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Indy Opens For Practice

© Ron Eichhorn

As the first weekend of practice for the 84th Indianapolis 500 came to a close, Eddie Cheever, Jr. turned the fastest lap in practice so far, 220.881 mph, to upstage Al Unser, Jr. For Cheever, the 1988 Indy 500 winner, it was especially satisfying, since his run came in the only Infinity powered car entered in this year's race. His time came at 5:57 p.m., just three minutes before the track closed for practice.

In other news from the Brickyard, Dick Simon Motor Sports announced that Yellow Freight Systems would sponsor the entry for Lyn St. James in this year's 500. Lyn's return marks the first time that two women have been entered in the 500. Check out last weeks feature on Sarah Fisher, who is a former student at Lyn St. James' Driving School. It should be interesting to see the teacher and the student both entered in the 500 this year.

Sunday also saw the return of Sam Schmidt to Indianapolis. Schmidt, who is recovering from spinal injuries at Barnes Hospital in St. Louis, spent time with drivers and crews, in his first visit to the track since his accident. He is recovering well from his injuries and is regaining some feeling and motor function below the point of his injury.

In the only incident of the day, Tyce Carlson hit the wall in turn 1 and was taken to Methodist Hospital for evaluation of pain in his ankle. He was awake and alert following the incident, however further medical evaluation of the ankle injury was needed. It did not appear that the damage to his #20 Hubbard Photographic Oldsmobile was extensive, and unless the injuries were more severe than anticipated, he should be back for practice this week and qualifying next Saturday and Sunday.

Sunday's practice session saw 35 drivers attempting to get up to speed in anticipation of next week's Pole Day qualifying on Saturday, May 20th. Practice will continue this week and should see increasing speeds as the teams approach Saturday's qualifying.

In other activities at the track, Mother's Day saw a Legends of the Speedway tribute to Joe Leonard, 1968 pole sitter. On a sad note, Joe was unable to attend the ceremonies, due to tragic events in this personal life. His wife and mother recently died within a week of each other, and he had to attend to family affairs today. In his place, Al Unser, Sr. drove several ceremonial laps in the Pratt & Whitney powered Turbine Car, dubbed the "whoosh mobile" because of its unique sound. In the 1968 race, Joe finished 12th, after a mechanical problem while he was leading the race forced him to retire at lap 191. The car that Unser drove today was driven in the 1968 race by Art Pollard. Asked about the experience of driving the STP Turbine car, Unser was quoted as saying, "I always wanted to run this car. Now that I've done it, I can say it's a different game. At that time, you never thought of it being competitive or reliable, with the turbine and the four-wheel drive. But they had us outclassed." He also commented on his memories of racing against Joe Leonard. "Joe was a true champion. He was a strong competitor and a teammate of mine. He was always a very, very strong competitor."