ABC Sports presents...the 99th Indianapolis 500Paul Page: "Hello everyone, I'm Paul Page, bringing you the 99th edition of the Indianapolis 500. Now before we conduct our pre-race show, let me introduce my co-commentator, ABC Sports and ESPN expert, Jimmy Jaeger."
Jimmy Jaeger: "Thank you, Paul. And of course it's a pleasure to be here."
Page: "Well, the Indianapolis 500 has seen quite a lot of things in it's more than centennial history, and that's probably an understatement. Once again, 33 drivers have qualified for this race, although there has been some controversy about qualifying. And Jimmy, before you voice your opinion, let me remind you that we're on live tv, so no edits are possible."
Jaeger: *grins* "I'm trying to keep a civilized tone. But yes, the qualifying procedure was just wrong in my opinion. I get the intention that is behind giving the first 20 drivers in the championship a guaranteed place in the starting grid. It should rewards those, who score enough points. But we've seen so much attrition in this season that caused some slower drivers to land a place in the top 20, while some faster drivers couldn't get past the 21st position on the grid. So it's pretty unfair in my opinion. Instead, the management should have done an open session, where the fastest 33 cars qualify on the grid. It would have been fair, but also unpredictable, because we might have seen some struggling favorites."
Page: "Then we might have the right interview partner, here's Jack Arute."
Jack Arute: "Thank you Paul, I'm here with the ICS president, Walther Williams. And Mr. Williams, you're also here as a team owner."
Walther Williams: "But not as a successful one, I must admit. Although we set some decent times on the track, and when we develop our package any further, we could be on the right track."
Arute: "But your team might have also been a victim of the qualified regulation, which you devised."
Williams: "That's right, but I stand firm in my opinion that those who made enough points deserve some reward. Of course it's unlucky that some drivers couldn't qualify for Indy, despite setting fast times. But I'm also open to doing changes to my regs. But we should discuss such matters in an appropriate time."
Arute: "Thank you Mr. Williams, and enjoy the race. And now back to you, Paul!"
Page: "Thank you, Jack.
Now let's analyse today's starting grid, and we'll go from the last to the front row. So Jimmy, here comes row 11."Row #11: Johannes Seidlitz---Goran Jordanovic---John ZimmerJaeger: "Seidlitz has been disappointing throughout the season, although Volks.Racing doesn't have equal machinery for all of its drivers. But when I think about it, this makes it even more disappointing, because Seidlitz has a Honda engine in his back. But to be fair, he set a decent time in qualifying. Jordanovic and Zimmer have been a bit unlucky over the season, but they have decent packages, and should be able to gain some position throughout the race."
Page: "Now let's go to row 10."
Row #10: Harold Watson---Beth Lestrade---Dean O'Lauchlan Jaeger: "Watson's performance wasn't pretty good so far, especially when his team mate is fighting for the championship. Beth Lestrade is a talented young lady here, who has once again proven, why she's better than her team mate. Her only disadvantage is her rather weak Judd engine, but we all know that anything can happen at Indy, and in the next moment, her disadvantage might be gone. Dean O'Lauchlan hasn't been so noticable this season, and he's actually last in the championship standing. But he has qualified for the race, and that can be a turn around for his season."
Row #9: Andries van Heel---Diego Mauricio Batistuta---Jerome D'Ambrosio Jaeger: "Three good drivers in row 9, although Batistuta hasn't really seen much success throughout the season. I'm especially excited for d'Ambrosio's performance, because his team has tested quite a lot before the month of may, and as seen by his team mate's time, the testing seems to have paid some dividents."
Row #8: Antonio Reyna-Sanchez---Brendon Cassidy Jr.---Andrea Bianchi Jaeger: "Three drivers with good packages, but also with better team mates. And that is all I can say about them."
Row #7: Vincenzo Sospiri---Hobson Tarantino---Lance Vance Jaeger: "Vance is clearly the lucky one of this row, because he's the only driver of his team who qualified for this race. But Mastercard Lola shouldn't be underestimated, as they have all four cars on the grid. But I'll come to them later."
Row #6: Rio Haryanto---David Lee---Kenan Ardaoglu Jaeger: "Well, Ardaoglu has clearly been the disappointment so far. His times have been rather slow, and he seemed to be very thankful for the current qualifying rules. On the other hand, I think he'll step on the gas once the race starts, because he can't afford to let his competitor for the championship get away in the points standings."
Row #5: Veronika Asimov---Salvatore Miccoli---Ashley Cassidy Jaeger: "Three good drivers who should be able to make a couple of positions, although they have to finish first, as they say."
Row #4: Mika Yagami---Roberto Moreno---Ryota Wong Jaeger: "We should really watch out for Yagami here, as she's been pretty reliable so far. If the attrition rate is as high as ever, she might be a good contender for the glass of milk after the race."
Row #3: Tony Scrugham III.---Ryan McReynolds---Ed Weaver Jaeger: "The two Campbell-Scrugham cars and Ryan McReynolds are a pretty fast row, and I think they can make a good charge at the front."
Row #2: Dave Anderson---Pastor Maldonado---Damon CannonJaeger: "Anderson and Cannon should watch out for Maldonado, as he's a bit crash prone. But other than that, Anderson has good chances to make a charge at the very front of the field very soon. But we shouldn't also underestimated Cannon here, as Moseley Shoals' package has been pretty quick."
Row #1: Vidal Reyna-Sanchez---Ralf Schumacher---Martin van der MaeyedeJaeger: "Vidal's pole has been a bit of a surprise, but well deserved nonetheless. But Schumacher and van der Maeyede are also pretty quick, and will probably make sure that Vidal doesn't race away too far away."
Page: "And that concludes our grid analysis. We'll take a short break, and we'll be back for the pre-race ceremonies."
