Motorsports

Back row sees place as badge of honor

The final three qualifiers are given a party, get (small) checks and, most importantly, have their cars in the Indianapolis 500.

By JOHN SCHWARB
Published May 28, 2005

INDIANAPOLIS - The drivers swear it's not embarrassing, not some kind of scarlet letter, er, number. Being in the show is what matters, making the Indianapolis 500 field of 33 cars by any means necessary.

Besides, there are only two select groups of drivers who get events during the festive month of May. There's the Front Row Party, home to the pole-sitter and two other drivers often mentioned as possible winners, and ... the Last Row Party.

"When you're in the last row, you've got to take it as a good thing," Felipe Giaffone said.

The Brazilian is last on the starting grid. Alongside him, the No.32 and 31 starters make up the last row, which for 33 years has been the source of official tongue-in-cheek fun around Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Friday night at the annual Last Row Party, held at the speedway's adjacent golf course resort, the honorees received their checks in the amount of 31, 32 and 33 cents.

Talk about special - Jimmy Kite collected his second 32-cent bounty. He was in the second-to-last qualifying spot in 2003 and will start Sunday's race in the same position.

"I still have the (first) check on the wall," said Kite, starting his fifth 500. "I'm afraid to take that one to the bank. They might actually ask for two forms of ID."

The three drivers (Jeff Ward rounds out the row) can laugh about the party and the relative lack of attention outside of it. It still beats not being here.

Some of the greatest drivers in race history have started from the back row at least once, including past champions Mario Andretti, Tom Sneva and Al Unser Sr.

"When you first come here, it doesn't make any difference what row you're in," said Unser, a four-time champion who qualified 32nd in his inaugural 500 in 1965. "You have the opportunity to compete in the greatest spectacle there is."

Arie Luyendyk Jr. would have happily taken No. 33, only he got bumped from the lineup by Giaffone in qualifying. In the race's most popular years, when open-wheel competition was unified, sometimes a dozen or more drivers would be left out in the cold after qualifying.

"I'm lucky to be in the field. I'm having a great time being last," said Giaffone, who got his ride just hours before his attempt when an Indy Racing League official called him at a Babies "R" Us, where he was shopping with his wife.

Giaffone, driving for A.J. Foyt's team, has concerns about everything from his engine to communicating with a crew he has known for less than two weeks. But he's in.

Same for Ward, who has made a habit out of finishing what he starts at Indy. No other competitor in the field has as many starts without bowing out early. The Vision Racing driver has competed six times with four top-10 finishes. He once started 27th and ended up 13th, so he knows how to stay patient from the back.

"I'm not too worried about it," Ward said. "I'll just go outside in Turns 1 and 2 (after the start). Nobody goes up there the first lap."

Such strategizing is part of the plan from the back, to make sure the front of the field doesn't disappear. At least the rearview mirrors aren't necessary for a while.

"If something (bad) does happen, you don't have to worry about somebody collecting you from behind," Kite said.

Nor do you have to worry about the hassles of winning. In 88 previous 500s, no driver has won from the last row.

Yeah, but the winners probably don't have the checks on their walls either.

[Last modified May 28, 2005, 00:09:12]