IRL: Knapp on the mend, eager to return to driver's seat
10 September 1999
INDIANAPOLIS - Pep Boys Indy Racing League driver Steve Knapp will wear a neck brace for another eight weeks and he's undergoing therapy on his right shoulder, but he already has plans to get back in a race car."I hope to do something in mid to late November," Knapp said Sept. 8 from his Elite Engines business office in suburban Chicago. Knapp is getting antsy to get back into the action. He made his first public-relations appearance Sept. 9 in Indianapolis for sponsor Delco Remy.
"And I bought my (airline) ticket for Las Vegas (the Vegas.com 500 on Sept. 26) yesterday," he said.
Knapp, the 1998 Indianapolis 500 Bank One Rookie of the Year, was injured July 17 in a backstretch crash during the Kobalt Mechanics Tools 500 presented by MCI WorldCom at Atlanta Motor Speedway. He was driving the Delco Remy-Microphonics-Fuz.com-ISM Racing G Force/Aurora/Goodyear. He suffered a cracked vertebrae that required bone replacement in surgery, and he stretched ligaments in his shoulder.
Famed racing surgeon Dr. Terry Trammell of Indianapolis did the operation. Knapp made a recent visit to Trammell and was informed the bone replacement is growing and everything was progressing well. Knapp now can remove his neck brace to sleep.
Knapp also is able to visit his business office, but his work duties are limited to paying bills.
About the Atlanta race, Knapp said the engine had lost power early. "The series is getting so competitive every lap you run you learn something," Knapp said. "Watching (the Colorado Indy 200 presented by Deloitte & Touche) on TV, it gets frustrating because you know you are getting so far behind."
But Knapp took the time to e-mail a thank you to TV race commentator Jack Arute, who made note of Knapp's physical status. Knapp also applauded his fellow competitors for putting on a fine race.
"What a race," he wrote. "The whole program was awesome! I was laying in my bed with my stop watch checking race speeds."
Knapp's company builds 2-liter Formula 2000 racing engines. General manager Rob Ernst and other employees have kept things going at a normal pace during the boss' absence.
"It just shows that I'm really not needed," Knapp said with a laugh. "Hey, you've got to keep your sense of humor at a time like this."
Construction races on at Speedway: The Timing & Scoring control booth just behind the Tower Terrace grandstands at the start-finish line of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is the latest and last remaining structure from the past to fall to the wrecker's claw.
It was demolished Sept. 7 as work continues at a feverish pace in preparation for the inaugural United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis on Sept. 24, 1999.
Meanwhile, the Formula One garages on the south end of the pits are beginning to take shape. The pit surface from the start-finish line south has been removed and will be widened to accommodate F1 pit stops. Tunnel 6, which handles auto and pedestrian traffic from the west side of the track off Georgetown Road, has been closed until next spring so it can be extended.
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Indy Racing aspirants reach milestones: Michael Lang of Indianapolis and Nick "Nokie" Fornoro of Reeders, Pa., both still harboring hopes of getting Pep Boys Indy Racing League rides for 2000, chalked up milestone achievements last weekend.
Lang clinched his fifth Indianapolis Speedrome Midget Car Series championship by scoring his record 54th win at the 1/5th-mile track on the city's east side. It was his sixth USAC championship in a row since he won the 16th Street Speedway title in 1998 after capturing four straight Speedrome titles.
Fornoro scored his 100th career midget victory when he took the checkered flag at Oswego (N.Y.) Speedway. It was a memorable win in more ways than one since he got it by a mere 9 inches over second place Phil DiMario. Among the race entrants was Davey Hamilton, who has finished second the last two seasons in the Pep Boys Indy Racing League standings.
Brian Tyler, J.J. Yeley, Jack Hewitt and Donnie Beechler, all of whom have competed in Indy Racing events, ran in the Southern Illinoisan 100 Coors Light Silver Bullet Series race on Labor Day at DuQuoin, Ill. Tyler had the best finish of the quartet with a fifth. Dave Darland won the race.
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Hot laps: A freestyle motocross-jumping exhibition promoted by Indy Racing standout Davey Hamilton will be part of the pre-race show before the Vegas.com 500 on Sept. 26 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Riders will perform tricks while jumping between 75 and 125 feet ... Pep Boys Indy Racing League rookie Robby McGehee helped unveil the Energizer show car in his - and Energizer's - hometown over Labor Day weekend at the St. Louis County Fair & Air Show. Besides signing autographs for the tens of thousands of fair patrons, McGehee got a rare treat by flying along with one of the five high-performance prop planes of the famed Northern Lights Aerobatic Team ... The Dallas Morning News has become the sponsor of PPG Pole qualifying at the season-ending Lone Star 500 on Sept. 25 at Texas Motor Speedway ... Die-cast replicas of the Nienhouse Motorsports Racing Special driven by Eliseo Salazar are available for $5 through the team. Orders for the 1/64th-scale cars must be received by Sept. 13. Call (765) 482-6664 for more information or to order.
Editors Note: For hundreds of hot racing photos and racing art, be sure to visit The Racing ImageGalleries and the Visions of Speed Art Gallery.