INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -Graham Rahal was flirting with the 11th and final qualifying spot available Saturday, the opening day of time trials for the Indianapolis 500, when he ran into tire trouble.
The 19-year-old son of 1986 Indy winner Bobby Rahal was ready for one last qualifying run and found his team hadn't brought any new tires to pit lane.
``It makes me mad because I really feel like we could have made it,'' Rahal said. ``I'm frustrated because we had a good car and definitely had the speed to do that. It's like shooting yourself in the foot.''
Rahal, who last month became the youngest winner in the history of American open-wheel racing when he won his IRL IndyCar Series debut on the street circuit in St. Petersburg, Fla., was the only one of nine drivers making the transition from the defunct Champ Car World Series to the IRL who came close to qualifying on the first of four days of time trials for the May 25 Indy 500.
Tomas Scheckter, who was 11th late in the day, withdrew his 223.779 mph qualifying run, which he expected to be bumped. But his second qualifying effort was slower at 223.496. That's what Rahal was shooting at with time running out.
The youngster, who has raced only before twice on oval tracks, had a four-lap, 10-mile qualifying run of 223.355 mph bumped early in Saturday's session by rookie Hideki Mutoh. His Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing team then waved off a second attempt after three laps 223.2.
``We'd been doing runs in practice and the car was a lot quicker than that,'' Rahal said. ``We went out and had no speed, so I told them to wave it off because it wasn't very good. When the track gets cooler, sometimes you get more downforce and the car goes slower.''
As the clock moved toward the 6 p.m. close of the day's time trials, the team put Rahal's car back in the qualifying line. All of sudden, other teams ahead of him began pulling out of line and Rahal realized he could get one more shot.
``I was ready to go because I thought we had new tires on the thing,'' Rahal said. ``I was excited to go out and Scheckter lowered the bump speed so much that I think we could have made it. I think we were at about that speed anyway on our last run. It's pretty sad.
``(The team) said they didn't think we were going to make it (to the front of the line), so we didn't bring tires, and that's my point. You need to be prepared.''
It was an uncharacteristic mistake for Newman/Haas/Lanigan, an eight-time champion in the CART/Champ Car series. But it was a great break for Scheckter, the son of former Formula One champion Jody Scheckter and a veteran of six Indy 500s.
``I'm just so happy,'' said the South African driver, driving for the new Luczo Dragon Racing team. ``To be honest, it feels like I've got the pole just to survive the top 11.
``We just struggled and struggled. Every time that car went out, it went a bit slower and slower.''
Rahal and the rest of the drivers who failed to qualify on Saturday will get another chance Sunday, when positions 12 through 22 are set for the 33-car race day field. The lineup will then be finalized in time trials next weekend.
