The Indianapolis Star from Indianapolis, Indiana • Page R5

1st MONDAY, MAY 26, 2008 R5 THE INDIANAPOLIS STAR INDYSTAR.COM CHARLIE NYE The Star WHERE IS THAT Danica Patrick leaves her car along pit road after she is eliminated from the race in a collision with Ryan Briscoe at the pit exit. Patrick had a few unkind words for Briscoe over her team radio, thinking the accident was his fault. She walked down pit road to confront Briscoe before others intervened. She finished 22nd and Briscoe 23rd. Patrick peeved, to say the least "You don't pull out from your pit box three lanes out.

That's why they have a get-up-to-speed lane, which is the inside lane." DANICA'S STEAMED AFTER ACCIDENT KNOCKS HER OUT OF RACE Danica Patrick, on Ryan Briscoe the dispute. "I'm hoping he comes and finds me first," she said. "If he doesn't come to me within a certain amount of time, rest assured I'll talk to him about it." Even before the crash, it had been a frustrating day for Patrick, who had high hopes after winning the Japan Indy 300 in April. Looking ahead to the Indy 500, Sports Illustrated put Patrick on the cover with the headline, "Yes She Can." Patrick qualified fifth, but it became apparent early that her car wasn't handling well. "I am damn slow," she said over the radio at one point.

Later, she said of another driver, "He is so much faster than me. What can I do?" Wing adjustments helped move her as high as sixth with 56 laps remaining. She ran eighth through 13th most of the day. "I just didn't feel fast," Patrick told reporters later. "I didn't have a lot of speed.

We were making the best of it. I really, really had to be on my toes through the corners and just try to drive perfect and keep as much throttle on as possible. "Sometimes I get out on the track and if I do anything nearly right, I'm good. I can pass people. But today was how I felt in '06 (at Indy).

I had to do everything so right to get any ground on anyone." Patrick's mother, Bev, watched from the pits, usually by herself, chewing gum and keeping her hands folded. During pit stops, she bounced on her toes until her daughter sped away. JERI REICHANADTER The Star GR-R-R-R-R: Danica Patrick talks with members of her crew in the garage area. Shortly before reaching her garage, she assessed her Speedway experience: "A waste of a day. A waste of a month." By Mark Alesia mark.alesiaindystar.com Danica Patrick had already screamed one expletive into the radio, right after impact, but she only became angrier while waiting to get back to the pits.

"Was that Briscoe?" she said after colliding with Ryan Briscoe on pit road near the end of Sunday's Indianapolis 500. "10-4," came the response from Patrick's pit. "What a (bleep)!" Patrick screamed. "A dumb (bleeping) idiot!" With 29 of the 200 laps remaining, and Patrick's run finished because of the crash, the most vivid image from the race was still to come. Upon returning to her pit, Patrick got out of the car and, like an enforcer in hockey, dropped her gloves during a purposeful walk toward Briscoe's pit.

Before she could get there, others intervened, taking her back to her pit, where she stayed until the end of the race. Patrick was seventh at the time of the crash. She finished 22nd. "I don't know if we had enough speed to win the thing," she said Patrick's husband, Paul Hos-penthal, and her sister Brooke were also in the pits. Returning to the garage, Patrick could be heard giving a harsh summary to the effort.

"A waste of a day," she said. "A waste of a month." Later, speaking to reporters, Patrick said, "As you guys know, I'm a little emotional." Hospenthal took the whole thing in stride, in the pits and on his way to the garage. He stopped to chat with a crew member and cracked a smile. This isn't new to him. In Milwaukee in 2006, Patrick confronted Dan Wheldon on pit road after the race.

In Michigan that season, after her car went out with two laps left, she stomped back to pit road, kicking a barrel. "She's very passionate about everything, and I would expect nothing less," Hospenthal said. "We've seen it before. She's just very emotional." Jeff Rabjohns and Jeri Reichanadter contributed to this story. Call Star reporter Mark Alesia at (317) 444-6039.

outside her garage after cooling off. But, she added, "We were looking at a top five in the Indy 500." The crash happened when Briscoe pulled out from his pit, three positions from the exit, as Patrick was trying to exit. "It was quite obvious what happened," Patrick said. "You don't pull out from your pit box three lanes out. That's why they have a get-up-to-speed lane, which is the inside lane.

When you're at speed, you're on the outside lane. It's not the right thing to do, just going all the way out to the wall." Briscoe maintained his innocence, saying Patrick had room to get around him to the right. "She's pointing fingers, but that's pretty typical of her," Briscoe said. "I'm not here to get in fights and rumbles. We can sort it out nice and quietly.

I'm sure as soon as she sees the replay, she'll understand she's out of line." Asked if he saw Patrick walking toward him on pit road, Briscoe replied, "Yes, I did," before disappearing into his garage. Patrick said she would wait before approaching Briscoe about Rookies take on challenge of Indy Hunter-Reay leads the way for race's lst-time starters with 6th-place finish By Steve Ballard steve.ballardindystar.com Of the 11 rookies who started the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday, four hit the wall and another left early with a mechanical problem. So it's no surprise the six who reached the checkered flag were just happy to get there, no matter where they finished. That was especially so for the eight drivers seven of them first-time starters who took on the challenge of Indianapolis Motor Speedway just three months after transitioning from the Champ Car World Series. "Just to have both cars finish is good for us.

Now we know what we need to work on," said KV Racing Technology co-owner Jimmy Vasser, an eight-time Indy starter whose drivers, Oriol Servia and Will Power, finished 11th and 13th, respectively. That was the best of the Champ Car contingent on a day that NewmanHaas Lanigan Racing finished with two wrecked cars, by Graham Rahal on lap 37 and Justin Wilson on lap 133, and Conquest Racing lost one when Jaime Camara crashed on lap 80. The other rookie to smack the wall was Alex Lloyd, whose car was a joint effort of established IndyCar Series teams Ganassi Racing and Rahal Letterman Racing. Their disappointment was mitigated by Scott Dixon winning the race for Ganassi and Ryan Hunter-Reay placing sixth to earn top rookie honors for Rahal Letterman. "This is a great finish for us," said Hunter-Reay, who finished one spot ahead of Andretti Green Racing rookie Hideki Mutoh.

"I think the Indy 500 Rookie of the Year battle meant a lot more than it has in a while because the field was so strong with so many former Champ Car drivers coming over. "This time last year I was walking the paddock in other series looking for a ride and today here I am in a press conference for being the top rookie at Indy. Wow." Enrique Bernoldi had a solid run for Conquest, placing 15th, and Dale Coyne Racing's Mario Moraes overcame a slight brush with the wall to lead three laps under caution and finish 18th. E.J. Viso of HVM Racing ran well early but faded to 26th with a gearbox problem.

Moraes, 19, became the third-youngest driver to lead a lap, behind only Josele Garza (1981) and Marco Andretti (2006). "We made what we were looking for: finish the race," he said. "It doesn't matter what position." The lone non-rookie among the Champ Car alums was perhaps the most frustrated. Bruno Junqueira, a five-time starter and the 2002 pole sitter, led two laps when his Coyne Racing team kept him on the track while all the leaders pitted during an early caution. But his joy was short-lived as the caution turned out to be for him.

His right-side mirror had fallen off and by the time it was replaced, his hopes were long gone. He wound up 20th, 16 laps down. "It was very strange," he said. "The inside mirror is most important. I never use the outside.

But I guess they (race officials) were right to make us fix it." Servia and Power admitted to mental and physical fatigue after their 500-mile adventure. As much as they were pleased with their respectable showings, they were relieved to have cars in one piece to take to next week's race at Milwaukee. "We did the best we could with the pieces we have," Servia said. "I'm satisfied with the whole team and myself. We BOB G0SHERT For The Star HIS RACE IS OVER: Safety crew members help Graham Rahal out of his car after he hit the fourth-turn wall early in the race.

Rahal, who won his first IndyCar start in April, finished last. lacked a little bit of speed, especially at the end, but we knew we didn't have it. We moved up to fifth once, but we just couldn't keep it there." Power didn't just ride around all day, but neither did he take any unnecessary chances. "That was key. That was what we were thinking of most," he said.

"I won't say we tried to be conservative, but we definitely tried to avoid getting into any stupid situations." An undamaged car sitting safely in the team's garage was visible proof that he had succeeded. Call Star reporter Steve Ballard at (317) 444-6184 KERRY KEATING For The Star NICE JOB: Ryan Hunter-Reay celebrates in the pits with team owner Bobby Rahal after he finished sixth, best among the rookies..