INDIANAPOLIS 500 / DAILY REPORT : Penske Can’t Get Raindrops to Cooperate

Persistent Indiana rain Thursday continued to thwart Roger Penske’s plans for getting his drivers up to speed for this weekend’s final qualifying for the Indianapolis 500.

The track was dry for less than an hour, giving Al Unser Jr. and Emerson Fittipaldi little opportunity to decide which of four cars to qualify.

None of them has reached necessary speeds.

“Roger got a ’94 Reynard [from Pagan Racing], but I didn’t like it,” Unser said. “Then he got a ’95 Lola from [Bobby] Rahal that Emerson will try. If it runs good, I may jump into a second Lola, or maybe the ’94 Penske I drove last year.

“In the meantime, I hope to find some more speed from our ’95 Penske. [Designer] Nigel Bennett made some aerodynamic changes we want to test--if it ever stops raining.”

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Hideshi Matsuda received $25,000 for being the fastest second-day qualifier. Matsuda, a second-year driver from Japan, was in the ’94 Lola-Ford that Patrick Racing used as a Firestone test car last year. It has never been raced.

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Lyn St. James’ hopes of being the only woman in the race got a boost when she found a sponsor in Dave Carmell, president of an auto supply and service center company.

St. James, rookie of the year in 1992, ran 221.179 m.p.h. the first day of practice, but after 45 laps car owner Dick Simon called her off. Anticipated sponsorship money had not materialized.

“I have no doubt that Lyn, with her experience, can put this car in the field this weekend,” Simon said. “Dean Hall ran nearly 225 in it last week and I think Lyn can find more speed than that.”

She had worked her way up to 216.118 before the rain halted her practice.