Andretti Autosport finally put Danica Patrick and Marco Andretti into the Indianapolis 500 field, but it couldn’t save teammates Mike Conway and Ryan Hunter-Reay from missing the show.
Conway on Sunday failed to earn a spot in next weekend’s 100th-anniversary race with three qualifying attempts during Bump Day at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. In fact, it was Andretti who bumped Hunter-Reay from the 33-car starting grid as time expired.
Talk about a bittersweet day. Patrick had to endure an agonizing rain delay that began at 3:13 p.m. At the time, she was not in the race--and more storms were coming as the clock ticked. She was in that precarious position because the car failed technical inspection earlier in the day following a part change, putting her in the back of the qualifying line.
None of the Andretti team cars have been particularly fast throughout practice and qualifying at the Speedway. Then they were bunched at the back as bumping began.
Andretti survived on the bubble as seven drivers failed in their attempts. Finally, Alex Lloyd knocked him out with a 223.957 mph run. Only a couple minutes remained in the session.
Andretti began his final run with 55 seconds left on the clock, meaning either he was going to join the field or Hunter-Reay was going to keep the spot. Andretti’s four-lap average: 224.628 mph. Hunter-Reay was helpless, and others felt similarly.
Rookie James Jakes, Rafa Matos and Sebastian Saavedra joined a list of drivers left out. Patrick Carpentier drove the Dragon Racing car of rookie Scott Speed in the morning practice but he crashed trying to find the necessary pace. With rookie Ho-Pin Tung out with a minor concussion from a crash on Friday, no Dragon car made the race.
Conway’s omission was a painful blow to his championship hopes. The winner of this season's race on the streets of Long Beach sits fifth in Izod IndyCar Series points, but missing the 500 will cost him significantly.
Those who made the show on Sunday included Ryan Briscoe, Graham Rahal, Ana Beatriz and Paul Tracy, who missed the race last year, and rookies Charlie Kimball and Pippa Mann.
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