Bruno Junqueria

By Andrew Cutler
May 16 2010

If you have been following the IndyCar Series - or, at the least, my race reports over the past few seasons - you already know that, while it is a somewhat 'fluid' number, the car count for most races is usually in the low to mid twenties: This situation changes at Indianapolis.

Tradition holds that thirty-three cars run the race: a hold-over from the days when the Memorial Day weekend classic was a more 'open' event from an engineering standpoint, drawing a variety of race car designers, who occasionally brought some unique vehicles to the event. The generally prohibitive expenses involved in such efforts - especially for only one race per year - has long since put an end to that practice; with the 'help' of the IRL rule book, which strives to maintain as much parity between the teams as possible.

How well they succeed - and whether or not they should even try - is a long-running debate among IndyCar fans. 

These days, keeping the Indy car count at thirty-three mainly allows for a number of 'one-offs' from drivers (and teams) that you might not see at any other time in the year. If we set the number of IndyCar 'regulars' at 26 (see the list under  the 'Teams' button; don't include Adam Carroll who hasn't raced yet and won't until later in the season, Davey Hamilton as his limited schedule starts this month, Ana Beatriz as she has only had one race so far with no contract in place for another prior to this month or Graham Rahal who has been w/o a ride since Long Beach), then that leaves 7 spots to be filled.

There were a total of thirty-nine cars entered for Indy. It appears that two of them will go unfilled, but this still leaves 37 drivers to contest for 33 spots : Four of them - and there could well be 'regulars' among this group - will go home disapointed.

So; who are these 'extra' drivers? Here is the break-down:

First there are those drivers who we've already seen occasionally this year, or who we will likely at some point see again as the season progresses. As mentioned above, one of them will be Davey Hamiltion, making the first of his three scheduled appearances with Luczo-Dragon Racing. Graham Rahal has managed to put a deal togeather for Indy, driving for his father's team, Rahal-Letterman Racing. Ana Beatriz is also here, with a one race deal for D&R. Long-time CART/CCWS veteran Paul Tracy will be in a fourth car fielded by KVRT. Andretti Autosport will have a fifth car, with Michael's cousin John (another AOWR 'grey beard') driving.

Then there are the drivers and teams who likely only run Indy this year. Vision Racing, which closed down owing to funding issues, will partner with Panther Racing to field a car for Ed Carpenter. Besides Beatriz, D&R will also try to get Tomas Scheckter into the race. Bryan Herta Autosport, which contests the Firestone Indy Lights Series, has procured an IndyCar and will attempt to qualify 2009 FIL standout Sebastian Saavedra. Another FIL regular, Sam Schmidt Motorsports, will partner with Ganassi Racing to give Townsend Bell a car. AJ Foyt Enterprises will field a second car, to be driven by AJ Foyt IV, their former driver from a couple of seasons back. 

Finally, we come to what many fans find to be the 'good sportsmanship' story of the month. Last year, both Alex Tagilani, who is a series regular this year, and Bruno Junqueria attempted to make the Indy 500 for D&R. Tagilani's qualifications effort came up short, but 'Junky' earned a spot on the grid. However, last-minute sponsorship issues left the Brazilian without the funding to finance his ride, and D&R pulled him in favor of the Canadian, who's sponsorship was still intact. Now that 'Tag' has a co-ownership stake in a team, and an extra car for Indy, he had only one driver in mind to fill the seat; Junqueria.

Call it a debt repaid. 

Practice began yesterday. Qualifications will be held over the upcomming weekend. The 94th Indianapolis 500 will be the following Sunday, 5/30 at 1pm ET.