INDIANAPOLIS 500 / DAILY REPORT : Villeneuve’s Crew Captures Pit Stop Title

Jacques Villeneuve’s crew won $25,000 in the Miller Genuine Draft Pit Stop contest by defeating Michael Andretti’s crew in a tie-breaker after the two deadlocked in the finals. It was the second consecutive victory for chief mechanic Kyle Moyer’s crew.

Villeneuve’s team took 14.556 seconds to change four tires, only .104 of a second quicker than Andretti’s. It was the closest finish in the event’s history.

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Davy Jones was the only driver to miss Carburetion Day, the last time drivers will be permitted on the track until Sunday. He was in Charlotte, N.C., where he wrecked during practice for qualifying and failed to join the Coca Cola World 600 stock car race.

Jones would have run in both races Sunday, the Indy 500 first. John Andretti did it last year. Rookie Eliseo Salazar shook down Jones’ car for 16 laps, then switched to his own entry.

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Scott Goodyear, in the Reynard-Honda he put on the front row, was fastest with a lap of 228.392 m.p.h. Most drivers settled for no more than 20 laps, but rookie Andre Ribeiro was the busiest with 29.

Pole-sitter Scott Brayton ran a top speed of 221.293, a speed closer to the race pace than his 231.604 pole speed.

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Tony Stewart, U.S. Auto Club midget champion, will be working in Eddie Cheever’s pit. It will be Stewart’s first time in the pits on race day.

“Normally, I have a midget race to run in Wisconsin that day, so I always listened to the race on the radio,” he said. “My car isn’t ready this year, so I’m happy to get a chance to work with [car owner] A.J. Foyt. The only thing I would change is that I’d like to have a different job.”