Just a few quick bits of information before the IZOD Indycar race today from Mid-Ohio:
Morning warm-ups for the series did not go as smoothly as hoped. Several drivers spun their cars. There was also an accident in the pit lane that caused some damage to the KV Racing team.
Many teams were practicing pit stops during the warm-up session, as pit boxes were reduced to just 35 feet to accommodate the 27-car field.
The typical max field for Mid Ohio has been 26 cars, but an amendment was made to the rule book to allow for an extra.
Mario Moraes was practicing his pit stops when he arrived in his stall coming too fast and took out a few of his own crew members.
Fueler Mike Briggs took the worst of it. Jack-man Anna Chatten and left front tire changer Chris Bennett were also injured.
All have been released from the infield care center, but KV Racing will have to make some changes to replace the injured crew members.
Justin Wilson, Tony Kanaan, Alex Tagliani, Danica Patrick, Bertrand Baguette, Francesco Dracone, and Jay Howard will all start on the black sidewall, primary Firestone tires.
All other cars will start on the alternate, red sidewall tires.
Justin Wilson is also expected to be fine after injuring his thumb during his qualifying collision with Ryan Briscoe on Saturday. Wilson noted the thumb is still sore, but he should have full ability for the race. Briscoe apologized to the injured racer after he got a chance to look at the video of the incident.
Mike Conway is not expected to be back in time for Sonoma from the back injury suffered during his crash with Ryan Hunter-Reay during the closing laps of the 2010 Indianapolis 500.
Team owner Dennis Reinbold noted the team wanted Conway to be able to test before going back into the car full time. He is expected to race again this year, but possibly not until the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
The team will continue with a replacement by committee operation.
So far this year, Tomas Scheckter, Paul Tracy, Graham Rahal, and JR Hildebrand have driven the No. 24 car for the team. They are expected to continue in that capacity with the exception of Rahal, who is racing for Newman Haas the rest of the season.
An interesting storyline today could also be how quickly Milka Duno and newcomer Francesco Dracone funnel back into the leaders and create lap traffic.
Indycar is following the 107% rule. If the drivers fall off of that, they are supposed to be pulled out of the grid.
Dracone is racing his first Indycar race for Conquest Racing, and has been off the pace so far.
Duno was just inside the line during practice, but was not allowed to qualify.
Also interesting to watch today will be Graham Rahal.
Rahal led Friday practice, but had a very bad qualifying run and will start near the back of the field.
His Newman-Haas team looked over the car all night on Saturday and found a broken component they believe to be the culprit.
Mid-Ohio is difficult to pass, but look for Rahal to try and work his way through the field.
