Hideki Mutoh discovered a few minutes before addressing the crowd at the American Dairy Association of Indiana that he completed an Andretti Green Racing sweep of the Fastest Rookie of the Year Award.
Mutoh, who will start ninth in the 92nd Indianapolis 500, joins Marco Andretti (2006), Danica Patrick (2005), Tony Kanaan (2002) and team co-owner Michael Andretti (1984) as fastest rookies at Indianapolis.
No pressure then, the driver of the #27 Formula Dream Dallara-Honda smiled, Receiving this fastest rookie award is a great surprise. I know it's not going to be easy to get to the top level, but I have really good team-mates that help me a lot and I learn from them. I think the starting position is the best I could do, so I'm very happy. I'm happy to have had this much practice for the race. I'm ready."
Mutoh, who receives $5000 from the American Dairy Association of Indiana, among other gifts, is among eleven rookies in the 33-car field for Sunday's race. His latest honour also maintains a personal streak as, last year, he was named rookie of the year in the Indy Pro Series and, in 2006, he took the same title in the Japanese Super GT Championship.
"When I competed at Indianapolis in the Freedom 100 last year, I remember being surprised by the number of people in the grandstands. This year, I'm an IndyCar Series driver, and racing in the Indy 500 is like a dream come true.
Among those joining Mutoh as first-time Indianapolis 500 is Conquest Racing's Enrique Bernoldi, who has been soaking up the off-track side of the race as much as enjoying the driving.
It's a race that's unique, and I'm happy I made the field, the Brazilian, who will start in the middle of row ten, said, It's nice to do a lot of activities outside of driving too - it makes it a race that is very complete. There are so many fans here, it's just been a great month.
![Hideki Mutoh - Andretti Green Racing [pic credit: IRL/McQueeney]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/437094.jpg)
