autosport.com
Search: in
  SUBSCRIBERS LOGIN
Username:
Password:
IRL NEWS 
A A A Email Friend
 GO TO EARLIER STORY GO TO THE NEWS INDEX GO TO NEXT STORY 
Rain wipes out Thursday Indy practice


Rain at Indianapolis, 2008For the second successive day, rain was the key player at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, wiping out another six-hour practice session and leaving just one day of prep before teams go for the pole position for the 92nd Indianapolis 500.

"I don't think it would be Indy if you didn't have weather," 2004 winner Buddy Rice said. "I think that's what makes this place so unique - you never know what you're going to get.

"This track - its layout, the rules, the atmosphere - everything is unique. It wouldn't be the month of May if we didn't have some down time due to weather."

The veterans have had just six hours of practice time this week. Rookies and transitional drivers have had three days, but say they need more.

"We need the track time to continue our development of the car, and this rain just isn't helping," said Enrique Bernoldi. "It makes for long days just sitting around waiting. I'm not used to this."

The day was filled with other news and photo ops, most notably Larry Curry's hiring by Roth Racing, just days after he was fired by Tony George and Vision Racing for his role in a rules violation during qualifying in the season opener at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

"I had a great three-and-a-half years at Vision Racing, and I want to thank Tony George for his support over the years," Curry said. "I now look forward to a long tenure with Roth Racing and to the challenges of helping to build the team into a competitive, first-class organization."

Drivers and teams are expected to be limited again by weather Friday, as forecasts indicate rain will return to the track around 3 p.m. ET. Conditions are expected to clear for Saturday's qualifying session, which will determine the first 11 positions on the 33-car starting grid.

Friday's practice session is scheduled to start at noon.





 Go to earlier story Go to the News Index Go to next story 
    advertisement
  RELATED STORIES
J Andretti fastest in morning practice
Dixon fastest in Friday practice
Briscoe heads busy Thursday practice
Ganassi top rain-shortened practice
Rain cancels second day qualifying
Dixon beats Wheldon to Indy pole
Dixon tops Friday practice at Indy
Wednesday practice rained off at Indy
Andretti flies in opening practice
Camara crashes on rookie day two
Power tops rookie orientation day
  RELATED LINKS
Get autosport.com news alerts to your mobile
  ADS BY GOOGLE
 
Haymarket