Can someone please explain the qualifying procedure for Indy cars? Bump day , hump day , how many days does it take to figure out the grid? I guess it's all done to prolong the sponsors exposure during the "500" festivities, am I wrong?
There are technically still 4 days of qualifying. The first day, Pole Day, qualifies the fastest 11 cars of that day, ONLY. Those 11 are locked into those first 11 positions even if another car qualifies faster on one of the other days. The second day qualifies the next 11, the third day the final 11, of the 33 starters (11 even rows of 3 cars, flying start, no stagger). The the fourth day, actually today, is bump day. I do not remember if positions 12-33 are open for bumping by faster cars or only positions 23-33. I do know that the first 11 are locked in. This two weekends of qualifying has been going on for many years, I remember this when I was a teenager and that was well over 80 years ago. Pole Day was once even more exciting than Race Day, close to 250,000 spectators would show up. It is not so much for the sponsors, it is tradition and a way to drag out revenue for Indianapolis businesses for an entire month. No one complains, the teams go for it, sponsors go for it, it is afterall the Indianapolis 500. Nearly 25% of an IRL team's season budget is for the Indy 500. Think about the lodging expense alone for 20-30 people for over three weeks.
Loved Bubble Day when ABC finally got around to covering it. I don't believe a bump car can qualify above 23rd position.
THE BUMP ATTEMPTS ARE USUALLY 1) MARGINAL GUYS 2) LAST MINUTE DEALS 3) GUYS THAT HAVE HAD TROUBLE ALL MONTH OR 4) IN MODERN TIMES 2ND WEEK MOTOR LEASES WITH LIMITED MILEGE ALLOWED BY HONDA.I DONT REMEMBER ANYWHERE NEAR 10 BUMPS IN 31 YEARS OF ATTENDANCE AND 20 PREVIOUS YEARS OF FOLLOWING IT.
I might be slightly off on my years but in 93 Rahal failed to qualify the then new Honda. And in 94 Penske failed to qualify the Ilmor Mercedes. The only 2 bubble days I ever went to. When time ran out Rahal said to the TV interviewer, "My idea of racing is not driving around at the back." He was PO. He was not with Honda the following year. In 94 we were at the Penske pit at 6M. Unser Jr. and Fittipaldi were livid. Engineer showing them data on a laptop. They were poking him in the chest. They didn't care about the data, they just wanted in the dam race. But you are correct, it's usually pretty boring.
