PHOENIX 200 UPDATE
Stewart Gets The Pole
PHOENIX, Saturday, March 22, 1997 Tony Stewart toured the one-mile
Phoenix International Raceway oval at 170.012 miles an hour Saturday to grab
the pole position for Sunday's $1,146,400 Indy Racing League Phoenix 200.
Stewart became the first driver to exceed 170 miles an hour on a qualifying
lap with the IRL's new car/engine combination and the first IRL driver to
claim the $10,000 bonus prize to go with the regular posting of $10,000 for
the PPG Pole Award.
It was the second straight IRL pole for the Indianapolis driver, who also
won the pole for the Indy 200 at Walt Disney World in January and used the
same Glidden/Menard Special G Force/Oldsmobile Aurora for both runs.
Jim Guthrie of Albuquerque, driving the Blueprint Racing Dallara/Aurora,
was second to Stewart with a lap at 169.484 and claimed his best career IRL
starting spot. His previous best in five previous races was ninth at Walt
Disney World. Guthrie was a steady front runner at P.I.R. throughout testing
and practice and looked forward to his first front-row start.
"I guess I'd liken it to the David and Goliath story," Guthrie said. "I'd
like to slay the giant, maybe here, maybe at Indy (the Indianapolis 500 on
May 25). This engine has 640 miles on it. I hope it can go 840. We've
rebuilt it three times but it's in good shape for this race."
Scott Goodyear of Canada and Arie Luyendyk of Scottsdale, Ariz., teammates
for Treadway Racing, nailed down second-row starting spots. Goodyear checked
in at 166.044 in the Treadway Racing/NORTEL G Force/Aurora and Luyendyk, the
P.I.R. track record holder, was at 165.784 in the Treadway Racing/WavePhore
G Force/Aurora.
"That thing was really rockin'," Stewart said of his qualifying run. "In
the last practice run, we got the car nailed down. I thought we could get a
little more (speed). Before qualifying, we played with the gears and the
aerodynamics and it paid off. We're happy getting poles, but need to get the
monkey off our back in the race."
Stewart has led five of the six IRL races to date but is still looking for
his first victory for Team Menard.
In all, 20 drivers qualified Saturday and 1996 IRL co-champion Scott Sharp
and rookie Affonso Giaffone were added to the field.
Buzz Calkins, who qualified for fifth starting position, hit the wall in
Turn 4 during the final practice session. Calkins was uninjured, but the car
sustained heavy left side and left rear damage.
The Phoenix 200 will be televised live by ABC Sports and also carried live
on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network. Starting time is 2 p.m.
Phoenix time (4 p.m. EST).
Car Driver Car Name C/E/T Time Speed
ROW 1
1 2 Tony Stewart Glidden/Menard/Special G/A/F 21.175 170.012
2 27 * Jim Guthrie Blueprint Racing D/A/F 21.241 169.484
ROW 2
3 6 Scott Goodyear Treadway Racing/NORTEL G/A/F 21.681 166.044
4 5 W Arie Luyendyk Treadway Racing/WavePhore G/A/F 21.715 165.784
ROW 3
5 3 Robbie Buhl Menard/Quaker State/Special G/A/F 21.956 163.964
6 16 R* Sam Schmidt Blueprint Racing D/A/F 21.973 163.837
ROW 4
7 51 Eddie Cheever, Jr. FirstPlus Team Cheever G/A/G 22.017
163.510
8 22 Marco Greco Intl Sports Ltd/Scandia/Alta/Xcel/Royal Purple D/A/G
22.019 163.495
ROW 5
9 4 R* Kenny Brack Monsoon Galles Racing G/A/G 22.027 163.436
10 21 W Roberto Guerrero Pennzoil Racing D/I/G 22.075
163.080
ROW 6
11 18 John Paul, Jr. Klipsch Tnemec V-Line Earl's D/A/G 22.100 162.896
12 30 R* Jeret Schroeder McCormack Motorsports G/A/G 22.136 162.631
ROW 7
13 91 Buddy Lazier Delta Faucet-Montana-Hemelgarn Racing D/I/F 22.148
162.543
14 14 Davey Hamilton AJ Foyt/Power Team Racing G/A/G 22.161 162.448
ROW 8
15 33 * Fermin Velez Mi-Jack Scandia Alta Xcel Royal Purple D/A/G 22.235
161.907
16 10 Mike Groff Jonathan Byrd's Cafeteria Bryant Heating & Cooling
G/I/F 22.520 159.858
ROW 9
17 50 R* Billy Roe Eurointernational Dallara Aurora D/A/F 22.650 158.940
18 40 R* Jack Miller AMS Crest Racing D/A/F 22.779 158.040
ROW 10
19 77 Stephan Gregoire Miller-Eads Co/Chastain Motorsports G/A/G 23.235
154.939
20 1 Scott Sharp Conseco/AJ Foyt Racing G/A/G NT NS
ROW 11
21 17 R* Affonso Giaffone General Motors of Brazil/Chitwood/Dallara D/A/G
NT NS
22 12 # Buzz Calkins Bradley Foodmarts G/A/G 21.947 164.032
# Started backup car at the end of field after originally qualified car was
damaged in final practice.
PPG Pole Winner: Tony Stewart
True Value Pole Winning Chief Mechanic: John O'Gara/Team Menard, Inc.
Legend: W- Past Phoenix Winner
*- Indy Racing League Series Rookie
R- Phoenix 200 Rookie
Chassis Legend: D- Dallara; G- G Force
Engine Legend: A- Oldsmobile Aurora; I- Nissan Infiniti
Tire Legend: F- Firestone; G- Goodyear
