Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Guest Columnist Jamie Little: Indy 500 loaded with great stories

Jamie Little, a Green Valley High School graduate, is in her second year as a reporter for ABC Sports and ESPN. She is writing a weekly diary during Indianapolis 500 weeks exclusively for the Las Vegas Sun.

As I write this, a tornado looms just miles from where I sit at the Indianapolis Motor speedway. Last weekend, the weather really threw a wrench into our program, and it's threatening to do so again.

We had six consecutive hours of live television coverage scheduled for ESPN, ABC Sports and ESPN2 last weekend. It was Pole Day and the IRL was trying out a new qualifying format. They were attempting to qualify just 11 cars per day over a three-day period rather than the traditional two days of 22 and 11 qualifiers. Well, to everyone's dismay, the weather ended any hopes of a high drama pole day. Not one car made it on the track that day and, yes, we continued our coverage. I, as well as the rest of the broadcast team, was bounced around from garage to garage where the drivers, crew chiefs and team owners hibernated from the cold and rain.

On a positive note, we had some very candid moments with our interviews, especially my interview with the legend himself, A.J. Foyt, his son Larry Foyt, and his grandson A.J. Foyt IV. My producer at ABC Sports put together a very touching and nostalgic piece on the 1991 Pole Day featuring the epic battle between A.J. Foyt and Rick Mears. Following the emotional piece "grandpa," as I call him, had tears in his eyes. This is certainly not a common occurrence for the four-time Indy 500 winner who's known for being brash and hard-headed. It's moments like this that make me cherish my role as a reporter. I love to bring out emotion and share the inner side of the people involved with racing, especially the Indy 500.

We have some great stories that have unfolded already this month. If you watched our qualifying coverage last weekend, we filled the first 22 spots for the 89th running of the Indy 500.

But all eyes were on one individual - Danica Patrick. She's the 23-year-old sensation who also happens to be a rookie in both the IndyCar series and at the 500.

Although Patrick became the fourth woman ever to qualify for this race, it was her realistic capability of becoming the pole sitter that made everyone notice.

Just a couple hours before her qualifying attempt, she set the fastest lap of the month at 229.8 mph.

Patrick is the first woman who has the "total package," as team owner Bobby Rahal recently said.

She's got a chip on her shoulder just like any male driver, she doesn't settle for second, she's great to look at, and she has the equipment to win.

Patrick qualified fourth in a dramatic fashion. She almost lost it on her first lap of qualifying. Every man I've talked to said you don't see saves like that too often.

In other words, the woman can drive and she did one heck of a job putting it in the field as the highest qualifying woman in Indy 500 history.

Her teammate -- last year's winner Buddy Rice -- has not been cleared to drive after suffering a concussion and a pulled ligament in the bottom of his neck. But in a dramatic turn of events on Wednesday of this week, Kenny Brack, the 1999 Indy 500 champion took the seat of Rice's No. 15 Rahal/Letterman/Argent car. Brack was almost killed in one of the most spectacular crashes in IndyCar series history back in 2003. He has not raced an open wheel car since then. He climbed back in the cockpit for practice on Wednesday and turned the seventh quickest time on the day at 225.774 mph. So, Kenny Brack is filling in for Buddy Rice who was hired after filling in for the injured Brack. What a coincidence!

In other news, Jimmy Kite is replacing the injured Paul Dana in the No. 91 Ethanol Hemelgarn machine. And Arie Luyendyk, Jr., the son of two-time Indy 500 winner Arie Luyendyk is expected to take to the track Friday for his rookie orientation. He hopes to qualify for his first ever Indy 500 this weekend when qualifying resumes on Saturday.

The remaining 11 spots will be filled to make the 33 car field, weather permitting! Be sure to watch our coverage Saturday on ESPN2 1-2pm EST, ESPN 5-6pm EST and ESPN2 6-7pm EST. Our coverage will continue Sunday for Bump Day on ABC Sports 1-3pm EST and ESPN2 5-7pm.

Thanks for reading. I'll check back in next Friday as we get ready for the biggest race in the world! If you have any questions or comments, feel free to contact me through my Web site, www.jamielittle.com.

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