Team Will Fill Brayton’s Spot Manager Intends To Select Sub Today For Driver Killed In Crash

A day after Scott Brayton was killed during practice for the Indianapolis 500, his racing team said it intended to put another driver in Brayton’s car.

Team Menard manager Larry Curry said Saturday he had talked with car owner John Menard and they agreed that Brayton had worked too hard for them to let the car sit in the garage on race day.

“We want to race the car in the race … As a tribute to him, we need to race the car,” Curry said. “Who that will be, how that will be orchestrated, I can’t answer yet.”

He said a decision on a driver will be made by today to give him time to practice before the final session of qualifying.

Five others qualified on Saturday, pushing the field to 31 cars. The field average of 227.991 mph is more than 1 mph faster than the record set last year.

Curry said he had talked to Speedway president Tony George about a tribute to Brayton on the pace lap of the May 26 race.

“I said, ‘Can we do a salute to Scotty on race day where the car lines up behind the pace car, whoever’s in it, drives a ceremonial lap pacing the field, blends into the pit lane, lets the field go by so the teams can salute, and then comes out of the pit lane in turn two and blends into the end of the field?”’

He said George did not give an answer, although he had the impression that George seemed to “want to do something.”

Brayton had won the pole position. Speedway rules require a substitute driver or car to start from the rear of the field. That would give the pole to Brayton’s rookie teammate, Tony Stewart, who qualified on the front row last week between Brayton and Davy Jones.

Four other rookies and veteran Johnny Parsons joined the tentative lineup in Saturday’s qualifications, while another rookie, Dan Drinan, survived a crash during a morning practice and will undergo surgery for a broken hip within a few days.

The five new qualifiers left two spots to fill in the 33-car lineup.