IRL: Vegas Crowd Favorite Schmidt Scores First Career Win
27 September 1999
Posted By Terry
Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
LAS VEGAS - Sam Schmidt passed Kenny Brack with three
laps
remaining to win the Vegas.com 500 Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, his
first career Pep Boys Indy Racing League victory."I felt like we had the best car out there," Schmidt said. "It was kind of like Catch me if you can. I dont mean to sound arrogant, but we just had a great package today."
Schmidt, from Las Vegas, took the lead for good on Lap 206 of the 208-lap race in the Sprint PCS G Force/Aurora/Firestone on the 1.5-mile tri-oval. He earned $146,200 and averaged 124.936 mph in a race slowed by 11 caution periods. Schmidt jumped from 12th to third in the Pep Boys Indy Racing League point standings.
Brack finished second, .617 of a second behind Schmidt in the A.J. Foyt Power Team Racing G Force/Aurora/Goodyear. The finish moved him into second-place in the point standings with 242, just 13 behind Greg Rays 255 entering the season-ending Lone Star 500 on Oct. 17 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas.
In his first Indy Racing start since his sixth-place performance in the Indianapolis 500 in May, Robbie Buhl finished third after starting 21st in the Tri Star Motorsports Inc. Dallara/Aurora/Goodyear. This finish ties his best finish of the season, which came at Phoenix in March.
Scott Sharp finished fourth in the Delphi Automotive Systems Dallara/Aurora/Goodyear and also moved into fourth in the points. Buzz Calkins finished fifth after starting 16th in the Bradley Foodmarts/Sav-O-Mat G Force/Aurora/Firestone.
Ray remains the series points leader despite finishing 21st in the Glidden-Menards Dallara/Aurora/Firestone. Ray brought out a yellow after contact with Mark Dismore on Lap 105. He returned to the track but retired shortly after with engine problems.
Scott Goodyear dropped to fifth in the standings with 207 points after finishing 25th due to an early-race accident in Turn 4 on Lap 48 in the Pennzoil Panther G Force/Aurora/Goodyear.
Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year Robby McGehee finished sixth in the Energizer Advanced Formula Dallara/Aurora/Firestone machine. The finish moved McGehee to the front of the Sprint PCS Rookie of the Year points chase. He leads Scott Harrington by one point with 138 points. Jaques Lazier and John Hollansworth Jr. follow with 118 and 116, respectively, entering Texas.
Donnie Beechler, driver of the Big Daddys BBQ Sauce and Spices Dallara/Aurora/Firestone car, was transported by ambulance to the University Medical Center in Las Vegas for a precautionary examination after an accident. Beechler was reporting soreness in his neck and chest.
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