Dreyer & Reinbold Racing at the 2008 Indianapolis 500

RAIN CONTINUES AT INDY FOR CARB DAY FRIDAY AS PRACTICE IS CUT SHORT FOR JUST 12 MINUTES

Rice, Bell Pleased With Their Machines After a Quick Dash For Few Laps

The rain continued to hit the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Friday during Carb Day practice in preparation for the 92nd running of the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race set for May 25 at 1 p.m. EDT.

A wet month of May has been the trend at the world’s most famous racing facility, and the 33 starters for Sunday’s classic again had to fight the elements with only 12 minutes of practice time.

The 11 a.m. scheduled practice start was delayed by ten minutes as the IMS safety team continued to dry the racing surface from an early morning rain storm.  

At 11:10 a.m. the drivers finally took their cars onto the track for a planned one hour session. However, another storm hit the “Brickyard” at 11:22 a.m., and intermittent showers in the afternoon kept the drivers and cars in the garage area for the rest of the day.

Luckily, for the Dreyer & Reinbold team, their drivers — Buddy Rice, Townsend Bell and Milka Duno — all recorded a handful of laps in the short practice. Rice, the 2004 Indy 500 champion, drove his No. 15 Dreyer & Reinbold Honda Dallara car to the top of the speed charts on his first lap with a speed of 219 miles per hour.  Rice was able to clock in with eight laps Friday securing a best speed of 221.207 m.p.h.  Rice was eighth overall in the brief practice.

Bell, the fastest qualifier last Saturday in the second round of time trials, was happy with his No. 99 William Rast Honda Dallara despite just six circuits of the 2.5-mile oval Friday.  Bell, whose car has associate sponsors EMU Australia and Herbalife, made a quick adjustment with his mount’s aerodynamic setup.  The California native will start 12th in the 33-driver field.   Duno, one of three females in the Indy 500 lineup, took her No. 23 CITGO Honda Dallara for five laps Fri- day with a top speed of 212.789.  The Venezuela driver wasn’t able to get to full speed before the rain hit the track.  

 DRIVER QUOTES:   

BUDDY RICE (No. 15 Dreyer & Reinbold Honda Dallara): “Everything went good this morning.  I was able to get our car up to speed quickly.  I ran 219 out of the box and 221 in traffic.  The track was very green, no rubber on it from the rain.  The downforce was heavy due ot the cooler conditions.  It is scheduled to be much hotter on Sunday.   That might it very difficult on the teams and drivers to get the right setup.  Luckily, we have an experienced engi- neering staff and we’ll prepare for that kind of day.  Right now, I’m very pleased with our car.”

TOWNSEND BELL (No. 99 William Rast Honda Dallara):  “Everything went well, considering we didn’t get many laps.  The balance of the car felt good.  I’m happy with the baseline setup on the chassis.  We did get a little bit of traffic and that helped us.  We made a quick aero (dynamic) tweak and made the car better.  I think we have a car in the William Rast machine.”   

MILKA DUNO (No. 23 CITGO Honda Dallara): We just made three laps because of the rain.  The tires were still cold, and we were not able to check the pressure.  We are confident the car is good for Sunday."