Katherine Legge survives Bump Day bubble at Indy - MotorSportsTalk

With about 20 minutes remaining in Bump Day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Katherine Legge was strapped into her No. 81 Schmidt Peterson Pelfrey Motorsports Honda, ready to defend her spot on the 33rd starting position for the 97th Indianapolis 500 if necessary.

Turns out she didn’t have to bother. Legge’s four-lap average of 223.176 miles per hour was enough for her to stay in the field as Michel Jourdain, Jr., the only driver that could take her out of it, did not make a bump attempt in the waning moments.

The Mexican racer and his No. 17 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing team had been searching for solid speed throughout the week, but could never find it. His fastest lap on Sunday was at 219.843 mph — nowhere close to what he’d need to knock Legge off the grid.

As a result, there was no bumping on Bump Day at the Brickyard for the second consecutive year.

“All of the guys tried so hard,” Jourdain said to NBC Sports Network’s Marty Snider. “All week, we struggled a lot. Some days, it felt like it may be feeling a little better but it was never there.

“This morning, we tried James’ [Jakes] set-up and it was impossible to drive and then we pulled Graham’s [Rahal] setup — the car was exactly the same — and he couldn’t drive it. He said it was impossible to drive. We changed whatever we had time to [change], we went out, and the car was exactly the same…It’s just so sad. My sponsors trust me and it’s not like I can go next week and do another race.”

As for Legge, who was announced as the driver of the No. 81 Honda on Saturday, she had mixed emotions — feeling badly for Jourdain’s plight but happy to be back in the “500.”

“It’s not nice for him to not have the opportunity,” she said to NBCSN’s Will Buxton. “However, I am happy that I am in the field, I’m not gonna lie about that. It’s been a really, really long few days but I’m gonna sleep tonight for the first time really good.”

Also joining her on the last row of the grid will be A.J. Foyt Racing rookie Conor Daly in 31st position (223.582 mph) and 1996 Indy 500 winner Buddy Lazier (223.443) in 32nd position.

“It’s really about the team,” Lazier said to NBCSN’s Robin Miller. “They did a great job. With the small amount of time, a lot of hard work and a lot of heart, they gave us a great race car. We were sweating today. The track temperature was going up and everybody was struggling. But it was a good car. It’s been in the 225 range so we knew it had speed but, boy, I was definitely sweatin’ it the last two hours.”

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97TH INDIANAPOLIS 500
STARTING LINEUP

Row 1
20-Ed Carpenter
26-Carlos Munoz
25-Marco Andretti

Row 2
5-E.J. Viso
2-A.J. Allmendinger
12-Will Power

Row 3
1-Ryan Hunter-Reay
3-Helio Castroneves
27-James Hinchcliffe

Row 4
4-J.R. Hildebrand
98-Alex Tagliani
11-Tony Kanaan

Row 5
22-Oriol Servia
19-Justin Wilson
7-Sebastien Bourdais

Row 6
9-Scott Dixon
10-Dario Franchitti
14-Takuma Sato

Row 7
83-Charlie Kimball
16-James Jakes
77-Simon Pagenaud

Row 8
60-Townsend Bell
8-Ryan Briscoe
78-Simona de Silvestro

Row 9
21-Josef Newgarden
15-Graham Rahal
6-Sebastian Saavedra

Row 10
55-Tristan Vautier
18-Ana Beatriz
63-Pippa Mann

Row 11
41-Conor Daly
91-Buddy Lazier
81-Katherine Legge

In a continuing effort to help fans keep track of the on track action, SuperMotocross is in the process of developing and implementing leader lights for the unified series.

Currently Supercross (SMX) utilizes stanchions in the infield that are triggered manually by a race official. At least two stanchions are used in each race as a way to draw the eye to the leader, which is especially useful in the tight confines of the stadium series when lapping often begins before the halfway mark in the 22-bike field. This system has been in place for the past two decades.

Later this year, a fully automated system will move to the bike itself to replace the old system. At that point, fans will be able to identify the leader regardless of where he is on track.

The leader lights were tested in the second Anaheim round this year. An example can be seen at the 1:45 mark in the video above on the No. 69 bike.

“What we don’t want to do is move too fast, where it’s confusing to people,” said Mike Muye, senior director of operations for Supercross and SMX in a press release. “We’ve really just focused on the leader at this point with the thought that maybe down the road we’ll introduce others.”

Scheduled to debut with the first SuperMotocross World Championship race at zMax Dragway, located just outside the Charlotte Motor Speedway, a 3D carbon fiber-printed LED light will be affixed to each motorcycle. Ten timing loops positioned around the track will trigger the lights of the leader, which will turn green.

SMX’s partner LiveTime Scoring helped develop and implement the system that has been tested in some form or fashion since 2019.

When the leader lights are successfully deployed, SuperMotocross will explore expanding the system to identify the second- and third-place riders. Depending on need and fan acceptance, more positions could be added.

SuperMotocross is exploring future enhancements, including allowing for live fan interaction with the lights and ways to use the lighting system during the race’s opening ceremony.

Read more about SuperMotocross