Columnist Jimmy Vasser: We’re still searching for speed

Jimmy Vasser

Friday, May 10, 2002 | 9:40 a.m.

Editor's note: Jimmy Vasser of Las Vegas is bidding to start his seventh Indianapolis 500 in a Dallara/Chevrolet fielded by Rahal/Letterman Racing of Hilliard, Ohio. This is the second in a series of columns he will write for the Sun during the three weeks of practice, qualifying and the race.

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It's time to get ready for qualifying on Saturday and I have to admit that gaining the proper speed has been tough for our Miller Lite team.

We are struggling a little bit more than we had anticipated, but we have been right on our game plan with the primary and the backup cars. We have tried a variety of compounds on the chassis and several wing configurations. Now we are just trimming out the aerodynamic package to get the most speed.

The speed numbers have been pretty big this week but the majority of the top speeds have come from drafts off other cars. Just like Thursday with Tony Kanaan and myself. Tony used me to get a big draft and clock the fastest time of the day (229.503 mph). But then when I needed to get a tow from Tony, he pulled into the pits and I was by myself.

I didn't appreciate that and I let him know it when I drove by him -- if you know what I mean.

I'm little surprised that we haven't been able to run up with some of the other Chevy teams right now. We had a couple of successful test runs at Indianapolis last month including in mid-80s temperature. We seemed to have a pretty good grasp of the chassis. The car was very drivable.

I think all of the ingredients that we need to qualify and win the race are in the trailer, but we haven't been able pull out all of the speed just yet.

There have been several accidents this week and it's very difficult to see your fellow drivers get injured. But as a driver, I don't really think about injuries. When you put your shield down and leave the pit, you're not really thinking too much about that; you're trying to get the most out of the car.

I know we have been concentrating on the race since we got to Indy but now it's time to get the most speed out of the car and get into the race.

But it's like I said before, it's no slam dunk to make this race. And this year, the field is very close and as tough as ever. I know that Team Green with guys like Michael (Andretti), Dario (Franchitti) and Paul (Tracy) haven't reached their potential either with their cars. And they are frustrated too. This place can do it to you.

You have to be prepared for all types of things. Weird stuff always happens at this place. So today it's an all-out effort to pull speed out of the car.

What is the most frustrating for our Miller Lite guys and myself is that we have a very good racecar. We can win this race with the race set-up we have. But to win, you must first qualify and that is the whole goal this weekend.

When we came here this week, we didn't think that we are behind the 8-ball or think that there were going to be little roadblocks thrown up. But we have had some, whether it's been the rain or wind or aerodynamic trouble with the car.

I said before that the toughest time for me at the track is if it's raining and the track is wet and you don't know what time it's going to go. And that is actually what happened most of this week. I find it tough in those situations when you just are kind of that holding pattern waiting to go. Once you get in the car and strap it on and turn on the engine, all that goes away and just time to get down to business.

With better weather predicted for today, I'll be all business getting ready to qualifying for the Indy 500.