A1 TEAM USA owner Rick Weidinger will write a diary during the Indianapolis 500 following every day that theA1 TEAM USA entry driven by Buddy Rice runs on the famous 2 1/2-mile Brickyard this May.
Friday, May 18
We sat out practice on Wednesday and Thursday. It was in the high 50s for the start of practice at noon and didn't go up much, much cooler than it had been the previous week and for qualifying. We didn't think it would be close to that temperature for the race on May 27 and decided against running. We didn't want to chase the weather into a setup we couldn't use.
We also wanted to run in traffic and with the temperature back in the 70s, there were plenty of teams who agreed with us. There were 31 cars on the track and it closely simulated race conditions. We ran behind, in front and side-by-side of cars. Buddy ran a best lap of 221.218 miles per hour and completed 63 laps. We used worn tires and ran with plenty of fuel--what they call in racing "half tanks"--and Buddy was pleased with how the A1 TEAM USA car performed. With a 500-mile race ahead, Buddy wants a car that is comfortable to drive. Nobody can hang on to a twitchy car for 200 laps or 800 turns at 210 to 220 miles per hour. It was a productive day for A1 TEAM USA.
We're running in partnership with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, a regular IndyCar Series team, and they've added a third car for Roger Yasukawa. Roger's No. 24 will also carry signage for A1 TEAM USA and we're proud to be associated with him. Roger has been in the previous four Indy 500s and has finished 10th, 10th, 18th and 16th. Sarah Fisher, in the No. 5 Dreyer & Reinbold entry, also carries the A1 TEAM USA colors.