By Dave Lewandowski
indianapolismotorspeedway.com
Sunday, May 22, 2005
Photos | Driver Audio | Qualifying Quotes | Notes/Quotes | Timing Reports
One minute Felipe Giaffone was walking the aisles of Babies R' Us, and the next he was at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway - in an IndyCar Series car making a run to join the field for the 89th Indianapolis 500.
Leave it to the eminently competitive A.J. Foyt to be the catalyst that produced a bump on Bump Day. Arie Luyendyk Jr., who passed the Rookie Orientation Program but experienced subsequent problems with the No. 98 Fat Wallet.com/CURB Records Dallara/Chevrolet/ Firestone on May 21, was the victim.
Giaffone, who left the Speedway and was preparing to fly back to Brazil when there appeared to be nothing available to make his fifth start in the "Greatest Spectacle in Racing," was shopping with his expectant wife, Alice, when he answered his mobile phone in the diaper aisle. Foyt, the four-time Indianapolis 500 winner and team owner, was on the other end.
"If you want to drive, get on over here," he told Giaffone.
Centennial Era Twill Flags Jacket
Centennial Era Flags Jacket. Twill And Embroidery.
The remainder of the afternoon was a whirlwind:
2:30 p.m. (local time): Seat fitting in Foyt garage.
2:45: Crew works on Coyote-red No. 48 Panoz/Toyota/Firestone. The number recognizes Foyt's 48 years in auto racing.
3:05: Car is fired in garage.
3:07: Car is wheeled out of garage and into pit stall.
3:10: Giaffone exits garage in a Purex/Allegra firesuit he wore while driving for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing in 2004.
3:40: Giaffone climbs into car, after Luyendyk's qualifying effort (four-lap average of 215.039 mph), and records eight shakedown laps.
5:19: Giaffone adds tension by posting a quick lap of 217.815 mph.
5:22: Giaffone completes last of practice laps.
5:36: Luyendyk is on the bubble as Giaffone rolls the No. 48 entry from the qualifying line. "You never know what's going to happen on Bump Day," IMS Radio analyst Pancho Carter said.
5:40: Giaffone completes qualifying run with a four-lap average of 217.645 mph, bumping Luyendyk, who was watching the attempt on the frontstretch video screen from inside his car.
5:52: Luyendyk takes a few more laps to check the car's tweaked set-up.
5:59: According to qualifying procedures, each car is allowed three attempts per day. With less than a minute left in the qualifying session, the No. 98 entry pulls from the qualifying line on sticker tires. The crowd is on its feet as Luyendyk attempts to bump his way back into the field. But after two opening laps of 214.123 and 213.983, it is apparent he would come up short.
Giaffone, 30, watching from near the "Yard of Bricks," raised his arms in stunned accomplishment as he hugged his wife and Foyt. Arie Luyendyk, a two-time Indianapolis 500 winner, welcomed his son with a similar greeting.
Instead of returning to Sao Paulo, Brazil, Giaffone will fly to New York City with the 32 other drivers Monday morning for a photo opportunity in Times Square.
"Everything happened in about a half an hour," said Giaffone, who had not been in an IndyCar Series car since the 2004 season-ending race at Texas Motor Speedway.
"I went through all my exams and everything, but (Indy Racing League officials) made my life very easy and very fast. Thanks to A.J. for remembering me as well. I'm going to have to go to sleep to realize what really happened today, tomorrow.
"I just had to try to calm down and say: 'Hey, they get this job done. They gave me this opportunity.' But I was very nervous to get the feeling of the car to just see if it was drivable. I was very pleased with the car and with the set-up that A.J. gave me and I just kept pushing harder and harder and the car was OK. I sure haven't thought about the race, but I think if we can finish this race we're going to be OK."
Giaffone will have a one-hour shakedown/tire scrubbing window available on Miller Lite Carb Day May 27.
"I can tell you that I didn't know that this really could happen," he said. "I've never been in this situation before; I'm either out or I'm in. But this is Indianapolis and that's what I heard when I was a kid watching TV and there were people getting in last minute and trying to get in the race and a few years later that happened to me.
"In a certain way, it's not the best setting because I was really nervous getting into the car, just wondering how things were going to go. At the same time, it feels very good because you're in the car. It's going to be a day that I'll remember forever."
Giaffone joins A.J. Foyt IV (inside Row 10) and Larry Foyt (outside Row 10) as Foyt Enterprises entries in the show. Foyt said the decision to put the No. 48 car, which Larry Foyt had on the track for 63 laps (216.200 mph high) on May 13, in the qualifying line was made about 3 p.m.
Foyt said he feels for Luyendyk, but "that's racing."
"He's a great young driver, and you'll be hearing a lot more from him," Foyt said. "This is just one of those things that happened. Indianapolis has always been the fastest 33 cars start the race, and I've been on the bubble before. I never got bumped, but I was pretty close. I know he feels bad, but he's a super young kid and you can expect a lot from him."
Luyendyk appreciated the sentiments, but it wasn't a salve for the wound.
"I was flat out, but it was in the high 214s, something like that," said Luyendyk, a Menards Infiniti Pro Series veteran, of the second qualifying attempt. "I just knew that it would just not be enough to cut it, and I wasn't going to risk putting the car into the wall to run a 216 (mph lap) because that was just not enough.
"You know, it's a shame. We've had such great support from our sponsors, and I'm just really disappointed. After feeling like you are in the field, and then being bumped out, it's probably the hardest way to go. I am happy with what I did. I tried to give it everything that I got, and that's only going to walk away with this feeling because I tried as hard as I could."
The deal for Luyendyk to get in the car wasn't completed until May 18, and rain the next day washed out his attempt to pass the four-phase ROP. On May 21, he methodically went through the test, but he ran into trouble late in the day when the car brushed the SAFER Barrier in Turn 4 during practice. It fractured the right-side suspension and squashed plans for a qualifying attempt.
"It just goes to show you, I don't think it is really fair for the team and the driver to put someone in my situation into the car so late in the game," he said. "I know next time I am going to come with a lot more preparation. It's just miles underneath your belt. I think we would have been fine if we would have gotten onto the track and run as many laps as we could this week.
"I think that was the difference in making the field and not making the field. We'll come back and fight another day, and hopefully, I will be in the field next year."
The effort made his father proud.
"It really hasn't been easy going," the senior Luyendyk said. "He's got a good head on his shoulders and stayed calm when the pressure was on. I felt like jumping in the car every now and then, (saying) 'This is what you should do, or this is what the team should do to change the car.' It's more nerve-racking for a father watching his son anyway, I think. It's still your kid out there racing on one of these fast ovals."
After 63 driver-car combinations totaled 14,157 practice laps spread over nine days, the field is deep and tested.
"I spent about an hour with Bobby Unser on pit road (May 21)," said Brian Barnhart, Indy Racing League president and chief operating officer who also is the race's chief steward. "He was just amazed at how we were practicing this second week. The ability of the cars to run so close together and their ability to pass really bodes well. It should make for an exciting race next Sunday."
The front row will consist of MBNA Pole winner Tony Kanaan (227.566 mph), Sam Hornish Jr. (227.273) and Scott Sharp (227.126) - all IndyCar Series champions. The back row will be comprised of Jeff Ward (218.714), Jimmy Kite (218.565) and Felipe Giaffone (217.645). In between will be 27 drivers, including six rookies, looking to quickly improve their position.
"Race Day can't get here soon enough," said 1996 Indianapolis 500 champion Buddy Lazier, who will start from the outside of Row 3.
***
Tickets:Tickets are available for the 2005 Indianapolis 500 on May 29. For information, log on to www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com, or call the IMS ticket office at (800) 822-INDY or (317) 492-6700.
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