Outlaws' Star Eyes Starts At Indy, Other IRL Races In 2003

Dollansky's Rookie Test At Texas Postponed Due To Cold Weather

By Joe Crowley indyracing.com

Pennzoil World of Outlaws standout Craig Dollansky was unable to begin his Indy Racing League rookie test due to cold weather Nov. 25 at Texas Motor Speedway.

The test will be rescheduled at a future date.

Dollansky, 36, from Elk River, Minn., finished third in the 2002 Pennzoil World of Outlaws point standings. He had planned to take his rookie test with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, which fielded cars for Robbie Buhl and Sarah Fisher in the 2002 Indy Racing League season.

Despite not starting his test, Dollansky took five laps in the car but did not attempt to get it up to speed. He reached 167 mph unofficially while shaking down the car with air temperatures less than 45 degrees and track temperatures slightly more than 50 degrees.

“It felt real good,” Dollansky said. “I felt very comfortable in the car. Unfortunately, the weather is pretty cold right now so it is hard to get the tire temperature where it needs to be. The racetrack is cold, also. We are just going to have to reschedule and come back here again. I definitely like the race cars, I like the high speeds.”

While completing the IRL rookie test is his main goal for now, Dollansky wants to compete in the Indianapolis 500 and other IRL events in the future.

“We are looking to get something done to go to the Indianapolis 500 in 2003,” Dollansky said. “There are a lot of good people behind the deal. Robbie Buhl and everyone at Dreyer & Reinbold have been very good about the whole situation, along with the entire crew. The ultimate goal would be to get something together for Indy next year.

“It is a very good race team to be working with. Scott Boyd from Karavan (Motorsports) is a big part of it and is a big supporter of me. He has helped me do a lot of things. It is going to take a lot of things to happen and to come together. But we are all ready to work at it and get it done.”