Alonso was bumped from the Indy 500 field by 23-year-old Kyle Kaiser with Juncos RacingGETTY IMAGES
McClaren Racing CEO Zak Brown said that the team "would not be buying out another entrant" to get Fernando Alonso into Sunday's Indianapolis 500 after he failed to qualify, according to Jenna Fryer of the AP. The McLaren miss is "one of the biggest failures in Indy 500 history," as the team came to IMS with "every inch of its car sold in sponsorship and guaranteed to turn a profit." Brown said, "We don’t want to buy in. We want to earn it. Anyone can buy in. We want to get in on merit." Meanwhile, Juncos Racing "lost its two primary sponsors" for driver Kyle Kaiser "right before opening day and spent most of this week in an unmarked white car." After qualifying, Kaiser's phone is "buzzing, potential sponsors are lining up," and he has "vowed to have a covered car" for the race (AP, 5/19).
COST OF DOING BUSINESS: Carlin Racing drivers Max Chilton and Patricio O'Ward both failed to qualify for Sunday's race, and team Owner Trevor Carlin before the Last Row Shootout took place yesterday tweeted, "If it costs us a sponsor [and] we’re not here next year, that’ll be the reason. But we knew the rules when we signed up, so I’m not gonna bleat about it. There’s consequences." He added, "If you don’t get in the biggest race of the year, you have unhappy sponsors. If you have unhappy sponsors, the sharks around here are going to try and steal them. That’s a high price for .1 mph or whatever it will be. But that’s what makes it the event it is" (INDYSTAR.com, 5/19).
SPEED THINGS UP: In Indianapolis, Anthony Schoettle reported online marketplace platform DeliverEnd is “rolling out an app" on Sunday that "helps people and companies sell items online locally." To help promote its product, DeliverEnd has “signed a sponsorship deal with new IndyCar racing team Harding Steinbrenner Racing and its driver Colton Herta.” The company is “focusing on the Indianapolis market initially, but will launch marketing campaigns” in Cincinnati, Columbus, Cleveland, Louisville and Chicago “later this summer.” Given the “strong business-to-business network in the IndyCar paddock as well as the Indianapolis 500’s mass appeal among U.S. consumers, the sponsorship should be a good fit to help” the app's launch. DeliverEnd’s sponsorship “stretches beyond” the Indy 500, and DeliverEnd Founder & CEO Nick Turner “expects to use races in other markets to make a splash for his startup” (IBJ.com, 5/17).
