Speedway Sightings
By: Wm. LaDow
Daily Trackside Reports from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Published in the Post-Tribune — May 29, 2010
Speedway, Indiana
Carb Day opened to sunny skies and warm temperatures at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Friday as the biggest Carb Day crowd in recent history brought a race day atmosphere to the Brickyard.
Butler men’s basketball coach Brad Stevens waved the green flag to start the final IndyCar Series practice, bringing all 33 entrants for Sunday’s race onto the track.
The top five speeds for the day were: Chip Ganassi’s No. 10 Dario Franchitti at 225.574 mph and his teammate No. 9, Scott Dixon at 225.159 mph. Next was Will Power in the No. 12 Team Penske Verizon Wirelss entry at 224.993 mph. Bruno Junqueira at 224.898 mph was fourth fastest in the No. 33 Bowers & Wilkins/TorcUP of Canada FAZZT team car followed by Team Penske’s No. 3 Helio Castroneves at 224.753 mph.
* Wade Cunningham wins Indy Lights race:
Pippa Mann, the first woman to win the pole position for a race in the 101-year history of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, led the field as it took the green flag for the Indy Light Series Freedom 100.
The race turned into battle between Wade Cunningham, Charlie Kimball and James Hinchcliffe, with Cunningham taking the lead early, and Kimball and Hinchcliffe battling for the second spot. Cunningham won his record third Firestone Freedom 100 victory, having also won here at Indianapolis in 2006 and 2009. It was Sam Schmidt Motorsports’ fifth victory in the Freedom 100, more than any other team.
* Team Penske, Castroneves win Pit Stop Challenge:
Team Penske won the Indy 500 Pit Stop Challenge for a record 12th time, with Helio Castroneves behind the wheel. Castroneves was the winning driver in the Pit Stop Challenge for a record fifth time. He shared the record with Danny Sullivan entering this year.
Castroneves will attempt to complete the Indianapolis 500 “sweep” of winning the pole, Indy 500 Pit Stop Challenge and the Indianapolis 500 in the same year for the second consecutive year, an unprecedented feat. Team Penske’s winning time of 8.001 seconds was the second-quickest final-round time in the history of the Challenge, which started in 1977.
Speedway Sightings 