No. 02 McDonald’s Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “It was our plan to come in before the end of the session because we planned to use a certain amount of fuel. Obviously weight is a big factor and having enough fuel to do an extra lap is a big deal so we are trying to do everything to a minimum and this was our best shot. To come back in the pits, get out the car, see the timing and go from first to second by a couple of hundredths (of a second) is quite frustrating. But at the same time I’m very pleased with the performance we had in qualifying and we had this weekend, considering we came straight to this track completely blind. We haven’t tested here, we haven’t done any running. We still haven’t tested on a road course. I think the McDonald’s team has done a fantastic job. I’m just very excited at being able to challenge for the pole position. My car was working really well. There were a couple of times on the last lap where I knew I had to pull something out. I think three times I thought I’d put it in the wall. But fortunately the McDonald’s car was gripping well, hanging on. I was just able to get back on the power. I closed my eyes on a few of the exits.”
Fast Facts: Will be his first race here and third on a road/street course this season after racing on the streets of St. Pete and Long Beach Apart from pole in Long Beach, this is his second best qualifying of the season (2nd). In the three street races this season, he has started no lower than 3rd (St. Pete)…Is ranked 16th in the point standings with 161…Finished runner up in the Champ Car championship to the driver he recently replaced, four-time champion Sebastien Bourdais, in 2006 and 2007. Was a title contender until the conclusion of the penultimate race of each season…Highest start this season is pole on the streets of Long Beach and his highest finish is seventh on the one-mile oval in Milwaukee and ¾ mile track in Richmond.
Graham Rahal, No. 06 Hole in the Wall Camps Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “On the first run in qualifying we thought we would just get up to speed so we could make sure that everything was fixed properly after the crash this morning. We were going to go out on the second run and really go for it but there was no second run because Foyt IV crashed. It’s frustrating because my guys worked so hard to fix the car that I wanted to reward them with something. We kind of went out there flying blind and threw the whole thing together and thought the second run would be our best. Basically on our first timed lap, A.J. hit so that was it. I’ll try to do my best tomorrow and hopefully we can move up through good pit stops. Strategy can certainly play into our hands. We’ve got nothing to lose.”
Fast Facts: Will be his first race here and his third this season on a road/street course after winning in St. Pete and finishing 13th in Long Beach…Crashed in the morning practice and damaged his left side body work (undertray and sidepod) as well as left front suspension. For qualifying he ran Wilson’s red McDonald’s sidepods and the undertray from Wilson’s primary car that was not being used this weekend but his will be repaired overnight…In his IndyCar Series debut on a road/street course he became the youngest winner in major open-wheel racing in North America after winning in St. Pete on 4-6-08 at 19 years, 93 days old…He is ranked 17th in series points with 159 points…His highest start this season is second on the one-mile oval in Milwaukee where he narrowly lost becoming the youngest pole winner in series history to Marco Andretti. His highest oval finish is 10th place on the .894 mile oval at Iowa Speedway.
