IMS Trackside Report (05/24/97)

25 May 1997

IMS Trackside Report
May 24, 1997


FIVE CARS MAKE SYSTEMS CHECK RUNS IN PREPARATION FOR "500"


	INDIANAPOLIS, May 24, 1997 _ Five cars made systems check runs Saturday
afternoon in final preparation for the 81st running of the Indianapolis 500
on Sunday.
	The sequence:
	4:24 p.m. _ Engine fires on #72 Claude Bourbonnais.
       4:35 p.m. _ #27 Jim Guthrie first on track when it went green,
followed by #16 Sam Schmidt, #42 Robby Gordon, #1 Paul Durant, #72
Bourbonnais.
	4:38 p.m. _ #42 Gordon first to complete a lap.
	4:48 p.m. _ Track closed after 13 minutes of systems check time.

	Lap Totals: #16 Schmidt and #42 Gordon, 4 each; #27 Guthrie
and #72 Bourbonnais, 3 each; #1 Durant, one lap.

Unofficial top lap speeds from the teams: #27 Guthrie, 194 miles an
hour; #42 Gordon, 189 miles an hour; #72 Bourbonnais, 185 miles an
hour; #16 Schmidt, 180 miles an hour.
	
Quotes:

CLAUDE BOURBONNAIS: "I think 180 (miles an hour). We just wanted to make
sure everything was running fine. There were two or three things I wanted to
do _ adjust the mirrors, tighten the belts...those sorts of things. It seems
okay. Hopefully, it'll last the whole day tomorrow."

ROBBY GORDON: "The guys worked through the night. I guess we pushed it to
the last hour. We'll cross our fingers on Race Day and hope she lasts all
day long. I'd say five cars on the lead lap."

KENNY ANDERSON (engineer, #42): "We were very appreciative of the Speedway
for letting us get a chance to run today. (The reason we needed to was that)
we sold two of our motors so two other cars could get in the race."

JIM GUTHRIE: "They didn't really let us get up to speed but it was nice to
have the opportunity to shake things down and make sure everything was all
right. Because we were waiting for engine parts, the car hasn't been out on
the track since the first day of qualifying, so a few laps helps regain my
confidence in the car. We're all set and ready to race."