Ok I originally posted this in GDD and got approximately zero responses. So I figured I'd try here:

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This year is really the first year I've followed Indy 500 Pole Day + Bump Day closely. I was just wondering what are the rules of etiquette to bumping people off of the grid.
For example, Jeff Ward was suited up and ready to qualify at 4:30 pm, but for some reason Chip Ganassi never sent him out there. Was this due to the fact that at the time there was already a full grid of 33 cars?

With a Toyota G-Force from Ganassi, Ward would have easily qualified with one of the best (if not the top) Bump Day speeds. Was Chip Ganassi afraid of bumping Airton Dare off of the grid and pissing off AJ Foyt?

It would have been so much more exciting on Sunday to see 2 or 3 more cars try to qualify and bump others off of the starting grid.
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If a 34th car goes faster than the slowest car on the grid, it slots into the field based on its speed and the guy/gal at the tail end gets bumped. The car can't requalify but the driver can. Ganassi didn't send Wardie out because he (Ward) couldn't write a big enough check to rent the seat. If it had been in his best interest ($$) Chip would have had no qualms about pissing off ol' Tex. People have been whining about the small grid at Indy this year - blaming CART, blaming T. George, blaming Toyota or Honda or Chevrolet - but the real problem is a poopy economy.

Kirk

 

Yeah I just figured that a team like Ganassi would have more than enough sponsorship to field a 4th car for Ward. I didn't now if Chip Ganassi was just doing a favor to AJ Foyt by opting not to bump off Dare (whose ~230 would have easily been beaten).

Old Tex does seem to have a bit of pull around the IRL and Indy Motorspeedway in particular. Just look at his grandson - anybody else probably would have gotten pulled out of the IRL by now (AJ Foyt IV has crashed - what - about 7 or 8 times so far this season). I just hope Anthony doesn't end up hurting himself or anybody else this coming weekend.