The Kansas City area boasts a racing history, which for the IndyCar Series, began in 2001 with the opening of the track. Dreyer & Reinbold Racing drivers, Sarah Fisher and Buddy Rice, both struggled to find speed during afternoon AAMCO Transmissions Pole Qualifications placing 17th and 18th, respectively, under sunny skies.
“We’re disappointed in qualifications but tomorrow is what counts,” said team co-owner, Dennis Reinbold. “We are very focused on race day right now. Both cars have a lot of work to do tomorrow during the race. We’ll do the best we can with what we get. I think our cars will be good by race time and we’ll work hard to move up.”
Track qualifications began at 3:15 p. m. and 2004 Indianapolis 500 winner, Rice, was scheduled to attempt to qualify ninth, but mechanical issues caused the team to pull out of line and qualify last among the 21 drivers. Although she ran 16th fast during morning practice, Fisher qualified her AAMCO Transmissions car in the 17th position for Sunday’s Kansas Lottery Indy 300. She clocked in a speed of 210.551 miles per hour and a time of 25.9889.
“That’s all it had by itself,” said Fisher, who is making her fourth start at Kansas Speedway. “We’ve been trying to work on a package and make it fast. It’s not nearly as fast as it needs to be, obviously. We’ll figure it out though. We will be a lot better than we were in Motegi. It’s taking what you’ve got and making the best of it. With Milka running this weekend, it’s very cool. It just shows our progression as a sport parallels the business world and it’s really cool to be the first motorsport to do that. There are lots of girls racing out there that people aren’t aware of; they are coming along. Milka has been there for a long time and her coming here doesn’t surprise me.”
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