Indy 500: Practice quotes - day four.

Eddie Cheever Jr.: "We took the #51 Excite@Home T-car out this afternoon, and we made some gains. I think we're starting to get a handle on the handling. We had a problem yesterday in Turn 1, so that's what we focused on today, and I'm very happy with how the #51 Excite@Home car is handling right now. Turn 1 has gotten very bumpy and it takes a lot of commitment to go in at 230mph. If you get one of those tank-slappers, you're screwed. I'm very confident for qualifying. I think both Scott and I have a good shot at the first two rows.

Eddie Cheever Jr.: "We took the #51 Excite@Home T-car out this afternoon, and we made some gains. I think we're starting to get a handle on the handling. We had a problem yesterday in Turn 1, so that's what we focused on today, and I'm very happy with how the #51 Excite@Home car is handling right now. Turn 1 has gotten very bumpy and it takes a lot of commitment to go in at 230mph. If you get one of those tank-slappers, you're screwed. I'm very confident for qualifying. I think both Scott and I have a good shot at the first two rows. These one-lap specials that guys are doing now don't count in qualifying - you've got to do four of them. This is a very hard place to qualify at."

Arie Luyendyk: "We didn't get on the track until after 3 o'clock (today) because there was some damaged pieces from when I ran over debris from Mears' accident (yesterday). I did a 221 (mph) lap with a setup that wasn't very comfortable. We made some changes late in the afternoon and that's when I did my best lap (223.499 mph)."

Buddy Lazier: "Today we were just trying some things on the race car. We intentionally ran at the hottest part of the day. We ran our fastest lap, which I think was over 221 (mph), during the hottest part of the day. Basically we did all our runs in the middle of the day. We made one run around 4:30 and that run was just to get a read on a change. It is a constant process of deductions. Today was another working day. At the end of the week we'll put all these deductions together and see what we have."

Mark Dismore: "We just worked on race setup. We found some things that aren't working, and some of that is good. It eliminates things we need to try."

About sunny conditions "I thought a couple of times it was cool in the morning and in the evening. Unless you get into those conditions, it is hard to say what will work. I think we will have cooler days this month. It's nice to have the extra three days. It's nice for everybody. I think it will make for a more competitive race. The Indy 500 is the greatest race period."

About his karting business: "It is going pretty good. Anybody that reads this can come out and buy a go-kart. We can use all the business we can get. It just seems like karting keeps growing and growing."

Eliseo Salazar: "We tried a few things that I wasn't happy with, so we will go back to a setup I like. Sometimes during the month, you get into a rut, and this was a small rut since we still ran 221s, but we'll go back to what we know works. We still have two days."

Robby Gordon: "I'm pretty happy. The speeds keep climbing, and I am getting more comfortable. A.J. and I are communicating better about setting up the car to suit my driving style. Today the car felt the best it has so far. We've got two more days to work on it for qualifying. Scott Sharp's lap was pretty impressive."
Rick Galles: "The main thing that matters to me after Casey's accident yesterday is that he is OK. The safety of our drivers is always our No. 1 priority on this team. Casey hitting the wall as hard as he did and not having any serious injuries just shows strength of the safety in the IRL cars. We are planning to have Casey run again on Friday if all goes well, and we would like to try and qualify him this weekend. The crew has done a fantastic job, and their resilience just shows what true racers they are."

Robby McGehee: "Obviously we are a little behind after the crash at Atlanta. Today we wanted to shake down the car after we completely rebuilt it. We accomplished everything we need to for today. Thursday and Friday we need to work on speed. We feel we need to get in the low 220s for qualifying. Today was getting reacquainted with the speedway. The last time I was here was the last lap of last year's race. It just feels great to be back in Indianapolis and getting ready for the biggest race in the world."

Jacques Lazier: "I tell you what, today we did a lot of fine tuning, and it resulted in a great speed (223.310 mph). We've been consistent from the first time we hit the track. Right now we are just trimming the car out. I don't know how much is left as far as speed. We need to work on race setup now. I'm really proud of the Byrd/Extreme Team. We've been together for three weeks and to be fifth fastest for today is amazing."

About his brother Buddy Lazier: "I hope we can run together, start together and finish together. Because I guarantee you he is going to be right up front."

Tony Stewart: "We had great speed for today since when we started this morning we were going backwards. Jimmy (Vasser) and I stood around and scratched our heads, talked about what direction we needed to go and the team listened, and we gained a lot. This is by far the fastest I have gone in these new IRL cars. You still need to get around the Speedway without lifting. Right now I'm cracking it, mostly for my safety. Today was a monumental jump for our team. The credit goes to all the guys working on the car. After the pow-wow, we made big changes, and they really worked hard. I think a lot of the IRL regulars are sandbagging, and they are just teasing us right now."

Scott Sharp: "They (fast laps) were fun more than anything. Obviously, that lap (226.137 mph) was great for numbers but not too realistic. I got a great tow from Airton Dare. He carried me all the way to the frontstretch. It was a pretty awesome draft I got."

About recovering from electrical problem and fire yesterday: "The guys were up until 2 or 3 (a.m.) last night fixing that."

About Ilmor engines: "They didn't have an IRL engine on the dyno until December. I'm really impressed with their progress."

About pole speed: "For the pole, I don't know. Menard, that seems to be their goal this year. They've sort of shocked us all when it comes down to qualifying everywhere we've gone."

Goals for team: "Next week all the qualified cars I think you'll see them working on long runs. If you're not, then I just think you're wasting your time."

About Panther Racing not showing a lot of speed early in the week: "They've been showing incredible speed this year. This track is an animal in itself, and people always say this track changes so much. We thought that with Michael and Sam as a combination they would be showing a little bit more at this point. We all have a burning desire to put Kelley Racing at the front where it should be."

About Chip Ganassi Racing: "I knew they would get rocking soon. Somebody read off a list earlier of people we need to watch out for, and I said, 'Don't forget Ganassi.' Last year they were in the middle of the front row, so we know they can qualify well."

How close is your qualifying setup to your race setup?: "Pretty far away. Greg Ray has won a lot of poles, but doesn't win every race because the setups are different. You need a car in the race that can go in and out of traffic and make it 35 to 40 laps. During Happy Hour it's easy to get air, anybody can get air out there. How many guys are going to run qualifications in Happy Hour? After tech and waiting in line, four maybe five guys will get to go out. I'm not a big proponent of Happy Hour. If you're lucky enough to pull out of line, and get to run during Happy Hour you'll get that extra mile-an-hour. Happy Hour is almost just for fun."

Stan Wattles: "We found some speed thanks to the No. 91 crew. They gave us a hand with our setup, and we knocked off a 219.5 mph this afternoon. There is more to come. It seems that I always wait until the last minute, but it was getting a little frustrating. I feel better now that we're getting up to speed and look forward to getting back at it tomorrow."

Robbie Buhl: "Yesterday we had the day off, because the guys were working on our new car. It still needs some work, but it will be our primary car. We are more confident with some things that are on that car. Hopefully we will be out in that car tomorrow, since it is the car we plan to qualify. We ran the T-car (backup) again today, and ran a 221 (mph) pretty comfortably in the heat of the day. In the final hour of practice today it got pretty busy out there and with the headaches we've had, we don't need to bring anymore upon us. We are real happy with our power. We just want to get out there with our primary car and see where that thing goes."

Casey Mears: About yesterday's accident: "I made a mistake yesterday, but I know what I did, so I can take that and use that knowledge when I get back into the car. Everyone keeps telling me that this place is all about patience, and I know that first hand now. The entire team has been working so hard, and they have all remained extremely positive. They have a lot of experience here, and that is really going to come into play with our program during the next few days. We are hoping to get back on the track on Friday, and Dr. Bock has said he will clear me to drive after my soreness goes away, which has already started to happen."

Scott Goodyear: "We put a few more miles on this morning and tried some things. Some of them worked, and some of them didn't. One in particular will be very helpful for qualifying and the race. We had some electrical problems this morning and didn't get a lot of running in. We're fighting a couple of things on the car. We went back out this afternoon, but had a possible drive-line problem. The next two days we'll start focusing in on speed for qualifying on Saturday."

Al Unser Jr.: "We ran a little bit this morning and then planned on running this afternoon when it got cooler, but then we decided against it. We have a full day of things we want to try, and we did not want to do them during Happy Hour, because we can't accomplish what we want with a lot of traffic and the possibility of long yellows."

Buzz Calkins: "We ran this morning and made some progress with the Bradley Food Marts/ Sav-O-Mat car, turning our fastest speed of the month. However, we have been having some trouble with the car hitting the rev limiter as we cross the Yard of Bricks the last few days, and that has slowed us down. We found out today that the gearbox seal broke and that led to the clutch slipping so the guys had to work on that. That took us out of the picture for most of the day. We got back out late this afternoon but with all of the yellows we never really got to find out what the car would do. We have a few more days to get it sorted out."

Billy Boat: "We gained some speed this afternoon getting up over 221 mph, so the car was working pretty well. Then we made some more changes later in the afternoon to try and go a little quicker, and we didn't really get the results we wanted. So we'll go back to where we were and try to pick up where we left off. The thing about the Speedway here is that it's constantly changing. You battle changing conditions every day, and every day there's something different, so we'll keep plugging away and be ready for qualifications on Saturday."

Gil de Ferran: "Marlboro Team Penske had a good day today. We made gains from yesterday posting our fastest lap so far this week (222.271 mph), and both Helio (Castroneves) and I finished in the top 10. We were also able to get a qualifying simulation done, which we weren't able to do on Tuesday."

Helio Castroneves: "So far my first few days at the Speedway have gone well. It's been quite a learning experience for me. Every day we learn more and more about the car, and we're slowly improving, but we're not there yet. We did some full tank runs today as well as some qualifying runs. Everyone at Marlboro Team Penske has been working flat out to try to find more speed in the car."

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