Bruno Junqueira has been confirmed in the #36 car for Conquest Racing. Granted, Indy has the highest payday on the circuit, but Conquest didn’t show up at Kansas and has openly admitted that their results at Indy (read payday) will determine if they show up at Milwaukee in two weeks. It seems a strange move to add an additional car in such an uncertain financial environment for them.
But then again, Bruno is a proven commodity. He has sat on the pole at Indy before and he is a wily seasoned veteran. Teamed with Alex Tagliani, this could be a formidable mid-pack team next weekend.
But first we have to get through this weekends qualifying action. Bruno at Conquest makes 36 car/driver combinations, which is three too many. So we will have some fierce bumping action on Sunday as long as it doesn’t rain and as long as these calculated risks taken on veterans don’t turn out to bite the teams with a wadded up car.
One thing is for certain, with Bruno and Tomas just added to the field in the last 24 hours, the chances for guys like Stanton Barrett and Mike Conway getting into the field are getting slimmer. Milka Duno may also be under threat, but she tends to qualify well. 3G and Dreyer and Reinbold may have some difficult choices to make this weekend if it looks like their regular full season drivers are not going to make it into the show.
The only other surprise that we might see is AJ Foyt’s third car. As of yet, they have not made any moves to fill the seat. With a 36 strong field, it is unlikely that AJ will drop the cash for an additional entry, but you can’t rule out anything with super tex.
So here is the updated entry list:
| Team | # | Driver |
| AJ Foyt Enterprises | 14 | Vitor Meira |
| AJ Foyt Enterprises | 41 | AJ Foyt IV |
| AJ Foyt Enterprises | 48 | TBA |
| Andretti Green Racing | 7 | Danica Patrick |
| Andretti Green Racing | 11 | Tony Kanaan |
| Andretti Green Racing | 26 | Marco Andretti |
| Andretti Green Racing | 27 | Hideki Mutoh |
| Ganassi/Sam Schmidt | 99 | Alex Lloyd |
| Conquest Racing | 34 | Alex Tagliani |
| Conquest Racing | 36 | Bruno Junqueira |
| CURB/Agajanian/Team 3G | 98 | Stanton Barrett |
| Dale Coyne Racing | 18 | Justin Wilson |
| Dale Coyne Racing | 19 | Tomas Scheckter |
| Dreyer & Reinbold Racing | 23 | Milka Duno |
| Dreyer & Reinbold Racing | 24 | Mike Conway |
| Dreyer & Reinbold Racing | 44 | Davey Hamilton |
| Petty/Dreyer & Reinbold | 43 | John Andretti |
| Hemelgarn Johnson | 91 | Buddy Lazier |
| HVM Racing | 00 | Nelson Philippe |
| HVM Racing | 13 | EJ Viso |
| KV Racing Technology | 5 | Mario Moraes |
| KV Racing Technology | 8 | Townsend Bell |
| KV Racing Technology | 15 | Paul Tracy |
| Luczo Dragon Racing | 2 | Raphael Matos |
| Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing | 2 | Graham Rahal |
| Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing | 6 | Robert Doornbos |
| Panther Racing | 4 | Dan Wheldon |
| Panther Racing | 16 | Scott Sharp |
| Rahal Letterman Racing | 17 | Oriol Servia |
| Roth Racing | 25 | TBA |
| Roth Racing | 52 | TBA |
| Sarah Fisher Racing | 67 | Sarah Fisher |
| Sarah Fisher Racing | 68 | TBA |
| Target Chip Ganassi Racing | 9 | Scott Dixon |
| Target Chip Ganassi Racing | 10 | Dario Franchitti |
| Team Penske | 3 | Helio Castroneves |
| Team Penske | 6 | Ryan Briscoe |
| Penske Racing | 12 | Will Power |
| Vision Racing | 20 | Ed Carpenter |
| Vision Racing | 21 | Ryan Hunter-Reay |
Sounds like A.J. Scrapped the third car on quali coverag…damn rain!