¦ May 20, 2005
Hearn is fastest Chevy

INDIANAPOLIS -- Richie Hearn, who filled in Thursday's rain-out by seeing the new "Star Wars" movie -- and gave it a very favorable review especially for its special effects -- continued his Indianapolis 500 race preparation Friday by turning 81 laps in the Meijer/Coca-Cola Panoz-Chevrolet. His best lap was 224.480 mph in the Sam Schmidt Motorsports entry.

"We made some good progress today," said Hearn, who finished third here in 1996 and sixth in 2002. "I got to run in traffic quite a bit and that helped me see where our Meijer car is in relation to some of the other fast cars. Tim (Neff, engineer) came up with some good changes that made the car better during the long (full fuel load) runs. The fastest car usually doesn't win the Indy 500. It's the car that is the most consistent."

Friday morning, the annual BorgWarner Louis Schwitzer Award for innovative engineering excellence was presented to Delphi for safety innovation for its Earpiece Sensor System. Delphi donated the $5,000 cash prize to the Sam Schmidt Foundation for spinal cord research and rehabilitation.

Qualifying resumes next Saturday and Sunday. Hearn has already qualified the Meijer/Coca-Cola Special in 20th position. The 89th Indy 500 is Sunday, May 29.