Indy Qualifying Pushed to Next Weekend

Qualifying for the Indianapolis 500 was pushed back to next weekend after persistent rain delayed the opening time trials for the second straight day Sunday.

It was the first time in 23 years that the first full weekend of qualifying for the race was canceled because of poor weather.

The field normally is determined over three days, with a third of the grid qualifying each day. But now all 33 positions will be filled next Saturday, and Sunday will be “bump day,” in which the slowest qualified car could be bumped from the lineup of the May 28 race by a faster unqualified car.

There was speculation of holding at least partial qualifying today, but officials decided against it partly because the weather forecast “isn’t much better” for today, said Brian Barnhart, president of the Indy Racing League.

In addition, “it is difficult for fans to be here on Monday and Tuesday when the original schedule called for the track to be closed,” he said.

The rain stopped for a few hours Sunday, enabling the field to briefly practice for the first time since Thursday.

But the showers returned to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway before qualifying could start.

During practice, defending race winner Dan Wheldon of the Target Chip Ganassi team set the fastest speed of 228.663 mph.

The top speeds were considerably faster than those set in the previous practice Thursday, when gusty winds kept them under 227 mph.

-- Jim Peltz

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Fernando Alonso became the first Spaniard to win the Spanish Grand Prix, winning the Formula One race in front of King Juan Carlos and more than 115,000 fans at Barcelona.

Michael Schumacher was second, followed by Giancarlo Fisichella and Felipe Massa.

It was Alonso’s 11th career victory and third this season, after finishing second to Schumacher in the last two races. Alonso swerved down the final straightaway in celebration and waved both arms to the crowd.

When he stopped, after winning by 18.5 seconds, the Spaniard jumped on his car and did a dance. “Thank you to everyone,” Alonso said to his team over the on-board radio.

The next race is the Monaco Grand Prix on May 28.