The first eleven positions for the 92nd running of the 500 - including the $100,000 PEAK Motor Oil Pole Award - will be decided on Saturday [10 May], with positions 12-22 due to be filled Sunday. Up and down pit-lane, views varied as to how much running drivers would have to do over the next couple of days, ranging from a disgruntled Jay Howard suggesting that, with Roth Racing unable to make much headway, he might not run any qualifying laps to fellow Briton Dan Wheldon being confident that he had a car good enough for top spot.
“There's not been much track time, so it has been unfortunate for the fans and, certainly, the people who want to be on track, including me," the Kansas race winner admitted, "We're just working toward qualifying, and I don't think the tyres are such an issue now with all the rain. We've definitely got plenty to throw at it tomorrow, and that's what we'll do. Everybody at Target Chip Ganassi Racing has worked very hard to get good race cars and fast race cars so we can qualify up front, and I think we'd be letting those guys down if we didn't really go for it. We definitely feel that we have a car capable of the pole, but we just have to see how everything plays out tomorrow.”
