Since today's Rookie Orientation/Veteran Refresher Day is not being referred to as "Opening Day" by the brass, it is henceforth known as "Day -1". "Day 0" can be the conclusion of the rookie business tomorrow morning before we finally get to "Day 1". That has been clarified; let's move on to the on-track action!
Paul Tracy, being the complete badass that he is, came out of the pit lane and busted the 220-mph barrier after just two laps. He also gave us the on-track premiere of what is a very good-looking car. Paul's best speed of the day was 223.089 which, as I take a look at the back of my 2008 Starting Grid shirt, would put him 12th on last year's grid. Not too shabby for someone who hasn't seen this track since he tried to yank the Borg-Warner Trophy out of Helio's hands in 2002. Tracy was joined by fellow returning vet Scott Sharp, who nicely represented the Patron Girls with a top speed of 221.878.
As for the rookies, it is pretty obvious that Robert Doornbos is the guy to beat. Under normal Rookie Program procedure, a driver is supposed to do 10 laps at 200-205 mph, 10 at 205-210, 10 at 210-215, and 10 at 215-220. Doornbos got impatient at all of this procedural hogwash and decided to blow into the 218 mph range within about 10 minutes of being on the track. He eventually bettered Paul Tracy's initial 220 mph lap with a 220 of his own, then a 221.735. He's within about half an eyeblink of the most veteran driver in the field (Sharp) and this was the first time he had ever been on the track. I suppose it doesn't hurt that he's with a damn good team (Newman/Haas/Lanigan).
Also of note was the paint jobs on the various autos on the track today. You've already seen Tracy's red and blue gecko-mobile. We also have some sort of police caution tape/green thingy for Nelson Phillippe, and the always good-looking Tequila Patron car of Scott Sharp. There's the "King Tut" car of Alex Tagliani, which I think was a huge miss -- I think they should've painted the whole thing with blue and gold stripes and heiroglyphs...oh well.
The most notable of the notable paint jobs, though, is the pink-mobile of Alex Lloyd. Fantastic look for the young Englishman, no? Before we mock, though, let's remember the last fellow to rock the pink at Indianapolis. He already had two F1 Drivers' Championships and he was on his way to two 500 wins. Maybe Alex can take Emmo's pink-moxie and make something of it...
Day -1 Top Speeds:
1. Paul Tracy - 223.089
2. Scott Sharp - 221.878
3. Robert Doornbos - 221.735
4. Raphael Matos - 218.613
5. Alex Tagliani - 218.333
6. Mike Conway - 217.063
7. Nelson Phillippe - 214.786
8. Alex Lloyd - 213.032
9. Stanton Barrett - 207.522
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