The Indianapolis Star from Indianapolis, Indiana • Page 193

M2 SUNDAY, MAY 21, 2000 THE INDIANAPOLIS STAR ill POLE DAY EXTRA Frustrated Indy 500 hopeful Copp coined racing's 'happy hour' term bad vibe in pole run tures and wound up third In points In 1962, '63 and '64. A prolific reader of paperback westerns and detective stories, Copp had extremely quick natural reactions and blinked constantly. He was also very witty and possessed a rather caustic sense of humor. May after May, Copp would tirelessly "pound the pavement" In an effort to get a car to drive for the 500, but he came up empty-handed, the passing of his driver's test In 1962 being as far as he got. "Well," he would say, with about 90 minutes of qualifying time left on yet another final day In the early and mid-1960s, "let's go out and watch happy hour." It was Copp's opportunity to walk up and down the qualifying line in the lengthening shadows and needle those car owners who had passed on his services earlier in the month and who were no longer struggling to get a car In the race.

No sooner had Tommy's line caught on to describe the final hour of qualifications than it began to be used for dally practice, too. More and more people have been asking how the term "happy hour" came to be used in motorsports. If its current definition doesn't seem to make much sense, then rest assured that like many other things In life, it started out to mean some Donald Davidson's Indy 500 thing completely different from what It does now. For many years, it was a nick- name for the final hour of practice between the hours of five and six each day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. More recently, it has been adopted by NASCAR participants to describe the one hour of practice time given the successful qualifiers for the purpose of checking out their race "setups" after qualifying is over.

But that's not how it started. Tommy Copp was a talented midget car driver from Northern California who won 21 USAC fea --). 1 Getting to the track et Despite shaky ride, Team Menard driver holds his breath and turns in fastest laps. By Mike Chappell STAFF WRITER How long can Greg Ray hold his breath? Long enough to capture the pole position for the 84th running of the Indianapolis 500. Fighting a serious, steady case of the shakes that Invaded his Conseco DallaraAurora ride Saturday afternoon, and having already ratcheted up his anxiety level by waving off one qualifying run, Ray gripped the steering wheel and held his breath as he attacked the Speedway's layout at 3:49 p.m.

He needed 2 minutes, 41.095 seconds to cover his four-lap qualifying run. It enabled him to claim his first pole the third for team owner John Menard finally, exhale. "It was all I could do," Ray said after posting an average of 223.471 mph. "Now I know for a fact I can hold my breath for 160 seconds." Ray, who started second In the past two Indy 500s, upgraded his position by holding on for a wild ride on his second qualifying attempt. A vibration affixed itself to his car early In the run and offered a constant reminder that it would be a passenger for the duration.

Ray surmised either an Inner weight or outer weight attached to balance his Firestone tires flew off at some point. "I don't know what happened," he said, "but I got out of turn two and put my foot on the gas, revved it up and it started vibrating. It didn't go away. "The car was definitely on the edge. I knew I didn't have a chance to come back In because that was my second attempt.

When you get down to your last attempt, it's really frightening. I just left my foot In it and drove." Ray, the defending Indy Racing League champion who will start his fourth Indy 500, warmed up with a lap of 218.140, then turned a 223.658 on his first qualifying circuit. He was able to remain consistent despite battling the vibration with laps of 223.397, 223.503 and 223.325. Capturing the pole, said Ray, was a tribute to his team. "It's a big pat on the back for them," he said.

"Winning the pole for the Indy 500 Is as big as any race you win anywhere In the world. "For me, it's fun. I started racing when I was 25 because I loved to race. I love the speed. I love the G-force.

I love the challenge of it." And make no mistake about it, Saturday was a challenge. In the morning, Ray turned a lap of 222.006, the 12th-fastest lap of the morning practice session and his best of the week. But when Ray rolled onto the Ray Indlanaialit f( U.Sieedw AX 16 St. --X- Speedway area I .1 -7" Tlh" II P. 1 Raymond St.

5 'i(r -x Staff Photo Rich Miller Now he's No. 1: Pole sitter Greg Ray greets fans after his top qualifying run. It was the first Indianapolis 500 pole victory for Ray, who started second the past two years. Saturday at 222.885. "We would have loved to be one-two," Menard said.

"But under the circumstances, we feel very fortunate. "To have the two cars nose-to-tall to start the race is going to be very interesting." Ray compared capturing the pole and its $100,000 bonus check to devouring an icing-covered dessert before the main course. The actual race, he Insisted, is entirely different. "Five-hundred miles?" Ray said. "That's a serious day at the office." track for his first qualifying attempt shortly after 1 p.m., his troubles began.

He warmed up with a 218.420, took the green flag, then radioed to his crew that he was experiencing handling problems. As Ray prepared to enter turn one at 233 mph, "the car went straight. I had to back off the gas to keep it off the wall. There was no need to continue." Ray's enthusiasm returned during a midday practice session when he followed a 223.7 lap with a 224-flat. But it quickly Local and state police suggest that race fans leave plenty of time to get to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

There are several construction areas that could affect your trip to the track. Some prominent construction sites in the area are noted at the bottom. Possible construction R5 fcfl 1 men i4- 56 F3 fill O' tOth St MVP INDY 500 POLE POSITION 1911- Lewis Strang 1912- Gil Anderson 1913- Caleb Bragg 1914- Jean Chassagne 1915- Howdy Wilcox 1916- Johnny Aitken 1917- 18-No race, World War I 1919- Rene Thomas 1920- Ralph DePalma 1921- Ralph DePalma 1922- Jimmy Murphy 1923-Tommy Milton 1924- Jimmy Murphy 1925- Leon Duray 1926- Eari Cooper 1927- Frank Lockhart 1928- Leon Duray 1929- Cliff Woodbury 1930- Billy Arnold 1931- Russ Snow-berger 1932- Lou Moore 1933- Bill Cummings 1934- Kelly Petillo 1935- Rex Mays 1936- Rex Mays 1937- Bill Cummings 1938- Floyd Roberts 1939- Jimmy Snyder 1940- Rex Mays 1941- Mauri Rose 1942- 45-No race, Work! War II Parking a gLv iMUe 10th St. BockyilleRd, A i I 1 1 1 30th St. iO INDIANAPOUSS SPEEDWAY iP (J) mMi.

5 3' 10th St. I Mile .) 38th stLAsrJ tttt-Fhl 1946- Cliff 1947-Ted 1948- Rex 1949- Duke 1950-Walt 1951- Duke 1952- Freddie 1953- Bill 1954- Jack 1955- Oerry 1956- Pat 1957- Pat 1958- Dick 1959- Johnny 1960- ddie 1961- Eddie 1962- Pamelli 1963- Pamelli 1964- Oim 1966- Mario 1967- Mario 1968- Joe 1969- A.J. 1970- AI 1971- Peter 1972- Bobby 1973- Johnny 1974- A.J. Ganassi Racing team comfortable wearing a target was squelched when his car developed the vibration that would test his nerves on his pole-winning run. "It was frustrating," Ray said.

"If that had been a practice session or qualifying anywhere else where we had some time, I would have definitely come In and changed tires. "I knew it was what I wanted, but I had to stick with the game plan." That plan saw Menard place cars on the inside of the first two rows. Ray's teammate, Robby Gordon, was fourth-fastest on Montoya turned In a four-lap average of 223.372 mph In the Target G-ForceAurora. "It was very consistent with all the laps In 223 (mph)," he said. Montoya even turned in a lap of 221-plus on his warm-up lap on the chilly afternoon.

"I just made sure I built up the speed as fast as I could (on the warm-up lap)," he said. "That comes from driving the road courses (in CART). You've got to get the speed straight away or you're going to be done." Vasser did not have quite the same ease, qualifying with a four-lap average of 221.976 mph In his Directions Downtown: two westbound routes: 16th Street or 30th Street (from I-65). I-465 West Three eastbound exits: 1 0th Street, Crawfordsville Road (U.S. 136), and 38th Street.

delays Road I-65 between 71st Street toS.R.334. (3 Road I-65 between 26th Street to 30th Street. (5 Lafayette Road at 52nd Street will be closed. Detour route includes High School Road from 56th Street. (5 Lafayette Road from I-65 to 56th Street.

30th Street from Georgetown Road to Lafayette Road. Staff Graphic Ryan Mallorj STARTERS 1976- Johnny Rutherford 1977-Tom Sneva 1978-Tom Sneva 1979- Rick Mears 1980- Johnny Rutherford 1981- Bobby Unser 1982- Rick Mears 1983-Teo Fabi 1984-Tom Sneva 1985- Pancho Carter 1986- Rick Mears 1987- Mario Andretti 1988- Rick Mears 1989- Rick Mears 1990- Emerson Fittjpal-di 1991- Rick Mears 1992- Roberto Guerrero 1993- Arie Luyendyk 1994- AI Unser.Jr. 1995- Scott Brayton 1996-Tony Stewart (in place of Scott Brayton, who earned pole and was later killed in practice) 1997- Arie Luyendyk 1998- Billy Boat 1999-Arie Luyendyk -7 1 -i. Target G-ForceAurora. "I'm not happy, but we'll take It," Vasser said.

Electrical problems kept Vasser from getting much accomplished on his qualifying setup on Friday. "If you noticed, Juan put a lot of miles on his car (Friday) and that's what we were supposed to do," he said. The 34-year-old Californian said he wanted to come In after a couple of qualifying laps. "But (team manager) Tom Anderson said, This place can bite you. Let's get it in the show," he said.

"I think some time on race day you're going to see my car on top and, hopefully, it will be at the end." Vasser will be starting in his fifth 500, but his first since 1995. The IRL-CART split came the following year. There's no one in the CART series that doesn't want to be racing here," said Vasser, who finished fourth In the 1994 500-Mile Race. "It's such a big event. It's a great facility and these are great fans.

It's fortunate that Chip took the initiative to take us racing here. I know a lot of guys in the CART series would like to be our position. Hopefully In the future you'll see more CART teams take Chip's lead and do that." Vasser, the 1996 CART season champion, said there are more similarities than differences between the IRL and CART cars. The main difference is horsepower," he said. Thote (IRL) have less.

You Just adapt trJ get the most out of what you have." Top CART team tnakes strong return, Qualifying Montoya, Yasser near front of grid. By Mark Ambrogl STAFF WRITER Ganassi Racing has become the standard in the Championship Auto Racing Teams series. 1 Chip Ganassl's team has captured the CART season points championship the past four years with three drivers (Jimmy Vasser In 1996, Alex Zanardl In '97 and I '98 and Juan Montoya In '99). So everyone expected Ganassl's team to get up to speed quickly in its Indy Racing League debut. It didn't disappoint.

Montoya will start his first Indy 500 in the middle of the Chip Ganassi front row and teammate Vasser cmalified in the seventh spot on Saturday for the race next Sunday. It was an impressive team showing, considering both drivers didn't arrive at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway until Monday after running in a CART race in Japan. "Believe me, it's no layup at this place," said Ganassi, who has competed in the 500 as both a driver and owner. "To miss two days of practice and come in here Photo Kerry Keating Team to beat: Ganassi Racing teammates (from left) Jimmy Vasser and Juan Montoya qualified in seventh and second place. Their team won CART's season title the past four years.

Bergere Horn Mays Nalon Faulkner Nalon Aga-bashian Vukovich McGrath Hoyt Flaherty O'Connor Rathmann Thomson Sachs Sachs Jones Jones Clark Foyt Andretti Andretti Leonard Foyt Unser Revson Unser Rutherford Foyt Foyt sleepy, tired from Japan, these guys did a great job and my hat's off to them." Although he might have made it look easy, Montoya insisted it wasn't. "The Target team is just a good team," he said. "Target and Bud-weiser gave us the opportunity to do well. We've been working on the cars and I really like them. I tried to set up the car the way I do my champ car so I feel comfortable driving it.

The car is really friendly fast and friendly." The 24-year-oldi Colombian was on the pole for about 2i4 hours before being bumped by Greg Ray. 1.