Indy 500: Bump Day

Danica Patrick and Marco Andretti finally made it into the 33-car field for the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500, but their Andretti Autosport teammates Mike Conway and Ryan Hunter-Reay were bumped.

Patrick failed a technical inspection after a parts change and had to go to the back of the qualifying line.  There she had to sit through a rain delay as the clock ticked down to the close of the qualifying session.  She finally got her chance and turned in a four-lap average of 224.861 mph to qualify 26th.

Andretti sat on the bubble as seven drivers tried to claim his spot.  Alex Lloyd finally knocked him out with a 223.957 mph run.  Andretti got back out on the track and started his run with only 55 seconds left on the clock.  He ran 224.628 mph to qualify 28th and knock Hunter-Reay out of the race.

The starting lineup for the May 29 race:

1. Alex Tagliani, Sam Schmidt Motorsports, 227.472 mph
2. Scott Dixon, Ganassi Racing, 227.340 mph
3. Oriol Servia, Newman/Haas Racing, 227.168 mph
4. Townsend Bell, Sam Schmidt Motorsports, 226.887 mph
5. Will Power, Team Penske, 226.773 mph
6. Dan Wheldon, Bryan Herta Autosport, 226.490 mph
7. Buddy Rice, Panther Racing, 225.786 mph
8. Ed Carpenter, Sarah Fisher Racing, 225.121 mph
9. Dario Franchitti, Ganassi Racing, no time (ran out fuel)
10. Takuma Sato, KV Racing Technology-Lotus, 225.736 mph
11. Vitor Meira, A. J. Foyt Racing, 225.590 mph
12. J. R. Hildebrand, Panther Racing, 225.579 mph
13. James Hinchcliffe, Newman/Haas Racing, 225.572 mph
14. Bertrand Baguette, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 225.285 mph
15. Davey Hamilton, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, 225.250 mph
16. Helio Castroneves, Team Penske, 225.216 mph
17. John Andretti, Andretti Autosport, 224.981 mph
18. E. J. Viso, KV Racing Technology-Lotus, 224.732 mph
19. Bruno Junqueira, A. J. Foyt Racing, 224.691 mph
20. Justin Wilson, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, 224.511 mph
21. Jay Howard, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 224.483 mph
22. Tomas Scheckter, KV-SH Racing, 224.433 mph
23. Tony Kanaan, KV Racing Technology-Lotus, 224.417 mph
24. Simona De Silvestro, HVM Racing, 224.392 mph
25. Paul Tracy, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, 224.939 mph
26. Danica Patrick, Andretti Autosport, 224.861 mph
27. Ryan Briscoe, Team Penske, 224.639 mph
28. Marco Andretti, Andretti Autosport, 224.628 mph
29. Charlie Kimball, Ganassi Racing, 224.499 mph
30. Graham Rahal, Ganassi Racing, 224.380 mph
31. Alex Lloyd, Dale Coyne Racing, 223.957 mph
32. Pippa Mann, Conquest Racing, 223.936 mph
33. Ana Beatriz, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, 223.879 mph

NASCAR: NNS -- Fontana: CampingWorld.com 300 Results

Image via WikipediaMake it an even dozen for Kyle Busch.  He picked up the victory Saturday in the Nationwide Series race at Fontana to extend the record he set last weekend for most series wins in a season to twelve.

Busch battled hard to keep the lead on the final restart then gradually pulled away from the field to win the CampingWorld.com 300, crossing the finish line 1.034 seconds ahead of Brad Keselowski.  Kevin Harvick was third, followed by Carl Edwards and Joey Logano.  (Race results)

It was Busch's fourth victory at the two-mile track and the 42nd of his career.  He is now just six wins behind Mark Martin for the Nationwide Series career win record.

Busch overcame a pit road speeding penalty on Lap 87 (of 150).  That dropped him back to 15th, but he worked his way through the field and was back in the lead on Lap 112.  This was Busch's third victory of the season after a speeding penalty.

Harvick, who led a race-high 86 laps, had a better car than Busch on the long runs, but was frustrated by slow pit stops that cost him positions.  He came into the pits with the lead on Lap 134 (of 150) but came out sixth.  Two cautions in the final 17 laps kept him from challenging Busch for the win.

Danica Patrick, starting her eighth Nationwide race and her second at Fontana, was having her best run of the season until misfortune struck again.  Just after a restart with the field still tightly packed, Patrick was running 17th, looking for her first Top 15 finish and her first lead lap finish.  She got too close to James Buescher and squeezed him into the wall.  A lap later she got close to Buescher again and he turned into her rear, turning her into the wall.  Ricky Carmichael and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. also got caught up in the incident that brought out the sixth and final caution and set up the five-lap dash to the finish.  Patrick would finish 30th.

Keselowski should start clearing out a space in his trophy case.  He now leads Edwards by 384 points in the series standings with just five races to go.