Rain Washes Out Second Day Of Indy Qualifying

Indianapolis, IN (AHN) - Two days of practice for the Indianapolis 500 were washed out last week and the second day of qualifying was washed out Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The top-11 starters for the race were qualified on Saturday and the next 11 were to be filled Sunday, but now the remainder of the grid will qualify on May 17 for spots 12-33. "It's a little tough. We had rain all week, so we couldn't test as many things as we wanted. The main thing about raining today, we're going to have to go qualifying next weekend, which means that this next week, instead of focusing 100 percent on race setup, we're going to have to think of qualifying setup for the weekend,'' said Oriol Servia, driver of the No. 5 KV entry. "So it's going to be a matter of having good planning and hoping for the best. I know we have the speed to qualify, so it's no big deal. It just kind of screws with the planning. It complicates things.'' There will be 22 positions up for grabs on May 17 and Bump Day is scheduled for May 18. A total of 37 cars are at the speedway and have passed technical inspection, while 11 are locked into the starting grid. Thirty-four drivers have made it on to the track thus far. "We were probably missing a mile an hour, but yesterday it was worth giving a couple of (qualifying) attempts. We knew it was going to rain today, so we tried to learn a little more about the car," said Will Power, driver of the No. 8 entry. "I think we'll spend the majority of the time focusing on the race because that is the most important thing. You don't want to miss out on qualifying and screw yourself. I don't think we are that far off, and I think we'll qualify in the top 22. I'm just so proud of my guys. They never stop working, and I'm almost glad it's a rain day where they can go home early and take a couple of days off.''