1. Indy 500 Rookies honored at Fastest Rookie Luncheon:
2. 33 drivers, 13 cities, 24 hours for the '500':
3. After missing Indianapolis 500, AFS Racing refocuses
1. Indy 500 Rookies honored at Fastest Rookie Luncheon: Waiting in the qualifying line on Pole Day for the 100th anniversary Indianapolis 500, Jay Howard's thoughts momentarily drifted to 2010 and '08 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
They weren't necessarily pleasant memories, but delivered life experience and experience on the 2.5-mile oval. In '08, after competing in four races with Roth Racing car, Howard was replaced by John Andretti for the Indy 500. In 2010, he failed to qualify in a Sarah Fisher Racing car.
This year, Howard will start 21st in the No. 88 Service Central Schmidt Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing car.
"The third time is a charm as they say," said Howard, who has made nine IZOD IndyCar Series starts. "It makes you even more determined if anything. The car was so loose in qualifying; I was hanging on and every lap I thought I was going to stick it in the fence. But having that thought of past years in the back of my mind, I will knock these walls out before I lift."
The five rookies in the 500 Mile Race -- all Firestone Indy Lights graduates -- were honored by the American Dairy Association of Indiana at the Fastest Rookie luncheon at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. In 1933, race winner Louis Meyer asked for a cold glass of buttermilk after the 500 grueling miles and a tradition was born.
JR Hildebrand, the 2009 Firestone Indy Lights champion, was the quickest of the group with a four-lap average speed of 225.579 mph in the No. 4 National Guard Panther Racing car. He'll start 12th, one spot ahead of James Hinchcliffe in the No. 06 Sprott entry for Newman/Haas Racing.
"Coming to Indy is a special event in and of itself, and looking at all the other guys who have been the fastest rookie it sinks in that this is a special honor. For me, the real treat will be if we can come back and still be the highest-finishing rookie on Race Day.
"There were a few of us that were a little frustrated that we didn't have more speed on (Pole Day), but then watching all the Bump Day antics we were like, 'OK, maybe we were alright sticking with what we had.' I hope both days were exciting for the fans; it certainly was for us. I think it speaks to the strength of the field, and we're very happy with where we're at and what we're looking at going forward."
Charlie Kimball, driving the No. 83 Levemir and NovoLog FlexPen for Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing, will start 29th and Pippa Mann in the No. 36 Conquest Racing car will start 32nd.
2. 33 drivers, 13 cities, 24 hours for the '500': Alex Tagliani, who's been on auto-pilot since earning the PEAK Performance Pole Award presented by AutoZone for the Indianapolis 500, is an individual who tells it like it is (occasionally crossing between English and French in the process).
Congratulatory phone calls, e-mails, text messages and tweets have been flowing since his four-lap qualifying effort in the "Fast Nine" on May 21. So have interviews - scheduled and impromptu.
Tagliani had a gaggle of media members laughing over their videotape while explaining his extended absence at the Real Sports Bar - a slap shot from the Air Canada Center in Toronto and where the TV count on two levels surpasses 200 -- during a Victoria Day blitz of the city.
"I was on the phone with this guy who wanted to do an interview, and I had to tell him wait a minute. He said, 'What, you in the men's room or something?" said Tagliani, who was joined on the day of interviews and appearances by native Torontonians James Hinchcliffe and Paul Tracy (in photo to right with a Borg-Warner Trophy piece of artwork). "I said, 'Yeah, and you'll just have to wait because I'm busy. It was a long trip (from Indianapolis).
"I'm trying to be very available. I probably said 'no' to one autograph in the garage area last week. I was running to the bathroom and had to say 'no.' I feel bad about that, but what are you going to do?
"I have a hard time saying 'no' to people because we need everyone to follow our sport. We're very lucky to do what we love to do, and the fans are there to support us so the least you can do is give them your time."
The 33 starters for the 500 Mile Race traveled to 13 cities to promote the 100th anniversary race.
In Boston, Will Power, Justin Wilson and Simona de Silvestro got in some additional track time at the iRacing.com headquarters and were guests of honor at a media luncheon at The Four's Restaurant.
In New York, Indy 500 champions Helio Castroneves and Dario Franchitti plus Danica Patrick flipped the switch that turned the tower of the Empire State Building green (think green flag). Visits to CNN American Morning, ABC News Now, Sirius/XM, Sports Illustrated, WFAN, Fox Business, ESPN The Magazine, FOX Sports and a media roundtable at the Palm West also are part of the itinerary.
Tagliani's road trip continued May 24 when he met up with fellow front-row starters Scott Dixon of Target Chip Ganassi Racing and Oriol Servia of Newman/Haas Racing at ESPN headquarters for a round of interviews across the network's properties.
The other cities with drivers attending:
Chicago: Ryan Briscoe, Graham Rahal
Cincinnati: Scott Dixon, Takuma Sato, Tomas Scheckter, Pippa Mann
Dallas: Marco Andretti
Dayton, Ohio: Alex Lloyd, Bertrand Baguette, Jay Howard
Las Vegas: Townsend Bell
Louisville: John Andretti, Davey Hamilton, JR Hildebrand
Miami: Ana Beatriz, Tony Kanaan, E.J. Viso, Oriol Servia
Milwaukee: Charlie Kimball, Vitor Meira, Buddy Rice
Nashville: Ed Carpenter, (team owner) Sarah Fisher
Tampa: Dan Wheldon
3. After missing Indianapolis 500, AFS Racing refocuses: After missing out on the Indianapolis 500, AFS Racing owner Gary Peterson and his team are refocusing their efforts with the plan of being even more competitive this season.
"As the owner of AFS Racing, I feel so sorry for the team, especially, (Raphael) Matos who I feel I let down," Peterson said. "I am so proud of this crew who worked tirelessly for days leading up to qualifying. My original intent was to run the road and street courses only this season to prepare us for the 2012 season, but the draw of the centennial Indy 500 was too much for me to resist."
Matos, who was trying to qualify for his third Indianapolis 500, but was bumped out of the field after his first attempt on Bump Day and came up short as he tried to find the speed to get back in the field. Neil Micklewright, VP of Operations for AFS Racing said the lack of track time hurt the team's effort.
"Obviously, we are extremely disappointed to have fallen short of the performance we needed," Mickelwright said. "There are never any excuses for failure, but there are always reasons. We are a new team and fully understood that the challenge of this year's Indy 500 would be massive. Creating the team in February, meant a late start for both the crew and Raphael, but we all accepted the challenge.
"We were hoping and praying that the weather would be good for the entire week of practice at Indy, as we had never run there as a team and needed every possible moment of track time to try and refine the car to its ultimate potential. Raphael and the entire crew worked tirelessly and extremely professionally to try and gain as much knowledge and track time as possible, but I really think the lack of running on Tuesday and Wednesday, due to rain, hurt our entire effort.
"Every member of the team, including Rapha and the engineers, did a fantastic job every single day. Rapha drove his heart out and the team as a whole posted among the most total laps run in practice. That said though, we just couldn't make up for the lack of time to develop the car.
"Although there can't be any upsides to missing a qualification spot, we are among some pretty distinguished company as we watch from the sidelines."
Peterson hinted that Indianapolis would not be the last time the No. 17 Automatic Fire Sprinklers team, which had recently signed a sponsorship deal with Brazilian bank Brasilinvest.
"We will regroup and are beginning today to prepare for the balance of the season," he said.
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The 2011 IZOD IndyCar Series season continues with the 100th Anniversary Indianapolis 500 on May 29 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The race will be telecast live in High Definition at Noon (ET) by ABC. The race will air live on the IMS Radio Network, SiriusXM channel 94 and indycar.com. The 2011 Firestone Indy Lights season continues with the Firestone Freedom 100 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on May 27. The race will be televised live by VERSUS.
