Bump Day at Indianapolis

by ROBERT SULLIVAN
The Star Press

(INDIANAPOLIS)

Sunday's bump day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was the
most exciting in years.

Unless you were Muncie native John Paul Jr.

While drivers were trying to squeeze their way into the field, Paul was
attempting to make up for lost time. After pushing his Zali Racing G Force
to more than 215 mph in practice, Paul was stuck in his search for speed.
His team, which got off to a late start this week because of a problem
securing funding, borrowed a setup from Jim Guthrie's team late Sunday
afternoon. Without any practice, they threw the car into the qualifying
line, and Paul prepared to make a last-ditch effort to make the field in the
midst of the most hectic final hour in recent memory.

The car's right sidepod, however, was 1/8 of an inch too low and failed
inspection, forcing the team to move the car to the tail of the enormous
qualifying line as everyone jockeyed for a last-minute run.

Paul, a 1978 Delta High School graduate, was left standing in line with his
helmet in his hand when the gun fired at 6 p.m. He deserved a much better
fate. "It was difficult standing there watching them all," said Paul, who is one
of the most genuine and sincere people in racing. "I had no illusions about
what was going to happen, but I think we were ready to make a big jump.
Would it have been big enough? I don't know."

And he never will.

That is another aspect of bump day that people sometimes don't see.
The elation of those who survive and the disappointment of those bumped are
well documented. But Paul will forever be relegated to the uncertainty of
never having a chance.

"It really hasn't sunk in yet," he said minutes after watching his team
push the red and white car into the garage area for the final time. "I've
gone through [bump day qualifying] before, but in all of them I got to take
a least one shot. I never got that chance today."

When asked to compare the feeling to the pressures of a late-race dual for
victory or the strain of a final qualifying effort, Paul struggled to find
the words. "I think this is a different kind of stress," he mustered. "It is higher
than anything else I've ever gone through."

Paul was offered a try in Larry Curry's second Tri-Star Motorsports car
Saturday, but he refused. He felt his crew at start-up Zali Racing deserved
a chance to be in the Indianapolis 500 field. And he knew that he would be
the only driver to give them that opportunity.

"We started a little too late," Paul said of the team's fortunes. "I was a
little rusty the first few laps, but it was gone by the end of [Saturday]. I
was ready."

Robert Sullivan covers motorsports for The Star Press. He can be reached at
213-5816 or [email protected].

Special Thanks to Robert Sullivan for permission to reprint his article.