Target Chip Ganassi Racing hopes Miller Lite Carb Day could be a good indication of Indianapolis 500 Race Day.
Dario Franchitti, who will start the 2010 Indianapolis 500 from the outside of the front row, topped the speed chart for the final practice session, the final opportunity for teams to fine-tune their cars before Race Day.
Franchitti, driving the No. 10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing car, topped the speed chart with a quick lap of 225.574 mph (39.8983 seconds). Franchitti’s teammate Scott Dixon (225.159 mph) and Verizon Team Penske’s Will Power (223.575 mph) were right behind.
FAZZT Race Team’s Bruno Junqueira was fourth at 224.898 mph in the No. 33 Bower & Wilkins/TorcUP car, while polesitter Helio Castroneves in the No. 3 Team Penske car was fifth (224.753).
Castroneves hopes that winning the IZOD Indy 500 Pit Stop Competition remains a good omen.
Castroneves, driving the No. 3 Team Penske Dallara/Toyota/Firestone, defeated Hideki Mutoh of Newman/Haas Racing in the championship round. His pit crew received the $50,000 first prize for its speed and accuracy.
The winner of the competition has gone on to win the Indianapolis 500 six times, including Castroneves’ win last year. Penske Racing teams have won the pit stop competition a record 12 times, including the last five that it has been contested.
INDIANAPOLIS 500 Notes
NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Fouts and two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Al Unser Jr. were in the media center today. Fouts is a guest of series sponsor IZOD this weekend.
DAN FOUTS: “Just to be here and see the size and magnitude, and feel the enthusiasm and excitement as it builds for the race on Sunday, it’s very unique. I’ve been to a lot of big sporting events, Super Bowls and whatever. But this is totally different just because of the size and the number of people. I’ve always watched the Indy 500. As a kid it was part of ‘Wide World of Sports,’ and you tuned it in because it was going to be something special. It’s fascinating, the teamwork involved with the racing teams. I kind of like that part of it.” (On the correlation between teamwork in football and racing): “Being a quarterback, I can appreciate the guy behind the wheel. The teamwork involved, it is similar to playing ball. You’ve got your hierarchy, and you’ve got the guys doing all the grunt work. You’ve got to pull together to make it happen, and usually the better team wins.” (What are you looking forward to the most?): “I think I get to take a lap today. You know, I’ve flown with the Blue Angels twice, and this is like on the bucket list. This will be a first-time, only-time deal, and I can’t wait.”
AL UNSER JR.: “It’s just like Fouts said. Rick Galles, my car owner the first time I won the Indianapolis 500, modeled the team after a football team with the driver being the quarterback and the pit crew being the linemen, and so on. It was all modeled after how a football team operates. I never played football or anything, but I did ‘quarterback’ my team and talk to them and so on. When things were down, it was we or the team who had to bring things backup again. I can’t think IZOD and Phillips-Van Heusen for bringing the Legends of Football here. The push that they (IZOD) are making is going to take the Indy Racing League to its next level.”
Indianapolis 500 veteran and Rolex Sports Car Series driver Scott Pruett spent some time in the pits on Friday with the Target Chip Ganassi Racing team. Pruett is a Grand-Am championship winner for the Ganassi organization.
SCOTT PRUETT: “It’s great being back here seeing Dario and Scott running as good as they are. The Target cars are looking good. It’s nice to come here. There’s nothing like Indy. Being here in Indy cars, being here in NASCAR, being here in Rolex when we did that test (at IMS), there’s nothing like being at Indy and going fast. I think it would be awesome if we (the Rolex Sports Car Series) could get the opportunity to come here and do something different that we haven’t done before.” (Is it hard to watch the cars running when your last time here for the Indy 500 was a near victory?): “You know, it’s just one of those things. It was a long time ago. We’d love to be here with the Rolex Series and love being here with the Ganassi organization.”
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