Saturday, May 17, 2008 Third Day of Qualifying - The 92nd Indianapolis 500 Round 5 of 18 in the IndyCar Series HOLE IN THE WALL CAMPS DRIVER RAHAL QUALIFIED 13TH FOR THE INDY 500 WHILE McDONALD’S DRIVER WILSON QUALIFIED 16TH; 12TH THROUGH 32ND SET TODAY 12th: Townsend Bell 4-lap avg. speed of 222.539 mph (L1: 222.833, L2: 222.605, L3: 222.522, L4: 222.198) 13th: Graham Rahal 4-lap avg. speed of 222.531 mph (L1: 223.440, L2: 222.190, L3: 222.269, L4: 222.229) 16th: Justin Wilson 4-lap avg. speed of 222.267 mph (L1: 223.158, L2: 223.175, L3: 221.507, L4: 222.233) Justin Wilson, No. 02 McDonald’s Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “It feels great to get the McDonald’s car into the race but I know it had so much more in it. In three out of the four laps I had to lift in Turn 2. I just couldn’t get the car to turn. I felt like we had a lot more speed but just couldn’t get it out on that run. I want to have another go but if I was the team owner I wouldn’t let me go back out because of the risk. Not having a backup car is definitely a factor in how we run. If we went out and had an accident this morning there was no way we were going to make it to qualifying. That’s something in the back of your mind and you can’t afford to risk damaging the car. Both myself and Graham are used to running at the front but we’re here learning. We’ve come from a long way behind and if we can finish in the top-10 it would be like a victory for us considering where we started a few months ago. I’m very pleased with the way we have made progress and everybody at Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing has worked very hard over the last six months. We’ve had some very tough times and some long days but they keep working hard and putting out good cars. We (drivers) want to go out there and hang it on the line but we don’t have the luxury of doing that because we don’t have any back up cars. It will be great to have done both events (USGP and Indy 500) but the one that counts is this one of course; it’s the world famous one.” FAST FACTS: Will be his second race at IMS and first in the IndyCar Series (ICS) after having competed here with Jaguar in 2003 where he earned his first Formula One point in the USGP with an eighth place finish after running as high as third. He started 16th…He has competed on an oval track seven times…Qualified 17th but started 15th in the season-opener in Homestead due to two cars having their qualifying speeds disallowed. Dropped one lap down when he was hit by Will Power on a restart after approx. 22 laps and had to pit to replace a deflated tire but rallied to finish 15th…Started third in his street course ICS debut in St. Pete but alternate fuel and tire strategies dictated by intermittent rain led to a ninth place finish after he led a total of 18 of 83 laps…Was the pole winner on Friday and Saturday in the Long Beach Champ Car finale and dropped to second on the start but engine failure on Lap 13 ended his race and he finished 19th … Gained valuable experience after he was first to qualify and started 22nd in Kansas, led five laps after staying on track while others pit and finished ninth…Is ranked 17 in the point standings with 71 and is sixth in ROY…Finished runner up in the Champ Car championship to the driver he recently replaced, four-time champion Sebastien Bourdais, in 2006 and 2007. Was a championship contender until the conclusion of the penultimate race of each season. Graham Rahal, No. 06 Hole in the Wall Camps Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “We’re pretty happy with the qualifying run. This team is certainly known for its preparation and I think we showed it today and even yesterday when we were doing long runs. The guys were here until 2:30 a.m. changing the engine because it broke when I white-walled it yesterday and that’s another reason why it feels so good to get in. Yesterday we hit the wall so square that basically the weak link becomes the engine because nothing else really moves. It bent some suspension but the engine took the brunt of the hit. It’s weird how that works. It’s just one of those things that is part of racing. The wind has been incredible the last couple of days. And on those four (qualifying) laps, I couldn’t be flat on any of them in Turn 2 because of the wind. Obviously I think the car has a lot of potential. I didn’t get the last bit out of it but that’s just wind related. We’re happy we’re in and that’s what counts. We wanted to be among the fastest today and I think we’ve done that. It’s a long month. Its tough here and it’s very easy to get caught up in it all. To have to go out and perform every single day and try to keep the thing off the wall is tough. I’ve gained a lot more respect for the circuit than I’ve ever had before. You never realize how hard it is until you experience it for yourself. Every single corner is a little bit different and especially when it is windy like it has been. It transformed every corner to a different story and that makes it even tougher.” FAST FACTS: Will be his first Indy 500 and only his second on an oval track after having finished 12th at Kansas Speedway last weekend. He previously ran in a junior formula, Star Mazda event in 2005 at the Pikes Peak oval. In his IndyCar Series debut on a road/street course he became the youngest winner in major open-wheel racing in North America after winning in St. Pete on 4-6-08 at 19 years, 93 days old…He is ranked 10th in series points with 88 points. 1 POLE (1987) & TWO SECONDS AT IMS: The 2008 entry will mark the 16th year for NHR/NHLR in the event and the third since 1995. Prior to 2008, the team prepared a total of 23 entries for drivers such as Mario and Michael Andretti, Nigel Mansell, Paul Tracy, Bruno Junqueira and Sebastien Bourdais. The entry of Justin Wilson and Graham Rahal in 2008 will bring the total to 25. NHR’s highest finish in the Indy 500 is second place with Mario Andretti in 1985 and Michael Andretti in 1991 although team drivers have led many laps here. Mario Andretti also brought the team its highest start in the event when he won the pole position in 1987. NHR’s 2004 entry of Junqueira marked the first time for the team to compete here since 1995 and they returned in 2005 with Junqueira and IMS rookie Bourdais. They have earned Rookie of the Year once, with Mansell in 1993 when he finished third.