JOHN ANDRETTI SURVIVES HIGH-DRAMA ON BUMP DAY AT INDY

18 May 2009

Indy Native Qualifies For Tenth Indy 500 With Five Minutes Left Sunday

INDIANAPOLIS (May 17, 2009)— Bump Day drama can even affect an Indy 500 veteran like John Andretti.  But the Indy native shook off any nerves Sunday in last-ditch qualifying effort to make his tenth Indianapolis 500 field.
Driving his No. 43 Richard Petty Window World Honda Dallara, Andretti had not been fast enough to make the 33-driver field in his first two qualifying attempts Sunday with a best of 220.2 miles per hour with twenty minutes remaining in time trials.  But a quick change by the Window World crew helped the NASCAR regular make the field in his third and final attempt.
With six minutes left in Bump Day, Andretti posted laps of 221.571, 221.393, 221.201 and 221.098 for a four-lap of 221.316 m.p.h. and claim the 28th spot in next Sunday’s starting grid.  Andretti’s start will be his third consecutive at Indy after taking a 13-year hiatus to drive on the NASCAR circuit.
In fact, Charlotte NASCAR winner Tony Stewart even texted DRR competition director Larry Curry for advise for Andretti during the afternoon qualifying excitement.  The text said, "If he is uneasy about opening the entry, ask him to let it have its head on the exit. He is a full car width off the wall on the exit binding it up."
Andretti wasn’t the only Dreyer & Reinbold Racing driver to re-qualify, as rookie Mike Conway turned in a superb effort with an average of 221.417 m.p.h. and the 27th starting position in the No. 24 Purex DRR Honda Dallara on Sunday afternoon.  
Earlier in the day, Milka Duno, in the No. 23 CITGO DRR Honda Dallara, recorded a solid 221.106 m.p.h. qualifying average to score the 31st position for Sunday’s race.  This will be Duno’s third Indy 500 start.   
The Sunday weather conditions were outstanding for qualifying attempts, and Conway will hoping to work on race setup after qualifying Saturday.  But all three DRR drivers needed to return to the tech line and re-qualify for a spot in the field.  Duno and Conway’s attempts easily put them in the field, but Andretti’s three tries kept the Window World team scrambling right to the end of the day.
In the end, all four Dreyer & Reinbold Racing drivers are in the starting field for the 2009 Indy 500, set for Sunday beginning at 1. p.m. [EDT].

DREYER & REINBOLD QUOTES:  DENNIS REINBOLD, Co-owner, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing: "It was just a great day for us.  We started out pretty methodical.  We put Milka in the show first, and everything went according to plan.  We then did the same with Mike. We pulled him out and then we solidly got Mike in the field.   We struggled with John for a while. Toward the second run John said the car was stuck so we took some more down force off and went for it in the last run and that was great."
MIKE CONWAY, No. 24 Purex Dreyer & Reinbold Honda Dallara: “Yesterday, I didn’t know what time I had to do; today I was sure of what time I had to do. We knew we would be quicker because it was cooler. I just had to get in the right frame of mind.  I really pushed it on that first lap. We put up a good number, and then I was just trying to keep it consistent. I am getting more comfortable with the car every run. The car feels good underneath me. It was still a bit windy through Turn 1. I had to keep it flat and consistent. Hopefully we’ve done enough to be safely in the field.”