Race Report: Indianapolis 500
INDIANAPOLIS May 24, 2009--Vitor Meira and his No. 14
ABC Supply Indy car endured a trouble-filled Indianapolis
500 Sunday afternoon to provide the most spectacular action
of the race while A.J. Foyt IV ran one of his quietest races
ever at Indy in the No. 41 ABC Supply car.
For Meira, the drama started with a blazing pit fire during
a pit stop on lap 134. He emerged unscathed but his troubles
continued later in the race when rookie Raphael Matos
tangled with Meira entering turn one. Meira shot straight
into the SAFER barrier and then rode the wall backwards in
the style of a Velodrome motorcycle racer, finally coming to
rest in the short chute.
Meira’s accident was one of eight different accidents that
slowed the race and allowed teams to make all of their pit
stops under caution.
Meira started 14th and soon moved into ninth place. He
dropped to tenth after his first stop on lap 23 and was
running 11th when he stopped again on lap 59. He dropped to
15th before his next stop on lap 85 and was running 16th
when he pitted again on 100. Complaining about lack of
mechanical grip, the team made an air pressure adjustment.
The ABC Supply crew gained him four spots with their quick
work in the pits and he emerged in 11th.
Meanwhile, A.J. Foyt IV, who started 19th,
endured an ill-handling race car in the beginning, radioing
in that, “It’s way too loose”, to which his
grandfather/engineer/race strategist replied, “Just hang on
and we’ll make it better on the first stop.” Foyt did, but a
slow stop, over 15 seconds, dropped him from 23rd to 27th
when the green came out. The ABC Supply team continued to
adjust on the No. 41 car and by the third stop Foyt IV was
satisfied with the car’s handling.
Cars driven by rookies and veterans hit the wall in six
single car incidents, many the result of drivers lifting for
slower cars ahead of them, losing downforce and sliding up
into the marbles and eventually the wall.
When the yellow came out on lap 132, Meira ducked into the
pit running 11th. However, an unauthorized early release saw
him exit the pit box with his fuel hose still attached which
resulted in a blazing car fire. Meira showed coolness under
pressure, flipping his visor down and tucking his head as he
waited for firemen to extinguish the flames. Incredibly, he
rejoined the race without losing a lap.
Texas-tough fueler Rodney Klausmeyer was injured during the
botched stop, sustaining light burns to his face and stomach
as well as contusions to his elbow, thigh and knee from
dropping to the ground to extinguish the ethanol fire.
Despite his injuries, he remained to fuel the No. 14 for the
rest of the race.
Running 20th, Meira never showed the speed he had earlier
but that was partly due to running with slower cars, as most
of the passing in this race was done in the pits, either
through quick stops or pit strategy. Foyt IV had the same
problem, as all but a select few drivers complained about
the inability to pass cars on the track.
On lap 174, Meira and Matos were battling for position when
both cars entered turn one with Meira in the groove and
Matos outside of him. Matos, running out of track, didn’t
slow enough entering the turn and turned into Meira. Matos’
left front tire hit Meira’s right rear tire, turning Meira
who shot straight into the turn one SAFER barrier. The
impact sheared off the No. 14’s nose and the car spun and
then climbed the wall backwards with two wheels on track and
two wheels atop the wall for a horrific rim-riding
excursion.
Meira was conscious throughout and said, “I knew it was
going to be a big hit. Before the car came to a stop, I
began wiggling my feet because I thought they would be
broken.”
He was extricated from the car and complained of severe
lower back pain. After a preliminary exam at the track’s
Clarian Medical Center, he was transported to Methodist
Hospital. He sustained fractures to his L-1 and L-2 vertebra
although there is speculation that the slight L-1 fracture
was actually an old injury from a previous hard hit. Meira
said he knew of two accidents (one in 2008 and another in
2007) where he didn’t reveal how badly he felt because he
didn’t want to be sidelined by injury.
Doctors chose to treat his injury by fitting him with a hard
plastic back brace which he’ll wear for three months
(depending on his healing). Meira will be discharged from
Methodist Hospital on Wednesday. He is expected to be
cleared to drive in four months although Meira is already
aiming to be back behind the wheel of the no. 14 ABC Supply
car in three months.
Meira’s accident set up a ‘save fuel’ situation for the
remaining competitors. Foyt IV did not pit during that
caution and was able to jump from 21st to finish 16th,
losing a spot only to Ryan Briscoe who finished 15th.
Running with quicker cars, Foyt IV logged his quickest lap
of the race on 190. It was the first time he finished the
entire 500 miles, and the second time he finished on the
lead lap, the first coming in the rain-shortened 2007 race
when he placed 14th.
"It's hard to say you're really happy with a 16th-place
finish but just coming in for the one race here, I was
pretty happy with the car. We worked on it a little bit
throughout the day and got it good there at the end. We
really never could get any track position to show how good
the car was until there at the very end. That's when we ran
our quickest laps. Back there with the slower cars, I myself
was probably a little rusty. I couldn't get my timing down
to make some passes that I should have been able to make on
the restarts, but we finished all 200 laps and we held our
own against whoever we were racing against, so we've got to
be a little bit happy that we brought the car home in one
piece. I just hope Vitor is OK."
Helio Castroneves continues to soar after his acquittal from
tax evasion charges as he won his third Indianapolis 500 in
dominant fashion, giving rise to speculation that the
33-year-old driver may become the first five-time winner of
the race. A.J. Foyt, who won his third Indy 500 at age 32,
became the first four-time winner at age 42.
The driver of the No. 14 ABC Supply car for the upcoming ABC
Supply/A.J. Foyt 225 at the Milwaukee Mile has yet to be
determined although a decision will be made by Tuesday
afternoon. The race will be televised on ABC-TV starting at
3:30pm eastern time.
CARB DAY
May
22
Carb Day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is when the 33
starters for the Indy 500 have their final practice for
Sunday's 500-mile race. Many teams (including Vitor Meira's
No. 14 ABC Supply car) have a fresh engine installed for the
race and it is their only opportunity to check that
everything works. A.J. Foyt IV, who was on the one week
engine program, will use the same Honda engine that he
qualified with the first weekend.
Weather conditions were sunny and hot today which were very
different from the cool sunny days the teams had earlier
this month. By the end of practice both ABC Supply drivers
were pleased with their car's handling overall. They will be
making a couple more changes on Meira's No. 14 car based on
his feedback and the data obtained in thre one hour practice
session. Foyt IV had a gearbox problem towards the end of
practice; the team is changing the gearbox on the No. 41 car
for the race.
Meira was 13th quick overall with a speed of 220.607mph and
Foyt IV was 16th overall with a speed of 220.119mph.
VITOR MEIRA: “Today we did what we intended to do
which is check the cars and see that everything is fine.
Found some problems which is good to find it right now. We
are addressing these problems and we’ll be ok for the race.
We are certain we know what these problems are. I’m happy.
Anthony did a very good work on trying downforce levels
which we needed. I did one part of the work and he did the
other part of the work and that’s why a two-car team Is
really working well here. I’m encouraged for the race but I
will just make sure everything is there for the first five
laps and start working on it. We did what we had to do here
at Carb Day—leak check, check the cars, the balance,
everything’s fine.”
AJ FOYT IV: “I think it went alright I think we found
some problems that we had that we need to improve for the
race we found it and did it and it was definitely an
improvement handling wise. We’re obviously glad that
whatever happened out there with the gearbox happened then
so we can check over everything really good so that nothing
like that happens in the race.”
Indy 500 Trackside
Report
May
16
Both A.J. Foyt IV and Vitor Meira ran race set-ups in their
cars today with Foyt running just 12 laps in the No.41 in
the morning before the rain came. When the weather cleared
in the afternoon, Meira took to the track and ran 48 laps
with a top speed of 218.751mph.
Vitor Meira: “Anthony did some work this morning—we
ended the work he started. Today was mainly full tanks, go
run a full stint of fuel in traffic and out traffic, see how
the tires wear, how the fuel picks up and everything looks
good. We now have to catch up to the weather more than
anything; the car’s fine. [Catch up to the weather?] If the
wind picks up, the gears might change, maybe the wing might
change a little bit. If it’s too windy, we might add a
little downforce, if it’s cold and no wind, we might take it
off—all things we have to do to have the same car we have
now. For the race we have to see what the weather’s going to
do and adjust accordingly.”
Indy 500 Trackside Report
May
15
A.J. Foyt IV worked on race set-up in the No. 41 ABC Supply/Foyt/Greer
Racing car. He ran 51 laps and reached a top speed of
220.379mph which was 17th overall out of 31 cars on track.
Twelve drivers were running in qualifying trim as they
prepare for third day qualifying tomorrow.
Practice was cut short by nearly 30 minutes when a problem
surfaced with the yard of bricks. The mortar surrounding
several of the bricks had broken apart and a brick dislodged
which was struck by the No. 5 car after the yellow came out.
No one was injured. The track will be repaired tonight. A.J.
Foyt, who competed here when the front straightaway was all
brick, doesn’t ever remember the bricks coming loose while
he was racing at the Speedway.
A.J. FOYT IV: “The main thing we were trying to
accomplish was focus on race setup. We worked on getting the
car running consistent, being able to stay at a good speed
running through a long stint on a set of tires, and running
the fuel all the way out of it. I think today was a pretty
good day and we have a consistent car. I think we need to
massage it a little bit here and a little bit there. I think
we should be good for the race. Obviously nothing’s ever
perfect but the car’s consistent right now. If we work on it
a little bit more, I think we can get it better.
“We tried to run in traffic but it just never really worked
out for us; every time we tried to run behind somebody they
came into the pits. We got a few laps behind people but
nothing significant. I think we’re good right now on the
overall speed by ourselves, we just have to make sure we
have it good in traffic also.”
NOTES
AND QUOTES: INDIANAPOLIS 500
Vitor Meira: No. 14 ABC Supply Dallara/Honda/Firestone
A.J. Foyt IV: No. 41 ABC Supply/Foyt/Greer Dallara/Honda/Firestone
· Vitor Meira on the Race: “I think here patience
pays a lot, not only because it is a very long race but it’s
a track that doesn’t forgive a lot of mistakes. Once you
have a mistake, you’re in trouble. The strategy is always,
you go out, log some laps, make sure that you risk as few
times as possible p to 50 laps to go, then you drop the
hammer which is sort of everybody’s strategy, but it’s hard
sometimes when you are in the race to keep your head
thinking on the strategy. You always want to go, go, go. You
see opportunity rising, you don’t think twice many times,
and sometimes it doesn’t work. So you have to think twice
for most of the race until the last 50 laps or till when
it’s time to go. I think this race is going to be no
different. Finishing is very important here. If you finish
with a solid car, you will finish top 10. The plan is to put
ourselves in position to finish top 10; whatever comes, it
will come.”
· A.J. Foyt IV on the race: “We want to run a good
hard pace. We want to make the car really consistent where
we can run hard every lap, stay on the lead lap and stay
fighting for the lead until the end of the race and try to
compete for the win.” [Back at Foyt Racing] “It’s been good,
the team’s come a long way. A.J.’s got a lot of miles here
and he knows good days to run and when to keep it in the
garage, so the month’s gone pretty smooth. So hopefully we
can have a smooth race also.” [Working with your
grandfather?] “Not too much has changed-- when things are
going good, we continue to make small changes and when
things are going bad he seems to make big changes. But all
of the changes have been pretty good so far.”
· Vitor Meira qualified Sunday, May 10th for his
seventh straight Indianapolis 500. Meira will start 14th
which is the same place that the No. 14 car started last
year with Darren Manning driving. Meira posted a 4-lap
average speed of 223.054mph after his initial run was
disqualified due to technical violation with the car’s rear
track width. Meira said: “Being forced to go back out there
was sort of good,” said the two-time runner-up in the 500.
“We were going to rethink our strategy and try some things
anyway but what happened [the DQ] forced us to. There was
only one option, and when you only have one option it’s
easy. The problem is when you have many options, you don’t
know what to do. It forced us to do some things, the car
went back to basics and it worked. I really wanted to
qualify yesterday, I really did, but I wanted to, today I
needed to. So it’s going to give us the whole week to think
about the race and that’s what’s really important.”
· A.J. Foyt IV qualified for his sixth Indianapolis
500. Foyt will start 19th after bumping his way back into
the 22-car field in the closing minutes of second round
qualifying last Sunday, May 10. He will start 19th on the
inside of row seven. “This kind of felt just like last year
on Bump Day,” he said in his post-qualifying interview,
referring to bumping his way back into the field to start
31st in a Vision Racing entry in 2008. “This is supposed to
be a one week [engine] program and we’re supposed to be
saving this motor for the race so we really needed to get in
today to keep on our regular schedule. I know A.J. wasn’t
gonna be happy if he had to cough up more money so we could
run some more miles on the Honda engine. There was a lot of
stress on me too so I’m glad we got that done and got it in
there.”
· Foyt Racing’s Team Director Larry Foyt will host a
Celebrity Bartending Challenge this Tuesday night at “6
Lounge and Restaurant” in downtown Indianapolis. Race
drivers and local celebrities will participate in the
charity fundraiser which will start at 8pm. General
admission is $20 and VIP admission is $50. The proceeds will
benefit Full Speed 2 a Cure and Healthy Child-Healthy World.
· A.J. Foyt’s legendary career at Indy is being
depicted in a window of Macy’s flagship department store in
New York City; it is part of the IZOD Indianapolis 500
display which also includes historic race cars from the
Speedway’s Hall of Fame Museum and other artifacts from
significant moments in the Speedway’s history. Meira and
Foyt IV will be able to check it out in person when they
travel to NYC as part of the Indy 500 media blitz; all 33
starting drivers will participate in the Herald Square photo
op Monday, May 18th.
· A.J. Foyt will be participating in his 52nd straight
Indy 500 this year. Foyt became the first driver to win
the 500 four times with his victory in 1977. Other victories
as a driver came in 1961, 1964 and 1967. He won it solely as
a car owner in 1999 with Kenny Brack driving.
