Indianapolis 500: Conway and Andretti Only Drivers To Make Laps in Tuesday Sesson
Mike Conway shook down his No. 27 Hire Heroes Car and his Andretti Autosport teammate Marco Andretti got five laps in driving Conway’s car, before the rains came ending the session early.
Conway’s shake down has a speed of 219.901mph (40.9259 seconds).
“We just wanted to feel some of those (changes) and see what we had,” Conway said. “These were certainly not ideal weather conditions and aren’t representative of what we’re going to see in a few days, so it didn’t make too much sense to log a lot of laps.”
Conway said that he also allowed his teammate Andretti to get some laps in the car so they could compare notes.
“We made some changes overnight, and we wanted to get a feel for what it felt like,” he said. “It’s good for me to let (Marco) have a feel and see if I’m feeling the same things as him. We had the same comments, and we got some good back-to-back running.”
Andretti said it gave him a chance to try something different, also.
“I was able to try a setup that I haven’t run yet,” he said. “I just kind of got my thoughts on it and a second opinion. You always learn. If we were going through pretty extensive test items and stuff like that, it’s different. I just wanted to feel out an overall package.”
This is the second time that a session has been cut short for racing as nobody got any laps in during the Sunday session. Some drivers are okay with the lost day, while others are concerned. Andretti had a quick lap of 224.215mph (40.1163 seconds) for the day, but only ranks 15th on the combined speed chart.
“It makes a difference,” Andretti said of not getting the full session in. “Who knows if we would have gained or they would have gained on us. I’m really worried about the speed of our car. I’ve driven exactly Danica’s setup 3 miles an hour off of her (lap time). I can’t explain why. I’m worried about qualifying for this race. It is still early days, but I honestly think if you’re not going to be qualifying in the top 10 you should be worried.”
Conway says that with the timing, you always have the conscious of the time left.
“We always think we have loads of time at the beginning of the week, and then it’s always the same thing,” Conway said. “You get to the last couple of days, and if you haven’t quite got the car right, then you’re going to be rushing a bit more. As long as the car is good and you keep chipping away at it, I think that’s the main thing. I think we’re really close. I think we’ve got a good balance, and I think the speed is there. We’ve just got to take our time and know that qualifying isn’t that far away.”
Alex Taglani’s lap of 225.878mph from the Monday sesson tops the charts so far during the testing. Testing will continue on Wednesday from noon to 6pm EST.
ARCA: George Miedecke To Drive For Venturini Motorsports at NJMP
[media-credit name=”Venturini Motorsports” align=”alignleft” width=”272″]
[/media-credit]Marcos Ambrose Motorsports driver George Miedecke will make his ARCA Racing Series debut this weekend at New Jersey Motorsports Park in the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards.
Miedecke will drive the No. 25 Toyota fror Venturini Motorsports, will backing from iSeek Communications, who sponsored him during the Australian V8 Ute Racing season.
“To be scouted out by (Venturini Motorsports general manager) Billy Venturini at the opening round of the UARA-STARS Series at Hickory Speedway was a huge honor,” said Miedecke. “Venturini Motorsports are the powerhouse team in ARCA competition. They have a great history and track record of developing drivers for the top tiers of NASCAR, and I plan to put their flagship No. 25 machine in Victory Lane.”
He caught Venturini’s eyes at Hickory on March 12th, when he finished second in the UARA Series. He has also worked with Sprint Cup Series drivers in teaching them how to drive road courses.
“New Jersey Motorsports Park is a fairly wide open road course, and the event normally includes several specialist ring-ins,” Miedecke said. “I have already been talking to Marcos about how to muscle a stock car around a road course. There’s really no better person to have in your camp.”
Venturini Motorsports has had success this season in the ARCA Series as a couple weeks ago, Brennan Poole won at Salem Speedway.






