Friday notebook: Yellow flags blight final day

That means half of the day was spent without any track activity, leading to even more frustration for those drivers and teams that were hoping to find the right set-up for speed. The green light was on for just four minutes before Jon Herb's car started to smoke, then the yellow came out for rain, shutting the track down for 52 minutes.

Marlboro Team Penske's Helio Castroneves brushed the outside of the first turn wall for the second time in as many days. Castroneves made it almost once around the race track until he came to a stop inside the fourth turn.

"Maybe it's the line, I don't know," Castroneves said. "The reason I clipped the wall is the understeer. I hope we find a good spot tomorrow."

Team owner A.J. Foyt's hope for a good qualification performance from Eliseo Salazar was dashed when the driver from Chile crashed in the short chute between Turns 1 and 2. Salazar's wheels were below the white line entering Turn 1 and the car wiggled at the exit before hitting the outside retaining wall. He escaped unhurt.

The car got loose, hit the wall in Turn 1 and kept going toward Turn 2," Salazar said. "It's a shame because the car was good. We were in the top five."

The session ended 12 minutes early when Davey Hamilton crashed exiting the second turn and hit the inside retaining wall. He was transported to Methodist Hospital, where he underwent a scan and was later released.


Roberto Guerrero is joining Dick Simon Racing to help set-up Stephan Gregoire's car. Once Gregoire is able to qualify for the race, Guerrero will attempt to qualify in the team's backup car.

"It's a great opportunity," Guerrero said. "I think it will be good for me and the whole team. I get a chance to qualify and help the team."

Guerrero was able to get the car up to 221.646 miles per hour after it had struggled all week with Gregoire as the driver.

"I hear that many drivers can lose confidence at this place," Gregoire said. "We are here to find a solution. Roberto was at Indy, and Dick and I believe he is the best driver to help us understand and try to solve it."


The only driver, other than pace-setter Greg Ray, to be using an Oldsmobile Aurora engine built by Team Menard is Jeff Ward of Heritage Motorsports. Ward was the fifth-fastest driver on Friday at 223.504 miles per hour.

"We had a good day," Ward said. "Everything is moving according to Mitch's [Davis, Heritage Motorsports team manager] plan. We were in the top five, which is where we wanted to be. This afternoon we ran out of gear, so we'll take care of that tonight and come out running hard tomorrow.

"The car feels really good. I felt too much push going through Turn 1, but this team knows how to work out the kinks. Mitch can make this motor do whatever he wants it to do, so I'm confident in my ride tomorrow."

Ward has become a popular pick among the other teams and fans at Indy because he is able to make a lot happen with a small budget racing team.

"I think that people just think we're a small team going for the pole, but everyone is small compared to Penske and Ganassi," Ward said. "What's important is what everyone is taking away each day of practice, and we're learning a lot everyday out. The people on this team have been successful in Indy before, and we know what it takes to be the leader. We're going for it tomorrow."



The one driver who may have the best chance to keep Greg Ray from winning the pole on Saturday is Arie Luyendyk. The two-time Indianapolis 500 winner is back after a one-year retirement and has been among the fastest drivers all week in practice. Luyendyk drew the second position in the qualifying line, meaning he will take to the track just after 11 a.m. when track conditions should be cool.

"I am pleased with how our day went," Luyendyk said. "I don't see the need to run a lot of laps. My engineer, Tim Wardrop, and I know what we plan to do with the car in practice on Saturday morning. And then we'll just see how it works out in qualifying."


Four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Al Unser took ceremonial laps around the Brickyard on Friday afternoon in the Cummins Diesel that was driven from start to finish without a pit stop by Dave Evans in 1931. Unser's son, two-time winner Al Unser Jr, jumped from his Indy car into the riding mechanic's seat just before his father left pit road.

"He looked very smooth out there," Unser said of his father. "He got around, so it was very good."