Behind the Barriers - Indy Third Day Qualifiying

Rain delayed practice for over 30 minutes this morning. The 45-minute session that had been scheduled to start at 10:15 a.m. was stopped twice for moisture. Qualifying was scheduled to get underway 30 minutes after practice but the mist turned to rain and the first qualifier didn't take to the track until 3:30 p.m.

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Racing Information Systems writer Tom Beeler left the Mecum High Performance Auction on Friday with a prized Indianapolis 500 pace car. Beeler was high bidder on the 1957 Mercury Turnpike Cruiser pace car given to Sam Hanks after winning the 1957 race. The auction continues through Sunday at the Indiana State Fairgrounds.

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Members of the National Indy 500 Collector's Club were asked to provide items to celebrate the Speedway's centennial era. A collection of programs, tickets and stereo-view cards from 1909-1911 were assembled and put on display at the Hall of Fame Museum. For information on joining the National Indy 500 Collectors Club visit www.ni500cc.com.

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Tomas Scheckter's Dale Coyne No. 19 has been painted in a luscious sea-blue livery for his new sponsor Mona-Vie. Mona-Vie comes in a container resembling a wine bottle. Mona-Vie's website provided the following description of the product. "This premier formula delivers powerful antioxidants and phytonutrients to help fight free radicals and maintain your body's overall health."

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What's DAFCA? It's emblazoned on the sidepods of Oriol Servia's car and it's also the "premier provider of software solutions that automate and accelerate post-silicon system-on-a-chip (SoC) validation by providing the unique ability to observe and control the devices' functional behavior." Yes, we checked www.dafca.com for that.

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A walk through the transporter lot shows Bruno Junqueira's name on the side of a Dale Coyne rig. Junqueira, who competed with Coyne last year, was signed last night to drive a second Conquest entry with backing from All Sport Energy Drink and Big Red. "At least I'm here. In years past I came here looking to start on the pole. Now I'm looking to make the field, but if you run the race you have a chance to win. I'm happy with the opportunity Conquest Racing gave me. I've been walking around here two weeks trying to find a ride, and I finally found it. The main thing is to make sure the car works fine today and put it in the field. Then you can work toward having a good race."

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Graham Hill and Arie Luyendyk were inducted into the 2009 Indianapolis Motor Speedway Auto Racing Hall of Fame on Friday night in a ceremony at the Marriott downtown.

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The Rex Mays Classic vintage event will be held in conjunction with the ABC Supply/A.J. Foyt 225 IndyCar Series race at Milwaukee May 30-31.