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INDIANAPOLIS -- A second consecutive rained-out practice is forcing Indy 500 drivers to improvise.
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Veterans have had only one practice session this week, and although they can still test setups Friday and Saturday -- assuming the track is dry -- teams are doing anything they can to get ready for Saturday's pole qualifying.
Even if it's just making adjustments in the garage.
"The whole thing about this place is speed," said Buddy Rice, the 2004 Indy 500 pole winner and race winner. "If you can find a couple of tenths of a mile per hour by sitting there and looking at the car and cleaning it up and doing what you can, you're going to do that."
The lack of practice time may not hurt the drivers who come to Indy each year nearly as much as others.
Unification of America's two biggest open-wheel series, the Indy Racing League and the former Champ Car series, has created a large pool of talented rookies. Thirteen newcomers are trying to make the 33-car starting grid, which would be the biggest rookie class to stat in the since 1997.
IRL veterans believed the extended practice time on the 2.5-mile oval would help the ex-Champ Car drivers get more accustomed to driving on ovals for the rest of the season. But they also need time on the track to figure out how the changing weather and tricky winds can affect the car's performance.
"Obviously, we need the track time to continue our development of the car and this rain isn't helping," said Brazil's Enrique Bernoldi, who raced on Indy's road course as a Formula One driver. "It makes for long days just sitting around waiting. I'm not used to this."
And then there's rookie Jaime Camara, of Brazil, who crashed during Monday's rookie orientation practice.
He spent Monday night in the hospital after complaining of back pain, wasn't cleared to drive until late Tuesday afternoon and hasn't made it back onto the track yet.
"I was really looking forward to getting back into the car today to continue our preparation," he said. "It sets us back on track time, but it's the same for everybody."
Coaching washout
Butler basketball coach Brad Stevens was supposed to be the honorary starter Wednesday. New Indiana basketball coach Tom Crean was slated to drop the green flag Thursday.
It turned out to be a coaching washout.
