Columnist Jimmy Vasser: Heavy air costly in qualifying at Indy

Jimmy Vasser

Monday, May 13, 2002 | 10 a.m.

Jimmy Vasser of Las Vegas will to start his seventh Indianapolis 500 on May 2' in a Dallara/Chevrolet fielded by Rahal/Letterman Racing. This is the third i' a series of columns he will write for the Sun.

I think we had improved the Miller Lite car on Friday when we clocked a 228.8 mph speed in preparation for qualifying for the Indianapolis 500. The car always felt very good last week and we were surprised our speeds weren't up with the leaders.

We continued to trim out the car by taking out more downforce and getting the car to be a little more free through the corners. When that happens, the driver has be very aware of the track and weather conditions because the car doesn't handle as securely.

On Saturday morning, we ran 229.2 without a draft from another car and I was feeling pretty good about our qualifying attempt. But we drew a late number in the qualifying draw and that meant we would have to go out for our four-lap run right in the heat of the day. Plus, the weather was unpredictable because rain had been headed right at Indianapolis since the morning. I still don't know why the track wasn't hit hard by rain except that the wind was blowing from the east. I think that made the rain go north of the track.

But the air was dense and heavy, so we took out some more rear wing for better straightaway speed. Bruno (Junqueira) was the first car out for qualifying at 11 a.m. and he was super fast. So the conditions were still good from the morning practice.

But I think we caught some bad luck because at 1:45 p.m., the sun just broke through the clouds and it was very humid. I was sitting in the car in the heat and thinking the humidity wasn't helping us.

The conditions really changed when we went out; I think the air got heavier when we ran because we were about a mile an hour off what we thought the car would do. I thought we could run in the low 229s or high 228s but the conditions weren't there.

I think Bobby (Rahal) was surprised, like me, that we didn't go faster but he took the speed (227.732 mph). He wasn't sure what the weather would do and he wanted to put the car in the field on the first day.

There are no guarantees for this race and my team owner, Bobby Rahal, knows exactly what I am talking about because he once failed to qualify for Indy, in 1993.

It would have been a little risky to wave off the run and have the rest of qualifying rain out. Look at what happened to Arie Luyendyk, Dario Franchitti and the two Foyt cars: They waited and didn't get in a qualifying speed on Saturday. Then it rained all day on Sunday. So for them, it's going to be one day -- next Sunday -- for a shot in qualifying. And the way the weather has been this month, who knows what the conditions will be.

I'm just glad we are in the race right now. I know we have a good racecar because it has been so solid all week.