Return of Bump Day could give Indy 500 qualifying a boost
INDIANAPOLIS » Roger Penske still bemoans the memories from the 1995 Indianapolis 500.
One year after dominating the month of May, and a year before the open-wheel split officially began, the team owner and his two drivers — Al Unser Jr. and Emerson Fittipaldi — left pit lane empty-handed. They didn’t have the pole and they didn’t even have a starting spot on the 33-car grid.
The lessons from that shocking Bump Day result remain as fresh with Penske today as they did nearly a quarter-century ago: This historic 2.5-mile track can hit anyone, even the most successful team in IndyCar history.
“In ’94, we won the race, we led almost every lap and the next year at the end of qualifying, I’m walking away with two of the best drivers in the world,” Penske told The Associated Press. “It’s a day I’ll never forget in my life.”
Longtime fans won’t forget it anytime soon, either.
Anyone who has actually been on the front lines of Indy’s unique four-lap qualifying format understands the stakes during Saturday’s qualifying round.
Tension will be high. Jubilation can instantly turn into disappointment or vice versa. And the financial future of some teams could be on the line, too. It’s been one of the most dramatic traditions in racing and it’s been a part of Indy lore since 1914.
But since the split in 1996, it’s essentially been a missing component.
The series has, at times, struggled just to fill the field much less have enough cars for bumping. Race organizers adapted to the changing environment by shrinking the two-weekend qualifying schedule to one and giving cars as many attempts per day as they need to make the field.
Now, bumping is back. Thirty-five driver-car combinations will attempt to make the May 27 race and two will be heading home.
“It’s great to have (bumping) back,” four-time 500 winner A.J. Foyt said. “I’d like to see another 30 or 40 cars here to make it really interesting. But the way they have qualifying now, you can have 20 attempts on one car. I wish they’d go back to the other way where you get three attempts per car.”
That’s how Penske’s team got shutout in ‘95. But the good and bad of the format largely depends on perspective.
While hard-core fans eagerly awaited this day in 2013 or 2015, when 34 cars were entered and only 33 made official qualifying attempts each year, they can’t wait to see this weekend play out.
Of course they’re not scrambling to find speed or rebuild cars as will be the case for some teams heading into Saturday.
James Davison’s crew is scrambling to repair Foyt’s No. 33 in hopes he can find enough speed Saturday to make the field. The Australian driver crashed in practice Friday after struggling all week.
Dreyer & Reinbold Racing also will be busy. JR Hildebrand returned to the track after crashing Thursday but finished 30th on the speed chart with a fast lap of 227.242 mph in Friday’s practice.