Alex Tagliani gets Junqueira's Conquest drive for the Indy 500.
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway was the theatre of a dramatic afternoon as 14 entries battled for the remaining eleven spots on the Indy 500 starting grid. In the dying moments of 'Bump Day' qualifying, Vision's Ryan-Hunter Reay only just bumped Alex Tagliani off the starting grid. However Conquest Racing opted to put Tagliani in place of Bruno Junqueira's qualified entry, meaning the Brazilian will miss the race.
Tagliani was looking to be the victim of a team miscaculation, as Conquest decided not to send the Canadian back out again for a final flying run. Tagliani looked safe until Vision's Ryan Hunter-Reay suddenly found pace in the final stage of qualifying and took the 33rd and final spot away from him.
But after qualification ended, Conquest decided to put Tags in the #36 car, which made it to the grid in the hands of an impressive Bruno Junqueira, who found speed despite a last-minute call-up. Tagliani is Conquest's marquee driver and ensures Canadian sponsorship money for the financially suffering outlet.
Former winner Buddy Lazier (Hemelgarn) and Stanton Barrett (3G) were the two other drivers not to make it onto the Indy 500 grid.
Oriol Servia (Rahal - Letterman) and Tomas Scheckter (Dale Coyne) made a great return to the IndyCar series, as they qualified near the top on Bump Day, despite having had very little track time during the month of May.
The Indianapolis 500 will be run next Sunday.
Indianapolis 500 starting grid:
1. Helio Castroneves Penske
2. Ryan Briscoe Penske
3. Dario Franchitti Ganassi
4. Graham Rahal Newman/Haas/Lanigan
5. Scott Dixon Ganassi
6. Tony Kanaan Andretti Green
7. Mario Moraes KV
8. Marco Andretti Andretti Green
9. Will Power Penske
10. Danica Patrick Andretti Green
11. Alex Lloyd Schmidt/Ganassi
12. Raphael Matos Luczo Dragon
13. Paul Tracy KV
14. Vitor Meira Foyt
15. Justin Wilson Coyne
16. Hideki Mutoh Andretti Green
17. Ed Carpenter Vision
18. Dan Wheldon Panther
19. AJ Foyt IV Foyt
20. Scott Sharp Panther
21. Sarah Fisher Fisher
22. Davey Hamilton Dreyer & Reinbold
23. Robert Doornbos Newman/Haas/Lanigan
24. Townsend Bell KV
25. Oriol Servia Rahal Letterman
26. Tomas Scheckter Coyne
27. Mike Conway Dreyer & Reinbold
28. John Andretti Dreyer & Reinbold/Petty
29. EJ Viso HVM
30. Bruno Junqueira Conquest
31. Milka Duno Dreyer & Reinbold
32. Nelson Philippe HVM
33. Ryan Hunter-Reay Vision
Filip Cleeren
Written: Mon, 18 May 2009 12:39:45
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