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The four Dreyer & Reinbold Racing drivers
— John Andretti, Mike Conway, Milka Duno and Davey Hamilton — worked on their
race day setups Friday in Carb Day activities at the Indianapolis Motor
Speedway in preparation for the 2009 Indianapolis 500 Mile Race this Sunday,
May 24.
A
one-hour practice session provided the 33-driver field a last chance to secure
their machine’s settings before the 93rd running of the Indy 500 set for 1 p.m.
[EDT] Sunday.
After
a stressful Bump Day last Sunday for Andretti, Conway and Duno, the three
racers made limited runs in their respective cars. Meanwhile, Hamilton, in the No. 44 HP Kingdom
Racing Honda Dallara, recorded 42 laps with a best speed of 221.371 miles per hour, tenth fastest on the day.
Conway,
the rookie driver form England who came back from a nasty crash on the opening
qualifying weekend, clocked a best speed of 219.560 m.p.h. in his No. 24 Purex
Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Honda Dallara.
Duno in the No. 23 CITGO Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Honda Dallara, had
a top speed Friday of 217.599 m.p.h., while Andretti, who made the field last
Sunday with six minutes remaining in qualifying, drove the No. 43 Richard Petty
Window World Honda Dallara to a best of 217.296.
Andretti’s
crew chief, Dave Janquart was named the 2009 recipient of the prestigious Clint
Brawner Mechanical Excellence Award Friday at Carb Day. Janquart, an IndyCar Series veteran, received
a $5,000 check and a plaque to commemorate Brawner’s legendary mechanical
skills. The award, presented by the
Clint Brawner Foundation and underwritten by Firestone Racing, annually
recognizes an Indy 500 chief mechanic who exemplifies the mechanical and
scientific creativity, ingenuity, perseverance, dedication, enthusiasm and
expertise of its namesake. Janquart led
his crew’s effort that overcame a first-weekend crash and survived the rigors
of Bump Day to qualify for the 33-car field.
The
Dreyer & Reinbold Racing team is one of two teams fielding four cars in the
2009 Indianapolis 500 Mile Race. Andretti makes his tenth Indy 500 (along with
10 Brickyard races) with Hamilton starting his ninth 500, Duno her third 500
and Conway, a top open-wheeler in Europe last year, making his debut at Indy.
DREYER & REINBOLD RACING QUOTES:
JOHN ANDRETTI, No. 43 Richard Petty
Window World Honda Dallara: "Today, we were able
to do our first race runs so we took the opportunity and tried some different
things. We were able to do some pit
stops and feel better about coming to pit road now. The next step is to go and talk to my
teammates and see what they learned and try to improve and be ready for the
race."
MIKE CONWAY, No. 24 Purex Dreyer & Reinbold Honda
Dallara: “The Purex car felt great. We did
a couple of runs on full tanks and new tires to simulate what would happen
during the race. We also ran in traffic
as well. I think we need just a little
more speed, but we will compare data between teammates and see where we
are. I feel comfortable."
MILKA DUNO, No. 23 CITGO Dreyer & Reinbold Honda
Dallara: "We feel positive. During
the last practice, we worked on the race car setup and we tried many things,
because, unfortunately last week, we didn't have time due to qualifying. We will go over data, and I will talk to my
teammates and continue to prepare a good race car.”
DAVEY
HAMILTON, No. 44 HP Kingdom Racing Honda Dallara: “The car
felt pretty good. I was on the (rev)
limiter on my best lap, so I think we could be faster today. We have a couple of things to change for
traffic. But I noticed that a lot of
cars need to do some adjusting, too. The
track surface is always pretty dirty on Carb Day. There hasn’t been a race car on it since last
Sunday, and there were passenger cars on the track on Wednesday. So the pavement is really dirty at
first. Overall, I feel good about our HP
Kingdom Racing machine.”