92nd INDIANAPOLIS 500 THIRD DAY QUALIFYING QUOTES

GRAHAM RAHAL (#06 Hole in the Wall Camps Dallara/Honda/Firestone): (About his qualifying run): “It is nice to get in. Obviously, I feel bad about my comments last week. This team is certainly known for its preparation, and we showed it today. We’ve had a good car so far. Even yesterday when we were doing the long runs with high downforce, we were really good. This is only the first step, though. We’re among the fastest today, but still a long way to go.” (About being here at Indianapolis): “I think I’ve gained a lot more respect for this circuit than I had before. You never really realize how hard it is here. Everyone always talks about how every single corner is different, and I tell you what, it really is.” (About the qualifying run): “It was actually a pretty good run. It was a bit tough, because my first lap was solid at 223.6 (mph), but the laps after that I could just feel (the wind) every time I went through Turn 2. I couldn’t get the car to turn, so I had to lift ever y time. It was a pretty big lift, too, and it costs you a lot of time. Obviously, we’re disappointed with that, but after last weekend it is nice to put it into the race. Obviously, we would like to be among the quickest of the day, and that is the goal.” (About getting this week over): “It has been quite a week. It does feel really nice to get it out of the way. We are pretty happy just getting in.” (About the wind affecting the car): “It is one of those things where every time you come into Turn 2, you kind of bend the car from high in the banking and bend it down to straighten the car out to get an even longer run down the back straightaway. The biggest problem is the wind is gusting so much it feels like it is picking the car up. Your hands turn even more because you can’t get the front to grip. When you’re trying to bend the thing down, you know when the wind is hitting you because you can’t get it to the apex. Like I said, the first lap wasn’t that bad, but the second lap clearly hit me. The laps after that, I just kind of lift! ed a little bit early until I got to the apex and then hit the throttle. We had a pretty quick car today and a really good race car.” (About the issues with high wind): “There have been a lot of places where engineers say you’ll feel the wind, but I never feel it. This place seems to have a huge effect.” (About yesterday’s incident): “I white-walled (the car yesterday). We were trying to do a qual sim, and we got some clear track to do it on our own. We were pretty quick. I think we did 222.9 (mph) on the out lap. I came through Turn 1, and a huge gust of wind came. Yesterday, we kind of had a tailwind going down the front straight. I got it in the middle of the corner, and the car wouldn’t turn whatsoever. With that little wing angle, it is so tough to get it back that I just went a little wide and white-walled it. Justin (Wilson) had a moment kind of like I had earlier in the month. He almost lost it. It was like: ‘This is enough for the day. Let’s go back and rest on this one.’” ( About last week’s comments): “I really do feel bad about my comments last week. It is kind of a sore spot. This is a team that has always been known for its preparation. We have shown that because of how many championships and race wins these guys have won. Realistically, we weren’t expecting to be in that position. We were thinking that if we could get in (the field) on the second day, (then we would be content). We were even questioning if we could get in on the first weekend. Suddenly to be that close, your expectations ramp up and you think, ‘We really can do this.’ The reason it escalated even further is because (Tomas) Scheckter went out and went slow, so at that point it was realistic we could get in. It was a little disappointing. That’s the way it goes. We were happy with our position last week. We were pretty impressed we were that quick.” (About being surprised about being in the Indy 500): “I really wanted to race here. Last year, I was here with Carl (Haas) and Mike (Lanigan) up in Mike’s suite. I was trying to convince ! them to run a car with my dad this year. It would be a joint venture. We would use my guys and dad’s cars. It was something we wanted to work on. The winter started to come along and we started to hear rumors, so I didn’t know where it was going to head. I got to the point where I didn’t really care which series went on, but one of them needed to. When the merger was announced, I was the happiest person. I didn’t know where we would stack up (with the IndyCar teams). We knew it was going to be tough coming over to the IndyCar equipment versus what we had used in the past. I didn’t think we could expect to be in the top 10 in points. Suddenly after St. Pete, we were fourth in points. We were looking pretty good, and then Kansas was good for us again. There is a bit of momentum on our side here. We are going to keep learning. On any of the ovals, we are closer than we expected. There is still some speed to find, but being we’re so new to this, we are pretty happy with our pace.”

MILKA DUNO (#23 CITGO/Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone): (About her qualifying run): “It’s great to qualify in Indianapolis. The wind was in tow in the backstraight, and it was increasing and increasing. I’m happy, but I think we can run quicker. But it’s OK for now.” (About her time at the track this May): “It’s fantastic for me. It is my second time here. It’s always fun here, and it’s just fantastic.”

BUDDY LAZIER (#91 Hemelgarn Johnson Dallara/Honda/Firestone): (About the qualifying run): “The strategy with the new format is to run one. We just started yesterday, so we have a lot of work to do. We had a good morning. The weather changed and affected a lot of guys. I think it affected us more.” (About the speed he expected): “We were looking for 221 (mph). We were hoping for certainly more than that (217.939).”

BUDDY RICE (#15 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone): “We are set up conservative. I think it is good we got all three Dreyer & Reinbold cars in today. That was the goal for today. There is nothing to be gained by risking the car. Actually, it is really good that Townsend (Bell) is the quickest so far with the #99 William Rast car. It was a good day for the team.” (About Bell’s run): “I didn’t see exactly what he ran, but both cars were set up very similar. My car picked up more push and really slowed down. That’s OK. There’s no risk today. It is a 500-mile race. We have 10 pit stops. We have a lot of work to do starting from where we are at, anyway. We need to be patient. We need to get back to working on our race car, which we’ve been doing all month long. That will be our strong suit. It gets a bit redundant because that’s what everybody says. If you can get your car to run consistent through the whole thing, then you’re going to have a really good car. We did that at Kansas, and we’ve been doing that since we’ve been here. The weather makes it a bit tricky, especially for some of the new guys that are here. It is a bit tricky. I’m happy. We got all three cars in today. That was the goal. Knock on wood – we haven’t torn anything up yet this month.” (About the wind): “It is Indy. Everybody can talk about the wind and the rain. That’s what makes this place what it is. I think everybody would like it to be ideal, but that’s part of dealing with Mother Nature and coming to a place like this. It is going to be tricky. If this was a week ago, it would be really tricky to trim out as much as they did back then. That’s what made last week so great to see those guys keep pulling out and running. This weekend, the weather is completely different. It is windy. It is cold. It is everything, but that’s what makes this place awesome. It is tough. It is not supposed to be easy.” (About his speed): “I figured we would have been quicker than that . We should have been closer to Townsend. There are little d! ifferenc es in the car. The weather was a bit different. Our car had a bit more push in it. It doesn’t take much here. That’s what makes this place so awesome. It is no big deal because we got all three cars in.” (About working with Bell): “Townsend and I have been working great together. We’ve known each other a long time. It has been a big help for both of us to be working together than to be working as a one-car team.” (About the new drivers): “I think some get it and some don’t. I’ve read some quotes in the newspaper about some people who have driven around here and said, ‘I don’t see what the big deal is.’ Obviously, they have never hit the fence before. I’ve seen one of them hit the fence now, and the speed was nowhere near where they were running. This place demands a lot of respect. It will bite you in a hurry. It will do a lot of things you have never seen a track do. With the wind, the weather and everything else, it is totally different. Some get it, and some don’t. There w as a quote by Dan Wheldon that said, ‘None of them have hit the fence, and once they do you see them slow down and they start realizing what this place is about.’ When you get your bell rung by this place, you start really paying attention. That’s why you see the veterans progressively get to the front. There are some young guys that come in, get in the good cars and go really fast. I was no different than they are. Once this place bites you, you start to pay a little more attention to it and start to pay attention to what’s going on in the saddle.”

E.J. VISO (#33 PDVSA HVM Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone): “In this first attempt, we tried to play it safe. We went out with a lot of downforce. We spent a lot of time checking everything. We are planning on going for another attempt. Yesterday we had small contact with the wall. The wind changed so much, and the setup was quite different to the one I had run before. We spent 10-15 minutes in the car today waiting for the rain to go away, and then we did not have our best attempt.” (On repairing the car from Friday’s accident): “The team did a great job and worked very hard yesterday. We weren’t in a huge accident; we just damaged the rear wing. They spent a lot of time checking and making sure the car was perfect for today.” (On mindset after accident): “It has not affected me. I think I am mentally stronger, and that small touch with the wall is not going to affect my confidence. We just need to find the reasons why it happened and try to make sure it doesn’t happen again. Yesterday everything looked the same, and the only thing different in that run was that we were full of fuel and the tire pressure was low because it was only our second lap.” (On Indianapolis 500 experience): “Regarding the track, it’s a very difficult track to the ovals I have been on. There are four corners, the car is very trimmed, very little downforce, and it’s going to be tough in the race next to other cars. Regarding the event, I really like it. I like how the spectators are living this month and living the racing. They are around even if it is raining. They are really passionate, and I like that.”

ENRIQUE BERNOLDI (#36 Sangari Conquest Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone): “I did flat out all four laps, but the car is just not very fast. We don’t know what it is, but we’ll continue to work on it. I have to try again, and I wish I knew what to do. I’m not very happy. I just did 219 and was consistent, but we need to find more speed. I haven’t run faster than 220 this month. The wind is a bit tricky out there. On one side of the track you would have a car that was loose, and the other end the car was pushing. I don’t have much experience on ovals and same with the team, so we are sort of struggling, but I like this oval and Indianapolis. We knew we would be here a month, but we haven’t done much better than this, so it is what it is.” (On what he would be happy with leaving Indianapolis): “I think if I finish the race here it would be my first oval finish. It’s a long race, and we can’t expect so much being a Champ Car team competing with teams that have been here for five ye ars. Being a rookie and a rookie team, with a rookie teammate, sometimes the idea or the way is not very clear. To finish my first Indy 500 would be good. In the two years I raced Formula One, the only race I finished both years was Monaco, so then maybe the difficult part will go through here, as well.”

SARAH FISHER (#67 Sarah Fisher Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone): “It’s not as fast as we wanted it to be, but we’ll take it. We’ll take a good, solid entrant, and just keep working on our car. It was very gusty out there. That’s what happened on my lap two; otherwise we would’ve had a higher finish, but it is what it is. It’s nice, though. It’s supposed to rain again today, but hopefully it’s good. We’re in, and we can keep moving forward. Only having one car, we think about what the most tragic thing that could happen. It’s nice to know that we don’t have to work on those on-the-edge setups anymore. We’ve just been putting our heads down and plowing forward. If we can avoid the rain again, we’ll be putting a lot of race laps on the car.” (About sponsors): “We’ve had some help, for sure. We’re almost there. We’re about three-fourths of the way to being comfortable. We have a couple of leads, and I’m sure being in the field will help, as well. Direct Supply has been on board fr om the start. They’re longtime fans of the Speedway. Hartman Oil came on board and IUPUI just got their motorsports engineering program appropriated, so now we’re helping them and their students.” (About community support): “We’ve got the best fans. I’ve got fans coming up to me and giving me $20s, $50s, some gave me $100, and it’s just so appreciated, just to know that we’ve got the support and the fans are giving back, let alone being supportive of the race team.”

BRUNO JUNQUEIRA (#18 Z-Line Designs Dallara/Honda/Firestone): “This is a pretty special place, and I like it here. I have great success here. I’ve had some problems, but still, I know why they call this the greatest. The pole, the two top-five finishes. Today was another great day. I couldn’t qualify in the top 11 last weekend and it rained out on Sunday, so it put a lot of pressure on the team, especially because we don’t have a backup car. I tried to put the car safely in the field. I was very happy with my four laps. Very consistent. Almost the same speed as the Newman-Haas car. More consistent than them, and I’m not trying to compare anything, but it shows that you’re going to be good today and the car is good. It was a difficult day today because it was very windy. That time could win the race, and now we’re going to concentrate a little more on traffic and race setup this week. I want to get in traffic and make sure the car is there in traffic. That is pretty difficult. I’m satisfied. I was easily flat all four laps. I know I can take out more downforce and go 223s, but at this point, we would only gain three or four positions and take a big risk.” (About how this run compared to pole run in 2002): “Actually, the weather was about the same. It was the same temperature and the wind was the same, making it difficult. The year I won the pole here, I remember the morning session, Paul Tracy just hit in (Turn) 2, so there was a lot of oil dry and I was the first guy to qualify, so it was pretty difficult in 2. I had completed (Turn) 3, and I was on the limit to be on the pole. Here, today, it’s different because I’m trying to be in the race. I want to control the car, and I have to get the car in the race today. Instead of medium downforce and trying to drive the car to the limit, I’m forced to take a more conservative setup and be flat all the way around. I was flat when I was on the pole, as well, but on the limit. Today, I was a little more controlled, but it was still not easy.” (About race goals): ! “I think if we can complete the race, it would be great. I think top 10 would be what we’re trying for. But with this race, I think I’m happy with my race car. Unfortunately, I don’t have much time to practice, but on this race, I remember in 2004, I had a great race car. I qualified fourth and then the race, and when we started the race, it was really bad. We worked on the car and worked on the car, and we were running about 10th or 12th and we had a good car at the end and took a gamble on strategy, and I was leading the race for 20 laps. I was even out running five laps after pit stops, so I almost won the race that year. If you’re running in the top 10, anything can happen. What happened to Helio (Castroneves) in 2002 was the same thing. He was running about 10th and with strategy, the yellow came at the right time, so if you can run top 10, anything can happen. But in a normal situation, our goal is top 10. If we are there, we’re going to take a gamble, if the opportunity arises .” (About getting over a crash): “It’s a very difficult thing. I was talking to another driver last night. He already crashed this week, and his mind is not 100 percent good. He’s always concerned about that corner where he crashed, and I’m trying to help him. It’s difficult. For me, what I do is when I came out here with the new car, first lap, 217. I wasn’t 100 percent flat because the car had a little too much understeer. I was flat in two of the four corners in the first outing. I just don’t think about it, and drive the way I drive and try to go as fast as I go. If you start to think, it gets very difficult and you feel every movement. The car moves. Especially on a windy day like today, the rear of the car is going to move, and you’re going to turn the thing and it’s going to turn itself. You have to trust the car and the team and the setup. For me, I just try to think of the pole and that I’m capable to drive here instead to think about the accident that I had.” (Abou t how to explain and understand weather at Indy): “I’m tryin! g to hel p my teammate Mario (Moraes), and he’s improving a lot. He started the week learning, and his line is good. I think he’s going to make the race safely today, too. The weather and the wind are the most important thing here. When it’s cold, you have to take it easy the first two laps, but when it’s hot, you can go fast the first lap, and you have to be patient, as well. You have to be patient in the race, especially. When you start the race three cars side by side, that’s the only place that you do that. The front straight is very narrow. With the grandstands full of people, it gets even narrower. The start of the race is a piece of work. I remember the first time I was here I started the race 20th or 22nd because I didn’t qualify. I wasn’t supposed to race here, and starting toward the back of the field is difficult. That straight is so narrow. Turn 1 is like a tunnel. The car shakes, and it’s a pretty difficult experience. This year, we’re going to start better than 20th, I h ope, and it will be very similar. I always tell people, here the goal is to go flat all around, but Turn 1 at the start, be ready to brake.”

WILL POWER (#8 Aussie Vineyard-Team Australia Dallara/Honda/Firestone): “I’m really proud of the crew. They worked all night. I can’t thank them enough to actually have the car out there for practice. But it was once again the same as yesterday. The wind makes it really difficult. The last lap there, I started pushing in (Turn) 2 toward the wall; turn into (Turn) 3 and suddenly have a massive moment. You’ve got to run the car conservatively. That’s what we were doing today. We were going out there just to get in.” (On experiencing the changing conditions at the Speedway): “The first three days were pretty wind-free, to be honest. But then yesterday just out on an out lap, bam, it catches you out, and you don’t know what you did wrong. It’s ‘what did I do wrong?’ which makes it really bad for your confidence. You’re thinking: ‘OK, the guys just fixed the car. Well, I can go out tomorrow and do exactly the same thing because one lap it’s pushing like hell; the next lap you’re i n the wall. You tell me.’” (On putting the accident Friday behind him and going back out today): “It’s funny, actually. I ran into Jaime Camara, and he said he still hasn’t come back. I can understand. You go out, and you just can’t trust the rear of the car. I went out and I just came straight back in and said, ‘Guys, I can’t do it. Sorry, I feel too nervous.’ I got back in there and did a run where I was flat and got a little bit of confidence back. It’s hard to explain. It’s real nerve-racking. When you hit the wall; until you do that, you don’t know the feeling. It’s an instant where it just happens, and you have no chance to catch it and no warning. That’s what makes you really nervous. I guess these other guys that run here that have been doing it for five years must really understand, you know, the feeling and how the car should be.” (On the repair to mental confidence a driver has to go through after an accident): “Mentally, it’s the toughest because of the fact that you can really hurt yourself and also the fact that you hav! e to wat ch your team work all night to rebuild the car, and the thought of going out and doing it again tomorrow. You know what I mean. This year, you’re fighting for your career. You know what I mean? We’ve been thrown into this in the deep end; absolutely. And if you don’t perform your out; your career’s done. You’ve worked your whole life, and you can have a couple of bad wrecks on an oval because you were pushed into it so fast. The circumstances have nothing to do with the team. It’s just the whole circumstance with the way everything’s come together. You know, you find yourself having to learn very quickly.”

ROGER YASUKAWA (#98 CURB/hhgregg/Real Power Dallara/Honda/Firestone): “You know, it’s been all right. I think things could be better. Unfortunately, we’re about a half a mile an hour slower than we expected, so I’m not sure this 218 is going to hold up at this point, but it’s great. If not, we’re going to have to work on some speed. The car has been the best all week during the qualifying runs, so we’re pretty happy with that. We just need to bring the car out now and see if we can pick up more speed.” (About the qualifying format): “It’s definitely nerve-wracking, but that’s part of the challenge of the Indy 500, and I think every driver enjoys this.”

RYAN HUNTER-REAY (#17 Rahal Letterman Racing Team Ethanol Dallara/Honda/Firestone): “I’m not happy with the speed that we turned, but I’m happy to be in the field and we can work from there. If we have a good race car, we can undo those couple positions in a lap or two.” (On the wind affecting the run): “I don’t think so. For whatever reason, we’re not getting the speed we need out of the car. I don’t know; I’m not sure why. It could be so many things with these cars. It’s all a grip-to-aerodynamics trade-off. If you peel off the downforce, you go faster in a straighter line but you have less grip in the corners. I’m not an engineer, and I don’t pretend to be one. I just get in the car, put my foot on the floor and drive.” (On mindset going into race week): “I love to just get to a racetrack, get the car dialed in and go race. In a lot of ways, it’s been torture for me because you have to wait for so long to go race. I want next Sunday to be in two days here and go racing.” ( About your first Indy 500): “It’s been neat. We were fast in the beginning, and then we ended up hitting the wall because we were just trimmed out and had too little downforce and were asking for it there. It’s been mediocre since then. We just haven’t found the speed back in the car. I’m just looking forward to the race. That’s what it’s all about, 500 miles. Anything can happen.”

TOWNSEND BELL (#99 Dreyer & Reinbold William Rast Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone): “Yeah, we always say well we just want to be comfortably in the show, but, you know, when you get out there it’s one less car you have to pass if you can get a good run in. It’s the first time I’ve seen the times. I didn’t realize it was that close to Graham. We just nipped him. He had a big first lap then slowed down a lot. We had a decent first lap then slowed down a little. We knew we wanted a consistent four-lap run. I’m just really happy with the job the team’s done all month. Can’t thank my teammate, Buddy Rice, enough for his cooperation, help and willingness to work together to get our cars right. So it’s been a really good deal so far. I’m just pleased to see us have a strong run today.” (About driving Indy cars at Indianapolis): “What’s really cool about Indianapolis, I think, is these cars evolved from this racetrack, so it’s like a match made in heaven, if you know what I mean. A lo t of the other tracks IndyCar races on, a lot of those tracks were developed for other cars, and sometimes it’s a bit of a mismatch. This is just, for me, it’s such perfect harmony of car and track.”

JUSTIN WILSON (#02 McDonald’s Racing Team Dallara/Honda/Firestone): “It was tough. Every corner was different and difficult. Turn 2 was the worst. Every time you turned in there, if felt like the front end was lifted off the ground and skated off the track. You’re reluctant to lift, but you have to, so you do a quick lift and back on. I was actually quite frustrated with a couple of my laps. It feels good to get in the show, but I wanted to go again. I think we could do a much better job the second time around. But that’s quite a gamble. It’s great to finally qualify for the Indy 500. I’m very proud and pleased with the team and the effort they’ve put in all month and all year, in fact. It feels great for McDonald’s and myself to get in the race, and now we can get going. The weather has been difficult all month. I think the best two days were during rookie orientation at the start of the month, and it’s so windy and gusty and rainy for so many days, we still feel that we’re a couple of steps behind where we need to be, but the team has done a great job and I think we’ve got a good race car, so I can’t wait until Race Day. We just have to take what we have, but it would be nice to have another go, though. It’s tough; it’s been a tough month. I’m just pleased that we’ve managed to survive. We’ve kept the car in one piece. It’s been close a couple of times, but the McDonald’s car has been quick. I’m pretty happy with what we’ve got. My car has been able to run well in traffic, so maybe I’ll just chill out for a couple of days. It’s so stressful that I’ll just take it easy and see what the engineers think. See if they have any bright ideas about how to run quicker without adding downforce or taking downforce off.” (About losing rookie label): “I think when the checkered flag drops. If you’re there after 500 miles, I think you’re going to feel pretty good about yourself and not feel like a rookie anymore. Obviously, when they drop the green flag you ’re going to go for it, but you still feel scrutinized and y! ou don’t want to make any rookie mistakes. You’re trying to make sure you do everything right.” (About best advice he received from Rick Mears): “The best piece of advice he gave me was that you know when it’s going wrong from the moment you turn into the corner. That’s pretty true. When you get down there and you turn in a little bit too late, or a little too early before you get into the corner, you’ve got a pretty good idea about whether you’re on the right line or not. He said: ‘If you’re not on the right line, it’s just not worth it. Get out of the throttle.’ That’s saved me a number of times.” (About “In Loving Memory of Davey Evans” decal): “Davey Evans was a longtime crew member at Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing. Unfortunately, he was killed at the start of the month, and everyone misses him dearly. It just shows the strength of the team to pull together and work through the difficult times.”

DAVEY HAMILTON (#22 Hewlett-Packard/KR Vision Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone): “It’s the hardest run I’ve ever ran here, for sure. Last Saturday, we had a good 13th spot, and I was happy with that. But, unfortunately they only took 11. We came out today and it was a tough day. We went out for early warm-up, and we lost a gearbox completely. Something happened. We lost a gearbox completely. It got caught between gears, and with paddle shifters, it doesn’t happen that often. When it did, it broke the whole gearbox. The Carpenter guys, Foyt’s guys, my guys all jumped in and replaced the whole back of my car. We didn’t even have a chance to put it on the setup pad. We just changed the whole back of the car, put it on the track and throw it up there, so I didn’t know what I was going to have. It was just too tight. I just couldn’t turn down in (Turn) 1 and (Turn) 2. Turn 3 and 4 were OK. We lost a little bit, but you take what you can.” (On the qualifying system): “It sucks. It’s a terrible system. It’s not exciting. You know, every time we go out to qualify, we’re hanging our ass out, man. It’s the four toughest laps in motorsports, and I’m very vocal about it. I would have been 13th on this grid right now, and these fans last Saturday would have seen 24-25 cars qualify, and we wouldn’t have been sitting around all week waiting for qualifying to come around. The time we did have on track we could have been doing race sims. The top 11 guys, they’re way ahead of us. No doubt about it. It’s going to be a tough year for all the guys who weren’t in the top 11 and getting that extra track time in. I love the taking the three attempts. I think that’s fantastic. Let the guys get shots at the pole. If I want to go back out right now in the same car, man, I can go do it. But they need to change it. It’s not fun. I’m OK, re-qualified. I’m in the show. But Ryan Hunter-Reay peeled it off the fence over there. These cars, I don’t know if you’ve checked, but they cost a lot of money, and it’s not good putting a guy at risk! to get into that top 11.”

ORIOL SERVIA (#5 KV Racing Technology Dallara/Honda/Firestone): “I’m actually not that pleased with my run. The weather really didn’t help us. I’m just happy to be in the show. The car felt good yesterday in my race setup, and that’s what counts. It’s a long race, and the tires were pretty consistent yesterday, and we look forward to the race.” (About having the rain interrupt the qualifying run): “It just didn’t help us because already when you are qualifying, you’re pretty much on the edge. I go out there in qualifying, very little downforce, and on my third lap it starts raining. Well, that’s not good, but then to make it worse, I have to be the first car out with the track still a little wet because nobody had gone out, right? I wasn’t able to change my downforce because of the rules. So I had to go out. The car was sliding a little too much. But that’s the way it goes. I’m happy to be in the show. To me, it doesn’t really matter much if you’re starting 12th or starting 1 8th. What matters is if you have a good car in the race that is consistent and you can run close to people in front of you. That’s what we need to focus on. If you have a good car, you can win the race. I liked the car yesterday. I wasn’t too happy today, but I did like it yesterday when we had the race setup, so we should be good.” (About the month): “This month gets more and more interesting. It’s been good. It’s been really good for us at KV Racing because we had a lot of catch-up to do on the ovals, and even the rain days were good because you end up spending a lot of time with your engineers, and even it it’s sitting around and waiting, it creates some bonding with the whole team.” (About racing in the Indy 500): “It’s so great. I don’t think there’s any other race on the planet that we have the full month with people out all day. It just keeps reminding me how special this place is.” (How did disappointment of not making the race a few years ago help you appreciate qua lifying now?): “It made me really want to make the show. It ! was actu ally on my last (qualifying) lap when it really started to rain, and I was thinking, ‘I just want to make this race.’ And the people (radioed over) and said, ‘Yeah, come in, come in,’ and I said, ‘Eh, I want to finish this lap because I knew if I finished the lap, maybe it would be slower, but probably we’d make the show. But the team waved it off. It was probably the safe thing. But it made me think: ‘Come on, I really want to do this race, and now rain? You know, what else is going to happen?’” (What is your goal?): “We can have a good finish. A top 10 is realistic.” (Have you talked with Will Power about his crash?) “You are driving on the edge, especially in qualifying. OK, you have kind of a certainty that you’re not going to crash, but once you crash, that certainty is vulnerable. He’s a good driver, and he is brave. And I knew he was going to be OK.”

MARIO MORAES (#19 Sonny’s Bar-B-Q Dallara/Honda/Firestone): “We had some problems on the second lap in Turn 2. We had trouble on the second lap in Turn 2 with big understeer. It’s my first time here, second qualifying, and I feel good, I’m excited.” (What do you make of this month?): “I’m really excited. The team has been doing a good job, working hard to develop the car.” (How has the weather affected you this month?): “I hope it does not rain the day of the race.” (About being comfortable with qualifying time): “I am comfortable, but we are going to have to fix the problem with the front.”

JOHN ANDRETTI (#24 Roth Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone): (It was windy out there today. How did that affect you?): “I messed up a little bit. Probably should have given up a little bit in one corner. I keep adjusting on the car; that made it better. Then I tried to get too much out of the last lap again. We had a really quick car, and we just got caught out a little bit on the wind and probably just need to make a couple of changes to the car and try it again. I don’t know if we will or not. It just depends on where we are. If we get close down to that bubble position, then obviously we will. We have been fast every day, but unfortunately when it came time to qualify, I knew on my hot lap that I was in a little bit of trouble, and I started adjusting on the car then and kept adjusting on it, and I had about all I could stand for one corner. It is a little disappointing because on the last lap I probably could have drove it a little bit different. I am disappointed I know we h ave a quicker car, and I went out there and we had a little bit of a struggle with the wind, but that is just the way it is.” (A week ago, would you be a gambling man and say you would have been qualifying?): “On Friday I would have said no, but last week Saturday I would have said, ‘Yeah, it looks pretty good.’ It is amazing how things change here at Indianapolis. There are real highs and real lows. I am excited that I think we have a solid enough time, but I know we have a lot more in the race car.” (What does it mean to you to hear the fans cheer when you pulled in, the fact that people like you?): “It means a lot. It means everything, actually. It makes you feel like you are in the right place. The funny thing about Indianapolis that you get disappointed because you always want more.” (About being at the Speedway): “Coming through the tunnel, it raises the hair on my back – and I don’t have much hair on my back – every time I just come to the Speedway. Even if there is n othing going on, it could be December. This is where they sh! ould rac e every week.”

JEFF SIMMONS (#41 ABC Supply Co./A.J. Foyt Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone): (About his qualifying run today): “It feels good to be in. We wish we were quicker. I thought we could run around a 222, which would have moved us up a couple of spots. Coming to the track, I didn’t know if I was going to have a ride at all, so I’m really thankful for A.J. Foyt Racing and ABC Supply Co. for giving me the opportunity to run.” (About his first run, which was waved off): “I came into Turns 3 and 4, I think I was coming into (Turn) 4 when I saw yellow lights turn on so I didn’t know what was going on. And we came in, and A.J. told me they forgot to wave the green flag. I think he might have had a senior moment for the first time because he’s usually so sharp. He (A.J.) was congratulating Darren on his run, and he missed me when I went by.” (About having a ride and how it feels to be back at Indy): “Coming into the month, I didn’t have a ride at all, and now I’m in the Indy 500 and I also have the Freedom 100 ride, so I’m doing the double (laughs). The more track time, the better, and the more racing, the better in the month of May, so it’s fantastic. We’re going to try to have strong runs in both of them. I love that fact that I’m racing here with A.J. Foyt Racing. He’s been engineering me this week, and it’s been a privilege. I’m really looking forward to working more with him and Darren Manning, to have some good cars in the ‘500.’”(About his fourth lap being the slowest): “The tires started going off a little bit. We were a little bit off on the setup, and I was fighting the car. I was sliding the rear sometimes, and that was hurting me a little bit. It’s quite possible that the wind kicks up, and it can really cut into your time. At that speed, it doesn’t take a lot.”

DARREN MANNING (#14 ABC Supply Co./AJ Foyt Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone): “Yeah, it was good. It was really good. I’ve been struggling with my car all month, and that’s the best it’s been. I’ve been loose all month, and then all of a sudden we made a few changes and then I had understeer. You know the day’s not very nice with all this wind and the temperature has been getting up there, so we were a bit cautious on downforce. So we were actually surprised to go so fast, but it was just because the car was that much better. I had to actually come off the gas a little on Turn 2 on the last lap, which dropped me out of fastest for the day. But with the downforce we got in, you know, we’re nearly on race setup, so that really bodes well for the race. The last lap, we were on for fastest of the day, I just got out of the gas a little on exit of Turn 2. I could have probably stayed in and gotten close to the wall. I haven’t been very happy with my car. Jeff (Simmons) had been able to go his way on setup, and I’ve been able to go mine. He was more happy with his setup, so I tried it this morning, and I hated it. So we went back to a bit more of what I wanted for this qualifying run. I’ve been loose all month and it’s been trying to spin me out, and then just now all of a sudden it’s got a lot of push, so we found some really good changes in the car. I’m pretty happy. We’ve got a pretty damn good car. We had a couple more changes we thought through that worked really well – too well – because we went from loose to a little bit of push now. So we had quite a lot of downforce in the car in the race setup in qualifying because I was so unhappy with the car. If we had had this care on Pole Day, really trimmed out, we’d have been well in the top 11. It was that good. It’s been a tough month. We were behind the 8-ball. I was going to be happy with 12th to 18th. We’re in the show, so now we’ll go back and think about it a little and see if we can run some goo d, competitive race runs. I think I’m going to be faster tha! n the gu ys around me, and it’s a long race, so we should be all right.”

ALEX LLOYD (#16 Rahal Letterman with Chip Ganassi Dallara/Honda/Firestone): “Yeah, our speed today wasn’t really quick. Our first lap was the problem. We went 221.3 on the first lap and finished up on 222.3. We had the just car too loose. I had to lift in Turn 1, and I lost the momentum. We did well at pulling it back. It would be nice if we could scrap Lap 1 and finish up with another lap at the end, and we would have jumped up a few places. That’s the way it goes. We were pretty conservative, really, on downforce today. We figured that the main importance was getting the car in the show, and we don’t need to go for outright speed. We struggled with setup. We lost a lot of speed. So, for sure, that was a bit of a shame, but it’s all about the race. So we’re looking forward to that.” (About coming back after the crash): “It’s something you think about sometimes when you’ve got a week off to think about it, for sure, but when it comes to getting in the car, as a driver, you ca n’t allow yourself to even think about those things. When you get out there, you know what you’re doing. You can’t think about stuff like that. You just have to keep going with what you know and have confidence in yourself, and keep driving away and driving the car to the limit. When I was lying in the hospital bed Friday evening, (I was) thinking: ‘I wonder what happened? I don’t know.’ That was the worst thing. Then I had my engineer come around, and he gave a few reasons that went wrong and that’s what caused the accident, and that made me feel better because I knew then, OK, that it wasn’t something that I went out and did. (He said) ‘This is what happened, this is what caused you to spin, don’t worry about it. Let’s get back in the car and have another go.’ That made me feel a bit better. We just had a little bit of a setup imbalance.”

JAIME CAMARA (#34 Sangari Dallara/Honda/Firestone): “This track is not easy, for me at least it is not easy. We need to find a little bit more speed.” (How did the wind affect you?): “You feel the wind, you feel the heat. The track conditions change every lap. If a cloud comes over the track, it changes again. This place is big enough, and it changes a lot. Today is the first day everything is going smooth.” (How hard is it coming back from a crash?): “For me, it is really hard. I just have to suck it up and go. It is just getting out there and having seat time and track time, and figure it out again. Time is everything. It is about track time. I got here and I thought this was going to be easy, but it is a tough track.”

MARTY ROTH (#25 Roth Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone): “I’m just wondering why I threw away the 219 I had this morning. That's just how it goes. We were chasing that 222 (mph) we posted first thing this morning. We were kind of happy. The guys had been working all night. They were up to 2 in the morning on the car, just going through things. They were uncovering a whole bunch of stuff. We were really happy we had the car up to that 222 mark. We really thought we could get it back there. As the day wore on, the temperatures and wind came up, and we were just going backward. It was great to put it in the field. I'm real glad John (Andretti) is up there. He's safe. I'm used to being on the bubble. It makes for a long day tomorrow. Larry Curry joined our organization just before the month of May started. He has done a wonderful job. We've gone through a lot of things that were happening on the team. He's had his hands full. We're just looking to get my car up to speed. I'm just ch asing that little guy around, John. He's fast. He's impressive." (About the slow qualifying attempt): "It just required a big gear change, and we didn't have time for it. My revs were nowhere near up to the revs I needed to pull down that back straightaway. I'd exit Turn 2, and I would drop in speed rather than accelerate. The wind was gusting. I wish, in hindsight, we kept that time we had this morning. We were kind of blindsided by that 222 (mph). Looking at the afternoon, it is fairly plain to see just about everybody fell way back and wasn't close to the times they were posting this morning." (About being on the bubble): "I've been on the bubble before. I'm no stranger to it. I'm sure it is going to be an exciting day tomorrow as long as the weather stays nice. I'm just happy to be here." (About the track conditions changing): "It always turns something new up for me and challenges me. It is Indy. It is the fastest place. It is the greatest race. It has so many different facets that happen during the month with the qualifying and! bump days. It is a great place and a great venue."