Newman/Haas Racing
94th Indianapolis 500 – Indianapolis Motor Speedway
BUMP DAY NOTES/QUOTES – May 23, 2010

FORMULA DREAM/PANASONIC DRIVER MUTOH COMPLETED FINAL PRACTICE LAPS UNTIL FRIDAY’S “CARB DAY” IN ANTICIPATION OF THE INDY 500 IN ONE WEEK

Hideki Mutoh, No. 06 Formula Dream/Panasonic Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “We learned a lot of things today. We ran a lot with Marco (Andretti), Ryan (Hunter-Reay) and Dario (Franchitti). We need to make an adjustment to the car for the conditions which are much hotter than last week. We have speed but we are still working to find the right balance for one whole stint. By the time we practice on Carb Day we will have a better understanding of what the weather conditions will be for race day and will adjust for them. We will make sure everything is fine with the race car then and we will be ready for the race.”

FAST FACTS: Will be his third event here and first Indy 500 with NHR after having driven for Andretti Green Racing, co-owned by former NHR driver Michael Andretti, for the past two seasons. In 2008 he was the Fastest Rookie after he qualified ninth. He finished seventh. In 2009 he started 16th and finished 10th here…His highest IZOD IndyCar Series start is THIRD at Nashville Speedway (oval) and best overall series finish is SECOND (Iowa 2008).

1 POLE (1987) & TWO SECONDS AT INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY (IMS) for NHR: The 2010 entry will mark the 18th year for the team in the event and the fifth since 1995. Prior to 2010, the team prepared a total of 27 entries for drivers such as Mario and Michael Andretti, Nigel Mansell, Paul Tracy, Bruno Junqueira, Sebastien Bourdais, Justin Wilson, Graham Rahal and Robert Doornbos. Hideki Mutoh, the fastest rookie Indy 500 qualifier in 2008 competes for the team in 2010 and will bring the total to 28. NHR’s highest finish in the Indy 500 is second place with Mario Andretti in 1985 and Michael Andretti in 1991 although team drivers have led many laps here. Mario Andretti also brought the team its highest start in the event when he won the pole position in 1987. NHR’s 2004 entry of Junqueira marked the first time for the team to compete here since 1995 and they returned in 2005 with Junqueira and IMS rookie Bourdais. In 2008 they ran Wilson and Rahal here during a transition season in the series and ran Rahal and Robert Doornbos in 2009. They have earned Rookie of the Year once, with Mansell in 1993 when he finished third.

PREVIOUS INDY 500 FOR NHR: In 2009, Rahal narrowly missed a front row start and qualified fourth but retired from the race in 31st place after contact on L56 while fifth after driving high on the track and into marbles attempting to lap Milka Duno in Turn 4. His 2008 race ended in the same turn on L36 for a similar reason. Robert Doornbos crashed on Fast Friday and again in his backup in practice on Pole Day so he missed the first two qualifying days and had to qualify on Day 3. He set the fastest 4-lap average to start 23rd, the highest of Day 3 qualifiers. In the race, he crashed on lap L54 of 200 laps and retired in 28th place.

TUNE IN: The 2010 IZOD IndyCar Series Indianapolis 500 will be televised live on ABC at 12:00 p.m. EDT Sunday, May 30. Carb Day will be televised live on Versus on May 28 from 11:00 – 4:00 p.m. Live timing & scoring and streaming video can be seen free of charge on www.indycar.com.