Live from the Milwaukee Mile -- 9:15 p.m. 5/31/08

Hey kids. Long day at the track is over. I'm having a refreshing beverage back at the Econolodge and trying to empty the tape recorder.

It's an all-in-one-day deal at Milwaukee. Two practices and then a qualifying all on Saturday. Darren Manning: not a fan of the format, especially when the "rookies" got an extra hour of practice.

Graham Rahal was on the pole for quite a while, but then, after Vitor Miera put 'er into the wall durng qualifying, Marco Andretti went out there and got his first pole.

Andretti Green PR Chief Rob Cleveland flashed out these stats:

This is the 118th open wheel racing pole position in Andretti family history….

Mario 85 (18 in Formula 1, 67 in CART)

Michael 32

Marco 1

Marco joins his father, Michael, earning his first career pole at Milwaukee . Michael did so in 1986.

One of the first people to talk to The Media after his qualifying run was Bruno Junqueria. Bruno starts 15th on Sunday. He stopped by to say his team is crap, in so many words.

Q: How was your run?

Bruno: "Really bad. I ran out of fuel on the last lap so I lost a second."

Q: It's been a tough year so far, what's that about?

Bruno: "The team is a club team. They came here to have fun. It's really frustrating. I'm a guy who is used to running up front. Now, I know how to do well but the mistakes that my team makes -- it's unacceptable. I drive good on ovals. I start on the front row. I finish in the top 3 here. I won the Indianapolis pole. I won the race on the ovals and street and road courses, but you have to have a good car to do that."

The team in question is Dale Coyne racing, and I think if all 12 people who read this each pitched in $1000 we would have more money than Dale Coyne racing.

Tony Kanaan is coming off The Incident with at hte 500 Marco. Lots of analysis and looking at the tape. I don't think the Tone and Marco have been hugging lately, but they seem to have agreed to disagree. Tony starts 6th, but has won at Milwaukee twice in a row.

Tony Kanaan: "This place has been good to me so I feel good so I have to stay positive. It's just the type of track I like. It's really similar to Indianapolis in that there is no bankig. I've always had good cars here and the place definitely suits me, so I'm happy."

Nobody asked Ryan Briscoe of he secretly yearned to throw down with Danica last week. They did ask if he thought he could have finished well. "We had a chance fighting for a solid top five. Dixon was really strong maybe didn't quite have it for him, but top five would have been really satisfying at Indy."

Need to get a good string of races? "I'm ready to get some solid up-front finishes here. We just gotta catch up in the points a little bit at a time. You can't do it all in one race just gotta be there at the end."

EJ Viso said the track was "Like a frying pan, very small; I like it. It's more like a street race."

A lot of driver said they like Milwaukee because you have to drive more, in that you have to steer more, be on and off of the gas, etc. Probably not going to be a fuel nob race, but a (Goodyear!) Right Foot Race. It's hard to find a driver who just likes to mash it to the floor and steer as in the super-speedways. They most all like to be a little more involved than that. 

Danny Wheldon said after qualifying that the competition is so tight, if you have a bad practice session you can get behind the other teams.

"You havee to have such a good weekend (British pronounciation is two separate words: "week end") because it's so close that if you do have a bad session it sets you back a little. That's where you've just gotta be really, really consciencious of the stuff that you're doing to make sure that you are going into sessions with good confidence."

Q: What does it take to run fast here?

Wheldon: "A very stable rear end. A very good rear end that you are very comfortable with and that's hard to get around here. Almost impossible."

Q: Did you just say you have to have to be comfortable with your rear end?

Wheldon: (Smiling, causing retinal damage) "Yeah, I guess I did."

Q: Did you have any advice for Scott Dixon on how to handle the aftermath of his Indy 500 win.

Wheldon: "The best thing I like to do is to wind him up about all the interviews and press conferences and stuff like that that he is going to have to do now. He's not a big fan of that stuff."

The Ice is a famous introvert, not a total cave dweller, but hardly a "LOOK AT ME" kind of guy. I can report that The Teeth aren't as frightening in person. You can't help but look at them when you talk to Dan, though. They're hypnotic.

The Iceman starts third, which is like starting 21s for him. He was impressed with how fast the former Champ Car teams are improving. "Sometimes the new teams come in with a fresh ideas and sometimes that's a pretty good thing. It's good to see they are up there and I just can't wait to start racing.

Q: After winning the 500, were you comfortable doing all the media, etc.?

Dixon: "Its been fun. I think they def do it in a fun way. It's been a lot of different stuff in the last four or five days. I've enoyed it. It's been pretty hectic but been a lot of fun."

Q: What did Wheldon say to you after the race?

A: "He said "Good luck, man. I'm not going to see you for four or five days, so good luck with it.' "

Q: What's it take to go fast at Milwaukee?

A: "It's definitely a momentum track. You need a car with good balance. It's not hard to pull off a qualifying run, the key is definitely doing well over the long runs."

Graham Rahal, briefly on the pole until Andretti pulled out his Indiana Jones whip, said his team rocks. "We have a good group of guys here. We've gone through a lot of ups and downs and my guys feel better than ever about our chances. Now it's just a matter of putting it together."

"I was joking around earlier and I said if we are as quick as this morning, we might acutally have a shot for the pole on this thing. A lot of people didn't know whether to actually believe me or if it was just a joke. But the car is really good. The car is very consistent and if we can start toward the front, it will give us a shot tomorrow."

When Danica comes through the post-qual line, you know it. She draws a crowd. She's also in a hurry since she has 32 places to be. In fact, I think she's already late for something that doesn't happen until next week. She does make sure and stop for at least one question from everyone who is packed up waiting for her, though. So props to her for that.

Danica said about her qualifying (she ended up P13): "It was all right. It was the most grip I've had all day but unfortunately we were lacking the grip on one of the ends a little too much to be more flat and faster. That's the way it goes. It's always different when you go out there by yourself."

"Qualiflying is not significant, really. It shows ultimate speed, what you can get out of the car. I think that things can change today or by tomorrow. Maybe car set ups change. Last year I qualified in the last row and was so slow but then we changed the car and I was fourth 50 laps into the race from the last row. You gotta be smart and make good decisions out there to make it to the end and have a car you can put wherever you want out there."

Ed Carpenter. On fire lately. What's it take to go fast here?

Ed: "You gotta have a good car and be pretty brave and not lift. This place you are all over the steering wheel. A lot of short ovals are a lof of fun rather than just holding it down flat all day."

Helio Castroneves said Milwaukee is like the road course of ovals. "There are a lot of things going on. It's not just pedal to the metal. You have to drive the car and that's the way I like it."

Ryan Hunter-Reay said coming form Indy to Milwaukee made Milwaukee feel like a "chili bowl." Last time he was here in 2004 (or mabye 2005) he was driving a Lola for Champ Car. The Dallara is a little more pig-like. "I feel like I'm driving an 18-wheeler now."

Justin Wilson was slow and will start P22. Not real happy. "We still have to get our balance. All the way through two I was loose and trying to catch the rear even going as slow as we were, so it's very disappointing." I think it's even more disappointing when your teammate (Rahal) is freaky fast.

Wilson drove a Lola/Cosworth at Milwaukee for Champ Car. The Dallara is so different than the Lola that there aren't many things he can use from his previous experience, however.

Maybe if we dropped off a Lola for you? "Yeah, that would be nice."

That's the qualifying throw down. Gotta get to bed so I can make it to the track tomorrow. Check out the photo stream for all of today's shots.

Comments

[Bash]

dog, thanks for covering so much of the field. Can we call you the anti-ABC/ESPN? :p

[Kelley]

does marco really look that young and little in person? i imagine he looks like a 14 y/o boy with acne that weighs all of 130 pounds and is super short. Am I right?

[pressdog]

Bash: thanks for reading. I figure if nobody else pays attention to the back of the field, there's my opportunity. Marco looks that young in person. He looks maybe 15. He'll be loving that fact when he's 45 and looks 28.

[anonymous]

It cracks me up that marco gets all these playmates and looks like a 15 year old. I mean he is a cute kid but they have got to be going after his name and money.........