A year-and-a-half ago, Buddy Rice was the hottest driver in theseries. After a disapointing 2003, Buddy Rice was left searchingfor a ride. He took a job filling in for Kenny Brack at Team Rahal(now Rahal Letterman Racing), and now Rice will start on the polefor the 88th Indianapolis 500.
Buddy Rice had a four lap average of 222.024 MPH, two miles anhour faster than his fastest practice speed.
"I don't think we always show our complete hand at any givenpoint until it's time to do that, and that's what makes thestrength of the Rahal-Letterman team," Rice said. "The engineeringstaff over there has been working very hard. We don't always haveto put all the bits on that make the thing go fast until it's time.We never want to show our full hand."
Rice was the higest of the three Rahal/Letterman Racing cars,with teammates Vitor Meira earning the seventh starting spot andRoger Yasukawa who starts 12th.
"To be honest, I expected a little bit more just because ofBuddy's time and speed," Meira said. "It's a big difference fromwhat I started last year. All we do now is positioning ourselves tothe race. That's the big picture, and we have to keep that inmind."
Andretti Green Racing had a good day, with Dan Wheldon and DarioFranchitti completing the front row. Tony Kanaan will start fifth,while Bryan Herta hit the wall and had to qualify on Sunday,earning the 23rd starting position.
"We said, 'Hey, we have all the same cars, let's try somethingdifferent,'" Kanaan said. "They obviously tried everything theycould, and they went fast enough. So we went the other way, and itdidn't work as well. It's good to say, 'It didn't work,' and youstill start fifth. Usually people who say, 'It didn't work,'crashed."
Helio Castroneves, who sat on the pole last year, will start inthe eighth position this year, while his Marlboro Team Pensketeammate Sam Hornish Jr. will start a row behind him in 11th.Castroneves waved off his first run, and eventually took a time of220.882, the fastest time among the cars without Honda power.
"The car was pushing like crazy and just going straight,"Castroneves said. "So I got on the radio to [Tim Cindric], and hesaid 'Come on, fix it,' and I said: 'What do you want me to do? Getout of here and do like A.J. Foyt?' But that is why we waved offthe first run, which was a smart decision. So we went back,realized what happened and fixed it."
Adrian Fernandez, who had not been at the track since 1995,qualified in sixth position with a four lap average just under 221miles an hour. His teammate, Kosuke Matsuura will start a rowbehind him in ninth.
"I was flat out through the four laps," Fernandez said. "Forsome reason, we just didn't have the speed that we thought we weregoing to have. I thought we were going to be closer to 222s (mph).The car is very sensitive sometimes. The important thing to me isthat every time we go to the track we're always on top, and I thinkthat is important."
Bruno Junqueira, who sat on the pole two years ago for ChipGanassi Racing, qualified fourth for Haas Racing ar 221.379MPH.
Tomas Scheckter, who has led the most laps in the last twoIndianapolis 500s, qualified 10th, the highest amoung cars withChevrolet power. Teammate Mark Taylor qualifyied 14th for his first500 despite a spin in an early practice session.
Chip Ganassi Racing had a tough weekend. Defending championScott Dixon and rookie Darren Manning will both start in the fifthrow in 13th and 15th respectively.
Rookie Ed Carpenter will start on the inside of the sixth row,with veterans Al Unser Jr. and Robby Gordon. Gordon, who hasstarted in the top five in four of the last five 500s was notpleased with his run.
"I'm very disappointed," he said. "I thought we'd run betterthan that. We didn't. I just couldn't hold it open in Turn 1. Thiswill probably be our worst Indianapolis 500 starting spot, andthat's disappointing."
Kelley Racing and AJ Foyt Enterprises closed out the field afterthe first day with Sarah Fisher and Scott Sharp starting 19th and20th. For the first time ever, more than one Foyt qualifyed for theIndianapolis 500, with A.J. Foyt IV and rookie Larry Foyt roundingout the first day qualifiers.
Bryan Herta, Alex Barron, Felipe Giaffone and Tora Takagiqualified the following day, and will start in positions 23 through26. Seven spots remain for the Indy 500.
Qualifications will conclude Sunday with Bump Day at thespeedway. While only three cars are confirmed for Bump Day, dealsare expected to materialize throughout the week.
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