The Callahan Report from Indianapolis, May 27

27 May 1997

Arie Luyendyk won the Indy 500 in dramatic fashion. The last 13 laps were the most exciting in recent memory.

Steve Kinser came down on Buzz Calkins in turn four on lap 187. Kinser spun and hit the wall hard. Calkins maintained control and continued. Lyn St. James was a victim of circumstance and went into the wall as well. She travel the length of the straightaway before coming to a stop in the first turn.

Stewart, Ward, and Buhl came in for a dash of fuel at the end of the sequence. Luyendyk and Goodyear did not. The field was bunched. It was a sprint race to the finish.

With five laps to go, the track went yellow again for a mirror that was in the groove on the track. This was the break that Luyendyk and Goodyear needed. They were very low on fuel.

The track went green with three laps to go with Luyendyk in the lead. Goodyear in second place;, Lazier and Ward close behind.

Stewart brushed the wall on lap 198 coming of the forth turn bringing out the yellow for one lap. The track went green for the final lap. Luyendyk out dueled Goodyear the last lap by 0.5 seconds.

USAC caused problems on the last lap as the light went green then yellow and back to green. Goodyear was furious with the controversy.

A complete report will be posted this evening.

The Top Five:

Arie Luyendyk
Scott Goodyear
Jeff Ward
Buddy Lazier
Tony Stewart

Carlson Spins:

INDIANAPOLIS: Tyce Carlson, in his first Indy 500, lost control coming off of turn two on lap 163. Carlson did two complete spins and lightly tapped the inside retaining wall on the backstretch. Carlson was uninjured.

The leader of the race, Jeff Ward pitted immediately. Luyendyk and Stewart are expected to pit at the end of the yellow sequence. Ward will not be able to make it to the finish without another stop. If the yellow remains on long enough, Luyendyk and Stewart may be able to make it on one stop if there is another yellow.

Indy 500: Three Quarters Through

INDIANAPOLIS: The engine reliability that has caused great concern all month has not been a factor so far in the 81st running of the Indy 500. At the three quarter point (150 laps), eight cars have been eliminated due to reasons other than crashes. Not all of those eight dropouts were engine related.

The surprise of the day is Jeff Ward. Ward, a former motocross rider, is driving for First Plus Team Cheever. He is leading the Indianapolis 500. The Scotsman is on sequence with the leaders and is just flat out beating the competition at the three quarter point. Ward pitted first on the last yellow light. The other drivers waited until later in the yellow sequence before pitting.

The teams will pit one or two more times for the race.

Ward, Stewart, Luyendyk, Goodyear, Lazier and Buhl are the top six. They are all on the lead lap.

Miller Crashes

Dr. Jack Miller lost control coming off of turn three on lap 135. He hit the wall sending debris into the path of Mike Groff. Groff spun avoiding the trashed car of Miller. Both drivers were uninjured. Groff wanted his car towed to the pits for a tire change and a quick check by the crew.

Billy Roe and Paul Durant Crash

INDIANAPOLIS: On lap 113 of the Indy 500, Billy Roe driving the Sega sponsored car got together with Paul Durant going into turn one. Roe came down across the front of Durant's car and touched wheels. Both cars hit the wall very hard. Durant was driving the number 1 Conseco sponsored car.

Roe got out of his car unassisted. Durant was placed on a stretcher after being fitted with a neck brace. Pual Durant is awake and alert.

Roe was running 13th, Durant was running 8th.

Robbie Buhl is leading as some of the teams make pit stops under the yellow.

The Halfway Report:

INDIANAPOLIS: We have a battle. Luyendyk and Tony Stewart are running just a few car lengths from each other. They are both flying through traffic effortlessly.

The First Plus Team Cheever is having a good race. It is the rookie Jeff Ward that is doing the driving. Eddie Cheever had a timing chain broke at lap 81.

Lazier running in third place, reported that his motor is "no longer pulling" on lap 86. His speed dropped off six miles per hour. Cars quickly gained on him as he fell back through the field. Lee Kunzman and Ron Hemelgarn said they don't have a problem. They claimed that Kinser was holding them up. They were right. Lazier picked up speed again after finally getting around Kinser.

The yellow came out on lap 93 bunching up the field. Salazar stalled in turn two. His car was repaired after a crash earlier in the race.

There will be another drag race when the green flies. There is close battles throughout the field. Seven cars are on the lead lap. The leader remains Arie Luyendyk, Stewart 2nd, Lazier 3rd, Goodyear 4th, followed by Buhl, Sospiri, Ward, Hamilton, Durant, and Boat.

The track went green again on lap 99 and held the lead through the halfway point.

Seventy-Five Laps Complete:

Arie Luyendyk and Tony Stewart continue their battle. Every restart is a drag race. Luyendyk won the last time around. Luyendyk passed Stewart going into turn one on the restart after Jim Guthrie's blown engine.

As the leaders began the second round of stops, Luyendyk was the leader by 3 seconds over Tony Stewart. Robbie Buhl was ten seconds behind the leader. He had a long pit stop (22 seconds) There were ten cars on the lead lap.

Lap 60 Report:

After the first round of pit stops, The running order shows Stewart on top, Luyendyk in second, Buhl in third.

Tony Stewart has lost his telemetry back to the pits. The team is going on experience to call their pit stops.

Kinser is running in seventeenth after his mishap earlier in the race. Dismore, Guerrero, and Salazar are still on the pit lane and have not officially withdrawn from the race. Crews are furiously attempting to repair those cars.

The motor's dead was the call from Jim Guthrie on lap 35. Guthrie, the Phoenix winner, fell seven laps behind in the fifteen laps ran yesterday due to an engine problem. This afternoon he slowed on the backstretch. He had ran out of fuel. Guthrie was refueled and he got underway, losing another eight laps to the race leader, Tony Stewart. Guthrie ran a few more laps and his engine blew, bringing out the yellow flag on lap 58.

Robby Gordon Burned. Kisner In Chain Reaction Accident

INDIANAPOLIS (11:20 AM): On the first green flag lap of the re-start of the rain delayed Indy 500, Robby Gordon pulled to the inside of the track and stopped. Gordon jumped out of the car and rolled on the ground. Gordon said he didnt know what happended.. He said the car caught fire coming out of two and burned his lower legs. Gordon quickly extinquished the fire himself and imeadiately turned his attention to the car. He jumped back in the car and was towed to the pits.

On the restart after Gordon's incident, Steve Kinser ran into the back of Eliseo Salazar. The accident caught Mark Dismore and Roberto Guerrero as well. All the drivers involved went to the pits, eventually, with damaged race cars. None were injured.

After 26 laps....Johnny Rutherford, the pace car driver is the lap leader. Tony Stewart is the race leader.

Third Time's A Charm

INDIANAPOLIS (10:50AM): Today we will race. After two days of rain, The Indy 500 is just about to get underway. The cars are lined single file in the pit lane. The drivers are pulling on their helmets and getting into their speed machines.

The crowd is about half of what was here yesterday for the "first postponement". Mother nature has played a cruel trick on the speedway and its fans. Today will be a good day to hold stock in a video tape company. VCRs across the country are running as most of the race fans had to go back to work today.

Tony George addressed he crowd and thanked them for their loyalty. He said "you are truly the greatest race fans in the world. This race wouldn't be possible without the support you have shown." He told the drivers "you are all winners in our hearts."

The field will run two or three laps under yellow. The laps will count. The pace car will pull off and this race will finally be underway.

The skies are partly sunny with no rain expected until later this evening.

Terry Callahan -- The Auto Channel