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Friday notebook Rookies look forward to experience
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Race day should be a breeze for Bruno Junquiera and Nicolas Minassian, two of six rookies in Sunday's Indianapolis 500, after the range of emotions they've already experienced at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. "I will do my best to get to the front," Minassian said. "I want to race, and to me racing is winning." To win, you've got to be in the race. A few weeks ago, that didn't appear to be an option for either Minassian or Junquiera, rookies in the CART series with Target Chip Ganassi Racing. Ganassi, eager to repeat as Indy champion after winning a year ago with rookie Juan Montoya, dumped his 20-something regulars and brought in Tony Stewart and Jimmy Vasser, opting for drivers with vastly more experience on ovals. "Of course, I wanted to do the race," said Minassian, a native of France who now lives in Indianapolis. "But he's the boss. He knows better than me what's best for the team." When Stewart and Vasser qualified easily on the first day of time trials, Ganassi changed his mind. Both drivers proved to be quick studies. Junquiera qualified at 224.208 mph, making him the fastest rookie in the 33-car field, while Minassian was right behind at 223.006. "This is the third oval race of my life," said Junquiera, a 24-year-old native of Brazil. "It's a big challenge for me, but I'm prepared. I will start the race as the fastest rookie. It doesn't get much better than that." Stewart will start from the inside of the third row, while Vasser takes green from the outside of the fourth row. Both are viewed as top contenders. As for Junquiera and Minassian, the expectations aren't nearly as high. They like it that way, knowing this Indy experience should aid their development for years to come -- no matter what the outcome. "Most people are looking at Tony or Jimmy to get the win for Ganassi," Minassian said. "But you never know in a 500-mile race." The other first-year drivers in the 33-car field are Helio Castroneves and Felipe Giaffone of Brazil and Americans John Herb and Cory Witherill, the first full-blooded native American in the race. Still sharpThe Indianapolis 500 on Sunday will be Arie Luyendyk's first race in two years, yet the two-time champion isn't worried about being ready. "The good thing about Indy is you get to drive a lot," the Dutchman said, referring to the fact that there are two weeks of practice and qualifying leading up to the race. With so long between races, how did the 47-year-old Luyendyk stay sharp enough to come out of his one-year retirement? "My son, Arie Jr., races Formula Ford 200s and we go out during the week to a local go-kart track," he said. "We've got a six-speed shifter kart, and those are pretty quick. Everything helps tune the reflexes." It might be worth a few dollars to watch the Luyendyks race on that little Phoenix oval against some of the other drivers who live in that area. "Nick Firestone lives up there, and Mark Blundell, and at the time P.J. Jones and Adrian Fernandez," Luyendyk said. "A lot us go out to the track and race each other, but not too hard because we don't want to hurt each other. "Physically, it just keeps the reflexes working." It must work. Luyendyk, who won here in 1990 and 1997, qualified sixth at 224.257 mph. Model driverElaine Irwin-Mellencamp, the first woman to drive the pace car for the start of the Indianapolis 500, has been working hard, preparing for Sunday's race. "I've gotten up to 110, 115 miles an hour, and that really feels pretty good," the wife of rock singer John Mellencamp said Friday. That's just what it will take to lead the 33-car field to the starting line Sunday in her Oldsmobile Bravada SUV pace car. After that, she'll get out of the car and watch the rest of the race from one of the luxury suites high above the front straightaway. Don Bailey, a longtime speedway employee and the pace car driver for the rest of the race, will then take over. Irwin-Mellencamp, who attended dirt track races with her father while growing up in Pennsylvania and is now an Indiana resident, was selected as the pace car driver after actress Kim Basinger had to back out because of illness. Asked if she is nervous about her on-track duties, Irwin-Mellencamp smiled and said: "I just plan on getting out of the way." New hireInfiniti, which has been playing catch-up to Oldsmobile in the Indy Racing League engine wars, has hired Bernard Dudot as its IRL program manager. Dudot was one of the most successful technical directors in the past decade in Formula One engine development. "We were late introducing the new Infiniti Indy 35A [engine] this year, and having Bernard join us now will accelerate our program development." The Frenchman, who will be based in Indianapolis, will manage the future technical direction of the program. He will also coordinate with race teams, Infiniti engineers in Japan and the Race Engine Division of TWR Group, which recently joined Infiniti to handle the engine development and provide technical support. Eddie Cheever Jr., Scott Goodyear and Robbie Buhl are the only drivers in Sunday's field at Indy racing with Infiniti engines, which have won only one race since being introduced to the IRL in 1997. "The most successful year I ever had in Formula One was when I was driving for Renault, and Bernard was in charge of the engine program," Cheever said. "The experience he brings in open-wheel racing and his winning record is a big step forward in the technical depth of Infiniti's Indy efforts. His influence will have a dramatic effect on our program."
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