INDIANAPOLIS — Tony Kanaan spent all weekend cramming to get into the Indianapolis 500.
He barely made it.
Two crashes in less than 24 hours sent Kanaan’s team scrambling to get the No. 11 car back together, and the 2004 IndyCar Series champ aced the biggest test of his career with a four-lap qualifying average of 224.072 mph to get his car on the starting grid with 30 minutes left in qualifications. All he had to do was wait to see if the speed would hold up, which it did.
“You live, you learn, and we crashed. Today was just a nightmare,” he said after getting the 32nd starting spot in the 33-car field. “Apart from that, the conditions were the hottest we’ve ever seen. The track was really slick, I saw everybody complaining. So it’s tough to keep it cool and say ‘Yeah, we’re just going to go out at 5.’ It’s the last day, you’re not in the field yet, crashed two cars and just stay cool.”
Brazil’s Bruno Junqueira, the 2002 Indy pole winner, earned one of the nine open spots with an average of 225.662 — the day’s fastest qualifying speed. He’ll start 25th.
Kanaan’s teammate John Andretti was the first driver to qualify Sunday, averaging 224.518 mph. He’ll start 28th, the inside of Row 10.
Sarah Fisher’s four-lap average of 224.434 was the fastest of the record four women to make the lineup and she will start 29th.
Reigning champs rule
TOPEKA, Kan. — Reigning NHRA world champions Tony Schumacher, Robert Hight and Mike Edwards earned victories at the O’Reilly Auto Parts Summer Nationals.
Schumacher narrowly beat Cory McClenathan in top fuel, Hight was the winner in funny car and Mike Edwards was victorious in the pro stock discipline.
Schumacher and Hight moved closer to the points leaders in their classes while Edwards upped his already impressive points lead to 267 over runner-up Allen Johnson.
The Associated Press
