Indy Pre-Race Thread

[Cynon]

Pole Qualifying:

Starting Grid

Row 1

#837 - Tom Delgado
#5 - Tyrone Stanley

Row 2

#38 - Curtis Darcy
#27 - Chris Davenport

Row 3

#82 - Yevgeny Kuznetsov
#21 - Palmer Stiles

Row 4

#46 - Scott Hamilton
#1 - Alexis Rainsford

Row 5

#997 - Axel Andersson
#08 - Jim Hayes


No Time: Jack Cronin, Blake Camphausen, Ike Durbin
No Shows: Cameron Taylor, Walter Green, Brian Wilson, Afzal Tahmid, Tim Averell, John Bracchi, Billy Fortner

[Syzygy]

RUSSKI HAX! Kuzzie P5!

[Alta]

Dartboard starting line-up = This.

[gwoodard41]

*Hands Crowd Throwing Knives*

[Magus978]

Delgado Provides Last Second Magic Again, Will Lead'em Down at Indy

With 18 seconds left, and the pole just about locked up, Tom Delgado put in quite possibly the fastest lap he's ever ran. Putting in a 43.740, Delgado finished off a spectacular final minute where he put in his pole time, then smashed it. Afterwards, an ecstatic Delgado was lost for words when asked about the prospect of leading the field down to the green flag for the first time in his career.

"Right next to winning, it's the best feeling someone could have" Delgado said of his magical minute. "We did this at Dwyer in ARLA, and almost won the pole. This time we finished what we started, and I am more than prepared to lead the field down for the first time in my career. Now we need to finish what we start here and win. If we want the championship, the hardest work begins NOW" Delgado added.

[Cynon]

Rainsford Shares Choice Words For Silverman, Pushanda

Despite making it through the Top 10 qualifying, Alexis Rainsford was seen sharing a few choice words for rookies Taylor Silverman and Vijay Pushanda. The Indian driver in particular drew the ire of the defending champion and race winner.

"This #1 team did an awesome job preparing the car, we got Chris [Davenport] in during the top 5 shootout, and we did it here again. I'm real happy for the team but right now I feel lucky to be talking to you."

"[Vijay] Pushanda was all over the track, he's out of his damn mind. I didn't care as much after I set the time we needed to get into the race, but he doesn't need to swerve like a maniac at 200 miles per hour. That kind of crap belongs in video games."

Rainsford also reportedly had a few choice words for Taylor Silverman after an overambitious dive by the Fortner driver 7 minutes into the last-chance qualifying session. Silverman's left side wheels were in the grass, a move that Rainsford felt was out of line.

"Did he cut the track? Yeah, of course he did, and he almost took me, Patrick Henderson, and Scott [Hamilton] into the wall. I'm going to protest that, but I'm not sure how much it will matter, because I guess people can try kill you during qualifying and get away with it. They certainly did at Daytona."

Pushanda was called to the Stewards' Office for erratic driving, however, Taylor Silverman was not initially called to the Stewards' Office, however after reviews of the tape he was called the the Stewards' Office. Jason Teller, Jr. and Stan Rosenstreter were also called to the Stewards' Office for the same reason. No word on any punishments, however, Teller, Jr., Rosenstreter, and Pushanda will likely start in the rear for prequalifying.

[gwoodard41]

Greg Woodard Seeks To Regain Lost Ground

Greg Woodard of Terra International Motorsports remarked on his performance regarding the pole qualifiers, he commented that he had run decently both rounds but failed to make the top 10 mainly due to not able to link up with enough people or forced to pit due to needing adjustments to the car, Greg, like half the entire qualifying field, did indeed get better than a 44 second run in the first round but failed to achieve the same in the second round of the 6 - 10 qualifying.

He will attempt to regain the ground he lost in the qualifying races, if he starts out towards the front of the field during the qualifiers, he'll be able to start out in the main race, only then, will he be able to truly prove his worth in the Master Cup come 2012.

He appeared to work well with several drivers during the first rounds of qualifying, however another driver nearly dumped Greg during the second go of qualifying.

[Nascar9fan]

Are the no shows cars that didn't get painted or sent to you on time?

[SnakePlissken]

Where'd you guys get your "inside information"? (Insert Around the Horn's Tony Reali sound bite.)

[Blake Camphausen]

I am so happy I failed to set a time.

[Guest]

Wow I completely forgot...

[Alpineopossum]

You can borrow my #126 if you want to.

[Cynon]

Are the no shows cars that didn't get painted or sent to you on time?

No Shows are cars that didn't get painted or sent in.

No Time are two cars that I forgot to add to the rosters. I don't think Cronin would have set a time fast enough anyway...

[day500champ1]

Taylor Silverman offers apology to Rainsford

"What can I say, I was trying to make the show. I tried to run a little harder and Alexis as well as the Stewarts didn't like the way I was running. I didn't feel like I was that out of control. But when Alexis tells you, you need to back it off you better listen."

It is unknown what the Stewarts told Silverman. But, the rookie did seem to understand where Rainsford was coming from.

[BJ Falcon]

Fortner gives stern warning to Silverman's eraticness

"It is my understanding that Taylor was called to the Stewards Office about his eratic behavior on the track. We at Fortner Motorsports take a great deal of consideration in safe and clean racing and this is not an excuse. I will not allow this kind of sloppy driving to parlay into the main race. Let this be a warning to Taylor Silverman. If this kind of driving continues in our last Independent's Trophy points race with him, we will take the proper disciplinary actions as deemed neccessary and prudent. How can Taylor do this good in the past races, yet drive this sloppy? That's just not right. I have to take this Peter Keyes kind of stance, which sounds stupid to some, and it is, but I gotta make sure Fortner finishes in the Top 10 by the end of our last Independent's Trophy races by ensuring clean and safe racing. Taylor is not a rallycross driver. He is a TM Master Cup driver, albeit a rookie, but mistakes like that shouldn't happen and I hope whatever the Stewards Office told him forced him to learn from this." says Billy Fortner, team manager and owner of Billy Fortner, Inc. in TM Lights North racing.

[Guest]

Is it too late to send in a car for the next session?

[gwoodard41]

Sorry, deadline was Friday.

[pennst24]

Sorry, deadline was Friday.

Do you run the series?

[Guest]

He was just relaying what he knew. No need to jump on him.

Anyway, that's too bad. Maybe next year.

[gwoodard41]

Sorry, deadline was Friday.

Do you run the series?

No, but wasn't the deadline to get a car into Cynon Friday?

[SnakePlissken]

From the 2011 Indy One-Off Thread:

Team Chart Updated.

All one-off cars are due by Friday, September 2nd.

And that's from who does run the series.

[gwoodard41]

Thanks Snake.

[BJ Falcon]

From the 2011 Indy One-Off Thread:

Team Chart Updated.

All one-off cars are due by Friday, September 2nd.

And that's from who does run the series.

Damn! I turned mine in too late as well!

[Tonyl14]

Thats an interesting front row, Tom Delgado(Congratz Tom) and Independence Trophy comepetitor Tyrone Stanley.

[RyanB06]

Not really...Delgado's been coming on recently and Omechas seem to do well here for some reason.

And here's a novel concept: Alexis Rainsford starts in the top 10!

(Sorry for stealing your line, Ceej.)

[Kornography]

Where'd you guys get your "inside information"? (Insert Around the Horn's Tony Reali sound bite.)

Cynon "broadcasted" the Q sessions over TS.

[BJ Falcon]

Fortner Motorsports transporter beplagued with engine trouble

Late Tuesday night/Early Wednesday morning at 11:30 PM to midnight AM, Fortner Motorsports dispatched a four-car transporter to Indianapolis from Fortner Motorsports' Missoula headquaters that carried the #191, 192, 229, and 86 cars driven by Walter Green, Brian Wilson, Billy Fortner and Ike Durbin. The transporter made it halfway to Minneapolis when a contracted truck driver ran into engine trouble. It was parked in Minneapolis at approximately 6:30 to 7:00 PM local time. The transporter was supposed to have made the 36 hour trip to Indianapolis which would have arrived there by 12:00 PM local time on Thursday early afternoon. The four Fortner entries were to have been due by Friday, but because the hauler is still in Minneapolis, Fortner Motorsports had contacted TM Master Cup officials to mark them as No-Shows.

The apparent engine trouble deeply angered FMS management as they were very eager to send the four cars to the Indy one-off race. With this engine problem the truck driver encountered, Fortner Motorsports owner, Billy Fortner, who also owns his TM Lights team, made a Tweet late Saturday afternoon:

"That's over $1 million dollars out of our pockets already down the drain." In addition, not only did this deplete Fortner's expenses, but expenses paid from Shell Motorsports and Full Throttle Racing were also depleted due to the transporter's mechanical issues. Moreover, the truck driver of the transporter never notified Fortner Motorsports of the trouble when it arrived in Minneapolis for a quick refuel to go the rest of the distance to Indianapolis.

The transporter arrived back at the Fortner shop early this morning, but when Billy Fortner called Fortner management via cell phone to find out if the cars made it to Indy, they were not aware of the engine problem. He asks the driver to open the doors only to find out that all four cars never left the trailer since leaving early Wednesday morning. Fortner along with FMS management was furious with this finding. All declined to comment on this issue.

[Cynon]

Silverman Docked 10 Places on the Indianapolis Grid, Paddock Uproar Ensues

Taylor Silverman was docked 10 places on the grid for the Round of Indianapolis, however, a vast majority of the garage called for Silverman's exclusion from the qualification session. Alan Hodges was quoted as saying; "Those are the same officials that nearly killed two drivers at Daytona. You can't make those kinds of moves on a track where speeds are this high."

Camelot Racing driver Danny Savin only shook his head when the topic of Taylor Silverman came up.

"It's not like Karjala at all." Savin said, referring to an incident where Alexis Rainsford was accused of blocking Tony Durbin in qualifying.
"Because Karjala didn't involve Rainsford cutting the track just to take a shot at Durbin in a dangerous part of the track."

Frenchman Jacques Bouvier, who has made a name for himself as a safety advocate, advocated for harsher sanctions against the Fortner driver.

"There need to be stiffer penalties for that kind of driving at these speeds otherwise it will be Daytona all over again." Bouvier said.
"At this level there are no excuses, the drivers must be of the highest caliber or they belong in TM Lights or something. An example must be set, and dropping Silverman to 17th is not a real penalty at this track."

TM Master Cup Series stewards were accused of handing out a light penalty to avoid angering Fortner Motorsports, whom are already rumored to depart for the ASCC.

A spokesman for the stewards was not available for comment.

[Rykia]

Durbin Terribly Displeased with Hauler Issues

Though the garage closes at a relatively early time, Ike Durbin was found sitting, waiting by the garage opening until nearly one o' clock in the morning, for the Fortner hauler carrying his car around, to arrive. It never arrived. He decided to go back to his motor home, thinking maybe it was just running late. It wasn't until Saturday afternoon that he recieved information from Billy Fortner that the hauler never arrived. Durbin was extremely dissapointed to be forced to take a no-show. Not only did this issue effect Full Throttle Racing and Shell Racing in a funding sense, but it also effected Ike Durbin in a sense of pocket money. Despite having backing from FTR, Fortner, and Under Armour, Ike Durbin still was forced to pay quite a large amount of money to make sure the car was up to the right specs. He claims, it was mainly his VSCC fundings. This is not the first race this season that his efforts for a one-off have lost team fundings. He also fielded a Rockford car for Mac Rhylen and Jake Wareru, which DNQ'ed. Durbin hopes that now, he will at least be able to attempt Decatur with his Under Armour Fortner.

[BJ Falcon]

Fortner's assesment of developments thus far

First agenda item is addressing the 10-position penalty handed to Taylor Silverman for his eratic driving. Many drivers and team managers in the garage area were quick to call out harsher penalties on the #122 team for his eratic driving in the qualifying and practice sessions.

"The TM Master Cup Series Stewards Office already angered us. I believe there should have been stiffer penalties myself." says team owner, Billy Fortner. "As I mentioned earlier, this kind of eratic driving is not excusable at all. Docking my #122 ten spots on the grid? C'mon! You call that stiff? No. That just gives them a way to put favoritism on us. How can these Stewards uppend stiffer penalties on others whereas we're given a 10-position penalty here? This doesn't make sense. The officialdom of the TM Master Cup Series is horrendous. This was solely not the main reason we came here. We didn't come here to be played like puppets. We came here to play with the big dogs, and by that, I mean this: we come here to race! Period. We come here for clean and safe racing. Our drag racing program was a clear example of that and we've won numerous championships there. This is just pushing it too far. By 2012, we are not racing the TM Lights or Master Cup series. When we go to ASCC, we're gonna be competitive. We're not going to play games with these stupid Stewards who don't even know how to properly officiate a TM Master Cup or Lights race. I can do far better in making sound judgement and penalizing drivers who break the rules as prudent and proper than those pea-brained idiots in that trailer would hardly ever do!"

Fortner secondly addresses the move to ASCC:
"We are definitely moving to ASCC. I don't like what's been happening here in TM Master Cup racing lately. I'm not affraid to admit this. And I certainly am not affraid to make the leap from Master Cup to ASCC. I actually prefer the ASCC over this glorified garbage because the ASCC is purely American and the penalty system is far better than this crappy system TMMC has right now. The competition in ASCC is better than this! Even the fanbase is better than this. We got our ASCC car ready, and we're going testing. Good riddance to TMMC! I'm done with this piece of Grade A Monkey Trash!"

Next, Fortner addresses the hauler situation:
"This was absolutely the fault of the truck driver who never notified me or my staff about the engine problem that he encountered when he arrived in Minneapolis. The transporter left Minnesota late last night and arrived at our Missoula headquarters with all four of our cars still loaded in the transporter. We put a lot of stock into getting these cars ready, but now, this was just a waste of resources thanks to the lack of responsibilty of the truck driver to notify us of what happened."

"The transporter left our headquarters early Wednesday morning at midnight. It was on the 36 hour leg when at 6:30 PM, the driver had experienced a malfunction with the engine according to a certified master diesel technician in Minneapolis. Upon inspection of the engine, he indicated the valvetrain was severely damaged due to excess heat. The driver did not put the proper motor oil in the engine, probably due to him rushing to get the truck loaded and get it out of Missoula that night. The headers were shown with cracks and crevaces visible to the human eye. The entire engine compartment was comprimised. The cost was well in the range of over $600,000 for an entire engine replacement."

"I must take the responsibility and appologize to Shell Motorsports, Full Throttle Racing, and Billy Fortner, Incorporated officials for any inconvenience this issue has broguht to them. To avoid any lawsuits between us, Billy Fortner, Inc. FTR, and Shell, we will reimburse these teams with the proper amounts paid into the entries and offer them a spot for the Decatur race. Decatur 2011 will be officially Fortner Motorsports' last TM Master Cup race."

[pennst24]

Eichholtz on Fortner: "Good Riddance"

"Thank god they are announcing their exit from Master Cup competition. Their driving was probably just as erratic as their actions. Good riddance."

[GamerAzuzu]

Madrigal despite early session speed, will have to qualify

Already in his first TMMC weekend, Madrigal turned some heads by setting a fast time in the first part of the qualifiers. While it didn't stay throughout the entire session, needless to say he was glad that he showed he had the speed in the Omecha.

"It's turned into a fun experience so far, it handles well and I'm able to stay in speed with the cars around me. I was nervous throughout the session because of especially the later groups who had Rainsford, Durbin, Roderick, and yet in the end the top 5 was a shock, and the last chance qualifiers produced even more surprises. We wish we would've have sealed it there but we just couldn't get the speed to where we were earlier."

When spoken about the Top 10 starters in particular, he commented that "Most of the top 10 were probably running qualifying-like setups, so I wouldn't be surprised if most of them fall back once the race gets underway.

And Upon hearing Fortner's departure from Master Cup at the end of the year, he replied "Save that for someone who cares, they haven't done anything of note except stir up a bunch of controversy and this time it isn't different. Besides I'll still be seeing those things in ARLA when I get back so it's not like I won't be seeing them anymore."

[Cynon]

Officials Penalize Silverman, Pushanda, Rosenstreter, Teller, Jr.

Taylor Silverman's grid penalty was officially revoked after the race stewards were bombarded with appeals from the owners of Volpi Racing Team, Palmer Stiles Racing, Hodges-Walter Racing, and Majestic Motorsports, whose cars were judged to have been involved in the incident.

Silverman's offenses were judged to have been course cutting and erratic driving. While erratic driving, under the current rules, only permits a grid position drop, course cutting is cause for a driver's fastest lap to be wiped. The stewards concurred with the assessment made by the appealing teams, and Taylor Silverman will lose his fastest time, demoting him out of a guaranteed spot in the field.

It does, however, place Jim Hayes into the field in the 10th starting position.

Stan Rosenstreter, Vijay Pushanda, and Jason Teller, Jr. will start their respective pre-qualifying races from the back of the field.

[Ceej]

Random person with no connection to the race whatsoever gives thoughts on Fortner

"Uh... what are you people talking about? You busted down my door with cameras and microphones, and now you're asking me about some racing people? I'm getting my gun now."

[navycook75]

Random person with no connection to the race whatsoever gives thoughts on Fortner

"Uh... what are you people talking about? You busted down my door with cameras and microphones, and now you're asking me about some racing people? I'm getting my gun now."

/thread

[Cynon]

Pre-Qualifying Race #1:



Barton Sandy had problems right off the bat and pitted coming to the green. He joined the race on lap 4 and to his credit didn't fall any further back while all by himself. The first half of this race can be described as a cure for insomnia, as all passing was monotonous draft shuffle. Brian Sendack and Juho Kivela (unwisely) led the green flag pit stop cycle by a good two laps. While leaving the pits, Paul Rothstein's Gessler quits on him, a shame since he was very quick in pole qualifying.

Here's where the racing went from bad to epic.

So we had three packs after the pit stops. The first pack was Michael Madrigal, Greg Woodard, and Kevin Monroe, three longshot drivers. Woodard and Madrigal in particular came VERY close to timing their way into the field on speed in their debuts... however Woodard has the privateer Lycoia Brute and has an in-house engine, whereas Madrigal has the Nemoto engine in polesitter Tom Delgado's car. Robert Dorian was also in the lead pack, and he was using teammate Scott Hamilton's setup... and the Xenos cars really turned up the heat for this race after being garbage for most of the season. Damn good battle up there for the lead until the end of the race. This group had such a huge lead that there was no way they were going to be caught. Still fun to watch though!

The second pack of cars comprised of Ashby, Kingston, Kivela, and Pulyakov, however they were quickly caught by Hunter Downs, Everett, Riggs, Plissken, and Krikorian. However, they wasted a lot of time squabbling with each other.

A couple cars were strung out by themselves and then you had the third pack, headed up mostly by Ian Cooper, Arto Kekkonen, and the two Volpis, with Nosova and Lucas Sweeney at the back. This group did not mess around, and it was this group that made the transfer spot battle awesome, because unlike the second group, this group stayed in a line, gobbling up LaTerza, Sendack, Mummert, Hesso, and Fox, who funneled to the back of the pack. They made up nearly 6 seconds and caught the second pack with just four laps to go! However, Hunter Downs spoiled the party by blowing up and throwing things into disarray, getting his car off the track but it did split things up a bit.

Azuma Kazeyama's pit crew dropped the ball on the pit stop, and the aforementioned Kivela and Sendack had to pit again with two laps to go. Everyone else made it. To be fair, neither Kivela or Sendack would have made it into the field ANYWAY judging on their track position...

Nils Tolonen was also dreadfully slow in the pitlane, as were Bob Stephans, Allie Riggs, and Rachel Rainsford.

Someone at Power Steering Incorporated will be losing their job because the 16 crew didn't get all the fuel in, forcing Plissken to pit with one lap to go...

Arto Kekkonen and Zach Duff dodged a huge bullet. HUUUGE bullet.


---

Races 2 and 3 will be posted later today in this post. Video may accompany a certain incident in race 2.

[crl]

Mummert "pissed" to DNPQ for Indy

Two weeks after nearly pulling off his first TM Master Cup win in Quincy, only to finish 5th, Kraig Mummert was hoping making the field for the race at Indianapolis would ease some of his frustration following the loss in Illinois.

Failing to pre-qualify, however, has only added to his frustrations.

"I'm pissed," Mummert flatly stated. "It's been a dream of mine to race at Indy since I was little. And by that, I mean, in a real race, not some pre-qualifying round.

"This feeling could not be worse. This is a setback. There is no excuse to not qualify for a big race like this. We need to step it up for the rest of the year. I just want Michigan [the next race on the calendar] to get here."

[Cynon]

Left: Race 2
Right: Race 3




Race 2 was much different from race 1. The first race was a memorable duel and an awesome charge from the back of the field...

... well, race 2 went sour from the start.

Leon Keniston in 19th place got a horrible start. When I mean horrible, I mean it was such a slow start that it gave Mika Tervo in 18th enough room to put a semi truck in the gap he left. Which is what Tervo did, however, Keniston had a great run into turn 1 and got on the inside, putting the Finn in a three wide situation with Keniston and Anthony Griffith, who frankly didn't help this mess either.

Tervo did his best to avoid disaster, but Keniston's car was hooked and smashed into the wall head first at around 160 miles per hour. Arturo Ortega, Anthony Griffith, and Franz Redlich were all involved. All but Ortega received damage of some kind. The German arrived late to the party and sustained minor damage.

Under the yellow, Brenda Riggs nearly rams into Chris Johaanes, and after nearly wrecking Carlos Donzelo in the pits, she calls it a day. Spongy brake pedal in the pits equals bad things, so perhaps a smart move from an experienced driver.

The restart was significantly cleaner, until we hit lap 11. (OOC: I would have made a video of this if one part of the crash didn't look like it was straight from Driven. Regardless, I will recount every bit as clearly as possible.)

Bobby Porteau and Jacob Eichholtz were racing hard for position coming off of turn 4, when Eichholtz pushed up the track and hit Porteau. Porteau and Eichholtz went down onto the apron, where Eichholtz spun. I'll get back to Eichholtz in a moment.

Porteau saves his car, but he's in the pit entry lane at 170 miles per hour. In front of him are the two Gutierrez cars (Martinez leading Ortega), with Matt Taylor's Fortner behind Ortega. Porteau hammers the back of Taylor's car right before the pit entrance before smashing the pit barrier with the right front of his car. Taylor's car careens into Ortega, knocking Taylor out and making Ortega's stop much longer than originally intended.

Back to Eichholtz, who spins up into the wall. Yellow is out. Leigh Gruell has nowhere to go and clips the 231 car, sending Gruell for a spin and lightly hitting Porteau, who is in the pit wall. Troy Griffith doesn't use the brakes and smashes his right front into Eichholtz's rear end at around 220. The Tonare Thunder skids into Gruell's left rear. Griffith's car kicks the Eichholtz car up into the air just a bit...

In comes Charlie Waters, also flying in at 220 and refusing to understand the concept of a brake pedal, with nobody even close to him on the track. Waters hammers Eichholtz's car, the right rear meeting Waters's windshield.

No word on the condition of Charlie Waters, but I wouldn't expect him to be back any time soon... ((OOC: Sorry ant! >_<))

Eichholtz's condition is also unknown, however his injuries are not suspected to be very major, making him the luckiest driver in quite some time. Troy Griffith earned a trip to the Steward's Office for failing to use the brakes at all.

After a long red flag, the race resumed with Yamino Tenchi in the lead. Two laps into the restart, Marcos Leonard and Leonid Roderick tripped over each other and put each other in the wall, however neither car was damaged severely. The race went green until the end, the only events of note being Vitaly Karpenko and Mika Tervo both blowing up before the end of the race.

Tenchi won the race over Daytona winner Jose Luis Martinez, Adrien Devereux, and Elina Varjo, with Carlos Donzelo in last year's Omecha coming home 5th.


--------------

Race 3 was less chaotic. Significantly. One thing you will notice is that I forgot to put Jason Teller, Jr. at the back of the field. He started 28th of 33 cars, which is close enough to the back anyway... however, those penalties proved ineffectual in the race.

Ike Durbin was leased a backup car for this race, and he performed by putting it P6 on the grid. Granted, it was a pretty good car... Scott Bates put his #88 car on the pole but he never led a single lap. Bates quickly abandoned the front of the pack after things got a bit too dicey too early. Kevin Dwyer led lap 1 and then went further down the order.

Rene Recarmier was running strongly before his Gasnier gave up on him. The first caution as on lap 22 when the lapped car of Shane Lake, who had pitted early for a flat tire, pretty much took himself and Gordon Kim into the wall, leaving yours truly speechless. Lake was invited to the Steward's Office for that...

Pierre Eiffel and Vijay Pushanda both had mechanical failures almost simultaneously, however, Pushanda's brought out another caution. In what appeared to be frustration of how bad his day had been going, Gordon Kim plowed into Ike Durbin under the yellow, eliminating Ike and earning himself a trip to the Steward's Office... can't imagine Ike Durbin was happy about that...

During the pit cycle, Grant Papp and Kevin Dwyer had a good fight for the lead.

The last few laps were pretty good, with Tony Durbin poking his head out of seemingly nowhere and stealing the win from Danny Savin and Alan Hodges in a THREE WIDE PHOTO FINISH YEAH BUDDAY!1!

Time for the main qualifying race, where all you need to do is finish in the top 32.

[PackerMan71]

So, of the top 20 in points, here's who's already in the race, who's in the main Q-Race, and who's out...

Qualified for Indy
In Main-Q Race
OUT

1. Adrian Devereux
2. Alexis Rainsford
3. Avery Holtzmann
4. Arto Kekkonen
5. Leonid Roderick
6. Chris Johaanes
7. Marcos Leonard
8. Tom Delgado (polesitter)
9. Yamino Tenchi
10. Kurt Plissken
11. Ethan Everett
12. Bobby Porteau
13. Mike Whitmore
14. Alan Hodges
15. Louis Kingston
16. Gaspar de Sousa
17. Michael Sykes
18. Zach Duff
19. Franz Redlich
20. Luciano Soveral

Surprisingly, only two of the top 20 failed to qualify for the Main Q-Race, unlike Dwyer, when I think half of the top 20 failed to pre-qualify.

[teamwhiper]

Recarmier drops out early

Rene Recarmier seemed to be on his way to getting into the main race at Indy after half of the race.Unfortunately,an ignition problem caused the #18 Gasnier to go out of the race.

"We running really well,then the car give up.Gasnier, I think do not normally cause much problem but I dropped cylinder in Dwyer and now this here. Still,Gasnier make good cars,so no fault in that."

[f1fan12]

Pushanda says describes his weekend

Vijay Pushanda's weekend was well bad from the start. "I couldn't get a nack for driving these cars I guess I started to pick it up after the Qualifying session, but the penalties were just and to be honest, I would have been harsher on myself and Silverman." The race was a mechanical nightmare for us." But the race was a learning experince for us and hopefully we will be back at some more one off races.

[Rykia]

Ike Durbin was leased a backup car for this race, and he performed by putting it P6 on the grid. Granted, it was a pretty good car...

In what appeared to be frustration of how bad his day had been going, Gordon Kim plowed into Ike Durbin under the yellow, eliminating Ike and earning himself a trip to the Steward's Office... can't imagine Ike Durbin was happy about that...

Ike Durbin NOT happy with Gordon Kim

Im what was looking like a good day, and possibly an advancement to the main qualifier, Ike Durbin was taken out of the race, under caution, when Gordon Kim destroyed the rear end of the car, breaking the suspension. I. Durbin would go out of the race with a totalled car, that was loaned to him by another team. THIS car was NOT paid by Full Throttle Racing, as it was leased to Durbin himself. Meaning, Durbin would be in a big debt. A debt he might not be able to pay. At least for a while. Durbin was very upset, but remained calm, at least in the interview, anyways.

Durbin had THIS to say when interviewed. "I don't understand what Gordon Kim was thinking. He was aving a bad weekend, so he decides that he needs someone else to suffer and be miserable like him. I'm very frustrated, and don't know what to do. I guess I'll go ask what he was thinking. Oh yeah, you may want to think about bringing security with me..."

Full Throttle Racing and Ike Durbin still pan on attempting Decatur.

[hect]

Gordon Kim upset about Indy

PHILLIP ISLAND, Australia - American race car driver, Gordon Kim, was quiet today at Phillip Island as he flew here for the TM Lights race after failing to qualify for for the TM Master Cup race at Indianapolis. A spokesman for Hectic Racing said Kim was "not pleased" with his results at the brickyard, where he qualified 12th, led two laps and ran well into getting into an incident with French driver Rene Recarmier and Shane Lake.

However, Kim's most controversial moment at the qualifying races was when, during a yellow flag, he crashed into Ike Durbin's car, taking him out of the race, a car loaned by another team.

Durbin's team, Full Throttle Racing, was not happy with what happened, and Kim was taken into the Steward's Office for it.

A tired Kim brushed off reporters outside his hotel's room in Phillip Island, saying "look, if he didn't want to get his car ruined, he shouldn't have had it right in the middle of the track like he did!"

It is unknown what penalties Kim may or may not receive because of the incident.

A Hectic Racing spokesman said they were fully committed to running the round of Decatur, and that they would work with Full Throttle Racing to settle any damages.

[gwoodard41]

Terra Motorsports continues to blast their way onto the main event...

Greg Woodard, at his first ever start in the Master Cup series was able to stay ahead of most of the field by taking himself and several other drivers into a pack of their own, Greg, who drives a Lycoia Brute, fought with the two other drivers during most of the race for the lead.

He commented about how it was better compition then he thought before, he remarked about having his hands full and was also disappointed that another team who fielded the Brute, although a older model, were very... lousy using it. He finished that he has a good feeling about the main qualifying race, where he estimates himself starting towards the front, though officials may twist it up and start the good drivers in the back... and make them work for it.

[GamerAzuzu]

Madrigal Speeds through Pre-Q
Last year at this time, Madrigal was floundering in the Thunder Trucks series.
This year he is showing he has the speed and the skill to compete in his first Master Cup weekend, winning the pre-qualifier is continuing to solidify it.

"This is simply incredible, the car is amazing and the engine is giving us the speed we can show. I have little doubt that we wouldn't be able to make the race from here, I mean this is just simply amazing."

Kazeyama's pit crew cost him again at Indy.
Last year Azuma Kazeyama's pitcrew cost him a sure top 15 run in the race. This year he isn't even going to make it TO the race since his pitcrew floundered again.

"I had a great car, winning car even, and yet once again my pitcrew shows why they haven't learned from last year, it's full on stupid how the entire race for us was ruined simply because the crew can't synchronize together for just one task. Well whatever we have a couple more chances coming up and hopefully I can make just ONE race this year.."

Kazeyama left the interview in utter disgust, muttering about how he should replace his entire pitcrew.

[Cynon]

Writeup Will be Posted Later:



Morgan Hamburg was disqualified for causing an avoidable collision in the pitlane with Mike Whitmore.

[gwoodard41]

OFFICIAL: Greg Woodard will take Terra Motorsports into the Main Race

Greg Woodard was placed in 17th position at the start of qualifying, and accelerated all the way to the front for a finish in the top 5.

Greg pulled into the Terra Motorsports Tent amidst cheers from teammates and fans, where he congratulated the team on a job well done.

When interviewed, he remarked that it was because of the team support, whether it was his spotter, his pit crew, or the crews that maintained equipment, he said that they were the major reason for his entrance into the main race.

Greg got a nasty surprise though when his crew dumped the remainder of the sports drink on him for a job well done.

[Nascar9fan]

Troy Adams FINALLY makes a start in the TM Master Cup Series



After DNPQ'ing all one-off events he's tried in the past (in both ARLA & the TM Master Cup) Adams managed to finish 20th in the qualifier, putting him on the grid for Indy.



"I'm quite shocked to be honest. I didn't think I could perform better on Ovals than Road Course's but I'm happy that I'm starting my first TM Master Cup race, and I had to do it from the rear of the field."

[Magus978]

2011 TM Master Cup Series Round of Indianapolis Win Odds Released

Several Las Vegas & Atlantic City casinos have released their list of odds for winning the TM Master Cup Series Round of Indianapolis, and it's really no surprise who's the favorite amongst bettors. Alexis Rainsford is the even money favorite to make it 3 Indy wins in a row. For full odds, please see the information below.

Odds for 2011 TM Master Cup Series Round of Indianapolis
Alexis Rainsford - Even
Tom Delgado- 3/1
Tony Durbin - 4/1
Leonid Roderick - 6/1
Adrien Deveraux - 6/1
Ethan Everett - 8/1
Tyrone Stanley - 8/1
Alan Hodges - 10/1
Yamino Tenchi - 10/1
Chris Johaanes - 10/1
Ian Cooper - 12/1
Zach Duff - 12/1
Louis Kingston - 15/1
Marcos Leonard - 15/1
Scott Bates - 15/1
Arto Kekkonen - 15/1
Palmer Stiles - 15/1
Gaspar de Sousa - 18/1
Chris Davenport - 18/1
Axel Andersson - 18/1
Franz Redlich - 18/1
Michael Sykes - 18/1
Alan Hodges - 18/1
Zelda Ashby - 20/1
Packer Carroll - 20/1
Curtis Darcy - 20/1
Scott Hamilton - 20/1
Matias Taube - 20/1
Luciano Soveral - 25/1
Kevin Monroe - 25/1
Danny Savin - 25/1
Greg Woodard - 25/1
Jim Hayes - 25/1
David Krikorian - 30/1
Yuliya Nosova - 30/1
Michael Madrigal - 35/1
Kevin Dwyer - 35/1
Robert Dorian - 50/1
Chris Allen - 50/1
Troy Adams - 100/1
Carlos Donzelo - 100/1
Patrick Henderson - 250/1
Yevgeny Kuznetsov - 1000/1

[Kornography]

Hamburg announces he will not appeal his DQ from the race

In a surprising move, Morgan Hamburg announced that he will NOT be appealing his disqualification from the Qualifying race at Indy, despite the fact that he was DQ'ed from a safe position.
"I was told [by McDermott] to not appeal the DQ as it would be pointless...I guess I should just prepare for Decatur."
This DQ comes off his last race at Road America where an active time penalty dropped him from 6th to 14th.

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