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May 20, 2018 | By Kirby Arnold, INDYCAR
Nobody at Indianapolis Motor Speedway served more embraces for the elated and hugs for the heartbroken on Saturday than Verizon IndyCar Series team owner Dale Coyne. With the return of bumping to the qualifying format for the Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil, the four-car effort by Dale Coyne Racing landed three drivers in the field for the May 27 race – Sebastien Bourdais, Zachary Claman De Melo and Conor Daly. Bourdais recorded the day’s fifth fastest four-lap speed and tops for Honda (228.090 mph), Claman De Melo was 26th (225.722) in his first INDYCAR qualifying session on an oval, and Daly found enough speed (224.874) to twice bump his way back into the field and rank 32nd. “Zach did a good job, and he qualified solidly,” Coyne said. “Sebastien did a great job, and he’s first in class as the fastest Honda. We’re looking forward to (Sunday) with the Fast Nine (Shootout) with him. And it worked out in the end with Conor. I think he just said, ‘I’m going to go flat,’ and he did.” But Pippa Mann, attempting to make the field for the seventh time, couldn’t manage enough speed in three tries in her No. 63 Donate Life Honda, including a final attempt as the gun sounded to end qualifying for the day. Mann’s four-lap average of 223.343 fell short of bumping 33rd-fastest James Davison (224.798). After her run ended, a tearful Mann climbed from the car and embraced several members of her crew, then received a consoling hug and words of encouragement from Coyne. It was a devastating moment for Mann, who had poured herself for a year into the effort to land funding to drive in this year’s Indianapolis 500. Coyne told her to be proud of that effort. “It’s not that easy,” Coyne said. “She’s the 34th-fastest driver in the world. That’s not so bad, either. She has been here for a lot of years and done a good job. She can hold her head up and get back here next year. She goes out and finds those sponsors, and she had them all locked up back in November. She does a great job of doing that, and hopefully all those people will support her going forward. “It’s part of what Indy is. Penske has had roller-coaster days and gone home with nothing, and Rahal has. It happens to everybody. I thought Pippa was doing good this week. She was up to speed right away. I thought she was going to be safe (to qualify), but she just didn’t have the speed.” Mann praised the effort of the crew for quickly turning the car around from its road-course configuration used by Bourdais on May 12 in the INDYCAR Grand Prix to get her on track when oval practice began. Despite having no prior test time with the Dallara IR-12’s new universal aero package, she said the car felt good in her first practice runs. “The car handled great,” Mann said. “We thought things were rolling along pretty nicely. (Friday) morning, I rolled out and ran 226 out of the box.” Happy with that speed, the crew fine-tuned the car to gain more. It didn’t work. “Nothing,” she said. “That’s when we realized we might really be in trouble.” She ran 224.360 mph in her first qualifying run Saturday, knowing it likely wouldn’t be fast enough. Sure enough, it was teammate Daly who bumped her out of the field with less than an hour remaining in qualifying. Mann made one attempt to get back into the field of 33, but Coyne waved it off for being too slow after three laps. The No. 63 crew hurried to put on four fresh Firestone tires, add fuel and make any last-minute adjustments permitted under INDYCAR rules. Mann took to the track a final time, two minutes before the session ended. She completed a four-lap run, but at 223.343 mph, it was not fast enough again. Dreams never die easily here. “It’s the worst feeling in the world,” Mann said. “I really thought we were going to get it done.”