Amidst an exciting day of Bump Day qualifications at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Panther Racing driver Dan Wheldon turned a total of 87 laps in final preparations for the 93rd Running of the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race. Wheldon, slated to start 18th in the Greatest Spectacle in Racing, will be making his first start at Indianapolis for Panther Racing – the team which gave him his IndyCar Series debut in 2002.
Wheldon will be joined by teammate Scott Sharp, who will start 20th driving the No.16 Tequila Patron entry. Sharp is competing today in the ALMS race in Utah, but will return next week to make his first career start with Panther Racing, a team he has competed against throughout his IndyCar Series career.
Both Wheldon and Sharp will travel to New York City tomorrow for the IndyCar Series annual media day, before returning to Indianapolis to begin final preparations for the ‘500’. Panther finished runner-up in the event last season, and Wheldon captured the coveted Borg Warner trophy in 2005 while driving for Andretti Green Racing.
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Panther’s drivers will appear on the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval again on Carb Day.
Dan Wheldon No.4 National Guard Dallara Honda
Top Speed: 219.692 mph
Overall Rank: 27th on speed chart
Dan Wheldon:
“It’s been incredibly tough for everybody, but you’ve got to keep working away. We still have an imbalance with the racecar, but I think everybody out here is struggling. We know what our problem is; we’ve just had a tough time resolving it. I’m loose and it’s happening very early on in the corner, and it’s very difficult to race like that. We’ve got to start behind seventeen cars and you lose a lot of downforce back there, which will extenuate any problem that you do have. It’s going to be very difficult if we don’t sort this out, but that’s what’s good about this team – they never give up. We certainly learn a lot from the troops that are in the National Guard and all the armed forces and that’s their motto; they’re very resilient it’s that never say die attitude that keeps us going.”
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