DRR RACERS RECORD MORE LAPS FRIDAY AT INDY AS QUALIFYING FOR THE SECOND WEEKEND BEGINS SATURDAY
Rice, Bell Show Strong Speed Friday As They Tested For The Race And Qualifying
Sunshine and track action was a plenty at the “Brickyard” Friday as teams worked hard to prepare for the final weekend of qualifications for the 92nd running of the Indy 500.
The Dreyer & Reinbold Racing organization continued its methodical preparation for both Saturday’s qualifying runs and the May 25 race. Engineers John Dick, Chris Finch and Ivan Koldsgaard went through their chassis settings with their drivers, and the crews made appropriate changes to each machine.
The team worked on race setup in the early portion of the six-hour practice session on Friday before trimming out the downforce on the Dallara chassis. The cars were then set in qualifying mode late in the day.
Townsend Bell led the DRR drivers in laps completed Friday with the No. 99 William Rast Honda Dallara going 86 circuits with a best speed of 221.857 miles per hour. Bell, seeking to qualifying for his second Indy 500, has been the busiest of the team this week and is expected to put in a strong qualifying run today.
Buddy Rice, the 2004 Indy 500 champion, clocked a slightly fastest speed Friday with a reading of 221.919 m.p.h., as the Phoenix driver looks to start his fifth 500-Mile contest in Saturday’s time trials.
Rice drove his No. 15 Dreyer & Reinbold Honda Dallara car 49 laps on Friday. Rice also won the pole in 2004. Milka Duno, working with Bell and Rice on setups for the first time at Indy, continues to put in solid runs in practice with her No. 23 CITGO Honda Dallara. Duno, who made her rookie Indy 500 start last year, recorded 60 laps Friday with a best speed of 219.893.
DRIVER QUOTES:
BUDDY RICE (No. 15 Dreyer & Reinbold Honda Dallara): “Most of the morning, we worked on race trim. We were just trying to get it a little better. I think we’re pretty close, and we’re pretty happy. We’d like to do some more runs. I’d like to get in at least two or three more full tank runs before the race if I can. Tire (allotment) won’t be an issue. We’ll be okay. We did a qualifying run right there at the end.
We did an okay time. We’ll be okay. We just need to put it in the show tomorrow, get it over with, and call it a day. We’re pretty happy with right all the way around with the Dreyer and Reinbold car..”
TOWNSEND BELL (No. 99 William Rast Honda Dallara): “Obviously, I’d like to qualify 12 thThat’d be a good goal. We’re one of the stronger cars out there that hasn’t qualified yet. We just need to be smart about it. It doesn’t matter if you’re 12 th or 15 th . As a racer, I’d like to be as high as I can. That’s one less car I’d have to pass on the start.”
MILKA DUNO (No. 23 CITGO Honda Dallara): “We were working on both race day and qualifying trim. We did a lot of work today. We thought we were losing the balance on the car, but we got it back. We again have the car we like. We need a few more things for qualifying, but we’ll see what happens tomorrow in the first practice before qualifying.”
