Indy 500 2000 - Drivers take advantage of Carburetion Day

Drivers take advantage of Carburetion Day
Associated Press

INDIANAPOLIS -- What carburetors?

The final practice before the Indianapolis 500 is still called Carburetion Day, a bow to tradition, even though carburetors gave way to fuel injection systems almost 40 years ago.

Now, it's just one last chance for the 33 starters -- actually 32 on Thursday, with Jimmy Kite testing two cars -- to make sure everything is ready for the race Sunday.

"Everybody out there was on race setups, just to shake it down, see what we've got, make sure the thing runs as good as we hope it's going to on Sunday," Kite said after the two-hour session.

"I wish Sunday was right now. I think we've got a great opportunity to win the race."

Kite pulled double duty with his own car and the one that will be driven in the race by rookie Jason Leffler, who was in Concord, N.C., for qualifying for a NASCAR Busch Grand National race Saturday.

"We just shook Jason's car down, made sure there were no vibrations above 200 mph, made sure it was ready to race, so it really wasn't a hard run," Kite said. "We got in a 208 lap, nothing crazy. It's not my job to put that thing up over 214."

Kite, who will start on the ninth row Sunday, had top speeds of 214.713 mph in 29 laps in his own car and 208.583 in 11 laps in Leffler's car.

The fastest in practice was Juan Montoya, who will start on the front row, between pole-sitter Greg Ray and Eliseo Salazar. Montoya, the defending CART champion, took only 14 laps and had a top speed of 218.257 mph.

"The car is really good," he said. "It is very comfortable to drive and very consistent. We made some final changes this morning, and I think I've got a good race car now."

Former winners Eddie Cheever at 217.909 mph and Buddy Lazier at 217.728 followed Montoya in speed. Ray drove 26 laps and had a top speed of 215.560. Scott Sharp had a clutch problem and didn't get onto the track until the closing minutes of practice, turning just three warmup laps with a top speed of 140.199.

Matsuda remains in good condition
Hideshi Matsuda, injured in a crash during practice Sunday, remained in good condition at Methodist Hospital Thursday and was expected to be released within a day or two.

Matsuda, 45, suffered a broken right wrist and left knee and a slight concussion when his car slammed against the third-turn wall. He underwent surgery Sunday night.

Speedway medical director Dr. Henry Bock said Thursday that Matsuda is undergoing physical therapy and is continuing to improve.

Matsuda also crashed during practice last Friday and during a warmup lap before a qualification attempt Saturday. He was not injured in either of those crashes.

Could be a wet race day
There's a 60-70 percent chance of showers or thunderstorms in the Indianapolis area on race day.

"That isn't to say it's going to occur during race time. That's just during a 24-hour period on Sunday," Bob Pruitt of the National Weather Service at Indianapolis said.

"There is a warm front moving northward and we're going to have instability along the warm front as warm air mixes with cooler air," he said.

If the race is rained out on Sunday, it would be rescheduled for Monday.

But Pruitt said Thursday it's impossible to predict that far ahead of race day exactly where or when the showers might occur.

"It may be high and dry at the Speedway and raining like mad down at Mooresville (south of Indianapolis). That's what thunderstorms are like," he said.

The race has been interrupted or postponed by rain nine times, most recently in 1997. The race was rained out one day, halted by rain after 15 laps the following day and finished on the third day.

QB teams up with Goodyear
San Diego Chargers quarterback Jim Harbaugh, part owner of the Panther Racing team, worked on driver Scott Goodyear's winning crew during Thursday's annual pit stop contest.

"That's two out of the last three, and the guys were great. It's a lot of fun. All the guys, good job," shouted Harbaugh, who became involved with the Indianapolis-based team when he played for the Colts.

Goodyear's crew also won the competition in 1998. On Thursday, he beat Al Unser Jr. in the quarterfinals, Scott Sharp in the semis and then Robbie McGehee in record time for the championship.

"These guys are the most important thing a team has, and as you saw they do a great job," Goodyear said. "Obviously, there are a lot of pit stops on race day, so you really count on them. I told them, we'll get in fast, do a good job and leave quick. ... Drive-through service."

The Goodyear crew's winning time to change four tires and simulate a full load of fuel was 11.19 seconds. McGehee's time was 12.72 seconds, including a 3-second penalty for having a tire roll outside the marked pit box.

The previous record in the contest was 11.74 seconds by Danny Sullivan's crew in 1985.

"Scotty knows when he comes down pit lane, we're going to gain him some spots," chief mechanic Kevin Blanch said. "Now on to the race."

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