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Camara Takes Pole for Futaba Freedom 100 |
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May 26, Speedway, IN. Brazil’s Jamie Camara, driving for Sam
Schmidt Motorsports, has dominated the Indianapolis Motor Speedway 2.5
mile oval this month. He was fastest at the May 3 Pro Series
practice. He was fastest in the first two practice sessions
today. And then when it came to qualification this afternoon he
topped out again. Camara’s two lap average of 189.870 mph earned him
the SWE Race Car Parts Pole Award, a trophy and a check for $1,000, not
to mention the pole for tomorrow’s Menards Infiniti Pro Series Futaba
Freedom 100 race. To finish off, he then turned in a fastest 190.359
mph in the 20 minute final practice for the Pro cars at the end of the
day.
The starting grid tomorrow will line up with Jaime’s teammate, Travis
Gregg, beside him. Jaime and Travis were both on the front row for the
Homestead and Phoenix oval track races, with Travis on the pole in both
of those cases. On this subject Jaime commented, “So now I’m pole, and
he’s second….If we work together [drafting], we can get away from the
pack.” That’s what these two did at the Homestead race where they
finished 1-2 with Travis winning.
The second row is a USAC pair. Midget driver Cole Carter, making
his first Pro Series start, qualified third. Cole’s brother,
Dane, ran one Pro race in 2003. Should you wonder about the name,
yes, their father is “Pancho” Carter, a former Indy 500 pole
winner. Cole is driving for American Revolution Racing.
Next to Cole is Vision Racing’s Jay Drake. Jay also qualified
fourth in his first Pro race here last year. He finished
fourth. He’d like to do better than a repeat tomorrow.
The third row has New Zealand’s Wade Cunningham, with Brian Stewart
Racing, as fifth fastest. Although Wade was the first Pro driver
to break 190 mph on May 3 [Camara was the other], that set up did not
seem to suit today’s different track conditions. Next to him is
Canadian, Marty Roth. Marty, who has his own team, Roth Racing,
will also be running in Sunday’s Indy 500. When Marty runs in the
Pro Series IMS road race on June 18, he will become the first driver to
run three races in one year at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
What about Marco Andretti you’re asking? Yes, Marco is in the
field, but not where he wanted to be. He and the presence of his
father, Michael, and grandfather, Mario, in the pits attracted by far
the largest crowd of photojournalists. The fact that Marco was
the first qualifier heightened the drama.
Although he turned in a 189.873 mph at the May 3 practice, his best
speed in the first practice today was only 187.083 mph. He sat
out the second practice session while the engine was changed on this
car. But with no practice time after the swap he only turned in a
185.219 mph average, which put him tenth on the grid. His final
practice session was not much improved, with a 186.194 fastest lap.
After qualifying Marco admitted that, “I’m definitely unhappy. I
went out first of all with no dash, no data or anything….as a driver,
that’s not fun.” …. “Basically we came here with a different motor and
that was big time off, so we put this one back in and we had to miss
the [second] session, so we are just way out there. With the
draft, I’ll be able to stay up with these guys, hopefully.”
The driver who attracted the second largest crowd of photojournalists
was Mishael Abbott. She qualified 14th. Her post-qualifying
comments were: “We struggled getting the car going the first two
sessions in the morning, but I was flat all the way around, and I drove
what I got. Now we have to go back and see if we can pick up a
little more speed. This is incredible. Just being here; I’ve been
here all month long. It’s a dream come true.”
With 18 cars in the field tomorrows race should be awesome! And
don't assume that the Schmidt boys will run away with the race.
Remember this is the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a track with a
history of surprise winners.
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