A1 TEAM USA owner Rick Weidinger will write a diary during the Indianapolis 500 following every day that the A1 TEAM USA entry driven by Buddy Rice runs on the famous 2 ½-mile Brickyard this May.
Friday, May 25
Carb Day, the traditional final practice for the Indianapolis 500, was electric. There were over 100,000 spectators and they were thoroughly enjoying themselves on a warm day, wildly cheering everything that moved. This was my first experience with Carb Day and I will remember it for a very long time.
The IndyCar practice is one hour and, like most of the teams, we used it to make sure everything was fastened on tight. Buddy found some traffic to run with to verify the feel of the A1 TEAM USA/A1GP car in race conditions and found it to be what he wanted. Buddy came away pleased and confident that we are a threat to win the race. He ran 21 laps, with a best of 221.161 miles per hour. We’re ready to go in the 91st running in two days.
After practice, the Indy Pro Series—the development series for the Indy Racing League—ran the Freedom 100, a 40-lap race with a 24-car field. They’re smaller versions of the IndyCars with 450 horsepower and they run laps at 180 miles per hour. Alex Lloyd of England won.
The entertainment was far from over. Next came the pit stop contest and I really enjoyed it. Eight cars qualify. They compete two at a time, going side-by-side into pit boxes in three single-elimination rounds. They are timed from when they enter until they exit the designated area and they have to change four tires. Their professionalism and teamwork is worth watching and the crowd filled the grandstands the length of the contest. We weren’t in it and I wish we had been.
Buddy came out and watched from the track. He signed autographs and had his picture taken with fans and spent time talking with them. Buddy was the only driver I saw out there and I thought it was very nice of him to share some time with the fans.
Rusty Lewis, my partner in A1 TEAM USA, arrived Friday for the weekend and we had some guests from A1GP here and enjoyed showing them around our garage and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Our families joined us in Indianapolis late in the afternoon and we went to a party at the Dreyer & Reinbold, our team partners here, race shop for a party. It was a fun time.
It’s been great to be back at Indy this year. I’ve enjoyed getting to know Buddy and learning more about the history of the Indy 500 from Tim Tuttle, a friend of mine and journalist who has covered it every year since 1981. A1 TEAM USA is very happy to be in the Indy 500. Now, we have one final mission: Win it on May 27.