Rain washed out all practice Monday, the first Indianapolis 500 practice day to be completely rained out since 2008. Rain fell steadily on the Speedway throughout this morning, and IZOD IndyCar Series officials canceled the day's track activities at 2:30 p.m.
• Veteran race strategist and team manager John Anderson will call the race for Andretti Autosport driver John Andretti in the No. 43 Team Window World car. Anderson has a history with his driver and significant success with the Andretti team as the race strategist for drivers Paul Tracy, 2005 Indy 500 winner Dan Wheldon, and 2007 winner and Indy Racing League Champion Dario Franchitti.
"I brought John out here to the Speedway (in 1988). We worked together for his first Indy 500 race, and here we are back together many years, too many years, later. I'm enjoying it, and I really appreciate the chance to work with the team like this. (The past three races) I've been working with Tony Kanaan. I had spoken to John earlier – before he did the deal with Michael – about the possibility of doing something for the 500, so we got back together. Tony brought in Steve Horne, who owned Tasman Motorsports. Steve's working with Tony for this one, and I've shuffled over to John."
• Indianapolis 500 veteran Roger Yasukawa is working in both the media center and Gasoline Alley this month in an interesting dual role. Yasukawa, from W. Hollywood, Calif., made five consecutive Indianapolis 500 starts between 2003-'07, with a best finish of 10th in 2003 and 2004.
"I'm doing a little reporting for the Japanese media and also spotting for Takuma Sato. I'm also looking for a ride, which I think is a long shot. But you have to be here if something happens. I'm ready to go; I just did my medical today. If an opportunity comes up, I'm ready to drive. I just don't have a sponsor right now to whip out the big check. Besides, all the seats are filled right now. I think this year the series is very healthy, with a lot of competitive cars. Even if I had money, I don't know where I would be able to take it. With the new format, it's harder for the teams to justify whether it's worth it to bring another car out. We'll have to see how it goes."
• Owen Snyder III is working with A.J. Foyt Racing this year, overseeing the team's entry for A.J. Foyt IV.
"It's pretty special. I kind of always wanted to do this. The guy is so sharp," Snyder said. "You just can't imagine the knowledge that he has gained over the years. He just knows. I always wanted to find out first-hand, and you never know about a guy until you work with them or for them, and it has been pretty good so far. Of course, Anthony (Foyt) is happy, and we have been fairly quick, so that makes it a lot better."
Snyder admitted to a little trepidation, given Foyt's legendary quick temper.
"That's true! I have been around long enough and have heard all the stories, and have seen a lot of them with A.J. and I know how he is," Snyder admitted. "but when it is time to get serious and go to race, we have a real good group of guys working on Anthony's car. So we get serious, get the work done, and give the answers he wants, and it is going real good so far.
Snyder said he has already gained confidence in the younger Foyt as a driver.
"I'll tell you, we found out yesterday [Sunday] that he is back for the right reasons. He isn't back just to get his name out there or because of his name. He genuinely wants to come and race here. We saw the serious side yesterday when the track went green. He is a racer.
"This is an experienced team, and the good thing about A.J. is that he uses all that experience. He just remembers that a lot of things go full circle. Yeah, there are a lot of new developments out there, but a lot of it gets back to things that happened 10, 15, 20 years ago, and A.J. has been through it all."