But Unser's bid failed on the first lap when the popoff valve on his turbocharger blew and Unser ran a lap at 221.992 mph. That put Fittipaldi on the bubble and he withstood challenges from Johansson and Marco Greco, setting up the unenviable situation where the only way his teammate, Unser, could get into the race, was to bump Fittipaldi out of the race.
#1995 indy 440 driver
NASCAR Winston Cup driver Jones knocked Freon out of the race with a four-lap average of 225.135 mph. With the field at the 33-car limit, bumping began and that left Franck Freon on the bubble. Fittipaldi was next and his four-lap average was 224.907, which was slower than what his average would have been on Saturday. Foyt and ran a four-lap average of 225.711. Sharp was the first to qualify late in the day when he took to the track in a car owned by A.J. As the track cooled, teams not in the field began to frantically line up to make the race with three positions remaining. But as the track temperatures warmed up, conditions were not conducive to fast qualification speeds. Earlier in the day, Guerrero of Mexico made the field with a four-lap average of 225.831 mph. Fittipaldi drove a qualification speed on Saturday that would have put him easily into the lineup with runs of 224.955 miles an hour, 225.445 mph and 226.097 before a last lap estimated at 226.30 was waved off by Penske.
Unser had two qualifications attempts waved off on Saturday for slow speed and was down to one last attempt. Almost as if the team was jinxed, the Lolas also were slower than other cars of the same type. By midweek, Penske had reached an agreement with Rahal/Hogan Racing to acquire two 1995 Lola/Mercedes-Benz. He acquired a 1994 Reynard chassis from Pagan Racing last Monday after the Penske chassis proved uncompetitive.
#1995 indy 440 drivers
We had an opportunity to compete on a level playing field and we did not get the job done.'Īfter failing to qualify during the first weekend of trials, Penske took extreme measures to try to get his two drivers into the Indianapolis 500 field. 'We are not going to buy our way into this race. 'I've got to take the responsibility for not getting into the race, but a lot of my fellow team owners came up to me and offered me help and I want to thank them for that from the bottom of my heart,' said Penske, who has won the last two 500 races, three out of the last four and 10 overall.
#1995 indy 440 full
Penske took full responsibility for the most bitter disappointment in his racing career. Drivers who made the field were Carlos Guerrero, Scott Sharp, Johansson and Davy Jones. Besides Penske losing a spot in the race for the first time in 27 years, it also marked the first time an active defending Indianapolis 500 winner has failed to qualify for the race, the first time Unser and Fittipaldi have not been in the 500 field and the first time since 1962 a driver named Unser has been absent in the race. This startling development occurred Sunday during final qualifications at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, when defending champion Al Unser, Jr., was too slow to make the race and Sweden's Stefan Johansson bumped two-time 500 winner Emerson Fittipaldi out of the field in the final 12 minutes. INDIANAPOLIS, May 21 - For the first time ever, Roger Penske - the most successful team owner in the history of the Indianapolis 500 with 10 wins - has failed to qualify for next Sunday's Indianapolis 500.
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