Ray Can’t Wait to Get Up to Speed

When Greg Ray ran his Dallara in an open test at Indianapolis Motor Speedway last month, he left with high hopes. He told his crew they had the best handling car on the track, that all they lacked was horsepower.

Brayton Engineering undertook the task of finding horsepower in Ray’s Aurora engine. When his Thomas Knapp Motorsports team found a sponsor, hopes for the Indy 500 ran even higher.

Then came the bad news. When the young Texan arrived here, team owner Knapp said that he had ended his association with the sponsor because it had failed to meet its commitments.

So Ray, a rookie here last year, wheeled his unsponsored car onto the track Tuesday and posted the fifth-fastest speed of the day, 219.952 mph.

“It’s the only car we’ve got,” Ray said. “As much as I want to stick my foot in it, with no backup, I’ve got to wait until [qualifying] Saturday to be serious. It’s frustrating, but race cars have big appetites for money, and if they don’t get it, they don’t run very fast.”

Ray did only 29 laps, “only about 15 of them at speed,” before he parked the car.

“I’m fine, the car’s fine, the team’s fine,” he said. “It’s only the finances that are a problem. The worst part is that we had already geared ourselves to have financial support.”

For the second consecutive day, Tony Stewart was fastest, taking the Team Menard Dallara out during “happy hour” just before 6 p.m. and ripping off a lap of 223.691 mph.

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Old habits die hard: When Parnelli Jones drove his 1963 Agajanian Special out of the pits Sunday for a nostalgic solo lap around the Speedway, he instinctively looked to his right, checking for race cars.

The next day, Bobby Unser was taking a solitary lap in his 1968 Rislone Special when it lost power in the third turn. Instinctively, he raised his arm as a warning to trailing drivers that he was slowing.

And Gordon Johncock, getting ready for a couple of leisurely laps in the STP Wildcat he drove to victory in 1982, meticulously pulled a fire-resistant sock over his head before putting on a full-face helmet.

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Danny Ongais, who suffered a mild concussion in a crash Monday, remained in Methodist Hospital for a second day of observation. Dr. Henry Bock said the 55-year-old veteran of 11 Indy 500s would not be cleared to drive in either qualifying or the race.

Car owner Don Basala says the car will be ready, however, with either John Paul Jr. or Steve Kinser getting it on the track Thursday.

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If Stan Wattles makes the 33-car field in a Riley & Scott MK V, powered by an Olds Aurora V-8 engine, riding on Goodyear Eagle tires, it will be the first time an American driver has driven in the 500 in an all-American car since Kevin Cogan in 1984.

Cogan was driving a Gurney Eagle, with a Pontiac stock-block engine. The last all-American winner was A.J. Foyt in 1977, driving his own Coyote with a Foyt engine.

Wattles is a rookie from Sewell’s Point, Fla., and if he doesn’t make it, no one will kid him about it. He holds a second-degree black belt in taekwondo and a black belt in tang soo do.

After three practice sessions, he ranks 34th with a fast lap of 212.329.

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Indy 500 Facts

* Saturday: Pole day qualifying, 8 a.m.-3 p.m. (Channel 7, 10-11 a.m.; ESPN, 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m.; ESPN 2, 2:30-4 p.m.).

* Sunday: Bubble day qualifying, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. (Channel 7, 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m.; ESPN2, noon-2 p.m.; ESPN, 2-4 p.m.).

* May 21: Carburetion day, final practice, 8-10 a.m.

* May 24: 82nd Indianapolis 500, 8 a.m. (Channel 7).