Go ahead and call the shortening of Indy's traditional Month of
May a success. By reducing the number of practice days from 16
to eight and qualifying days from four to two, Indy has fallen
into line with the race that has supplanted it as America's best
motor sports event, the Daytona 500. Pole day at the Brickyard
now comes eight days before race day instead of 15. That's
enough buildup for any event.
The new format did force some teams to scramble last weekend
because pole day and bubble day (the last chance to qualify)
were back-to-back, rather than eight days apart. In the past
teams could spend up to a week preparing to qualify with light
fuel tanks, special chassis setups and engines that sacrificed
reliability for quick power. This time teams had to alternate
between qualifying setups and more conservative race setups, and
"that interrupted our flow," says defending champ Arie Luyendyk,
who had little time to solve several engine problems last
weekend and as a result will start 28th in the field of 33 on
Sunday.
Issue date: May 25, 1998
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