NorthernLight IRL: Title math so simple, yet so challenging for Buddy Lazier at Texas
30 September 2000
Posted By Terry CallahanMotorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
FORT WORTH- The math looks so simple for Buddy Lazier and the Hemelgarn Racing team, but it might be the most difficult equation theyve ever had to solve.
Lazier needs to finish 13th or better at the season-ending Excite 500 on Oct. 15 at Texas Motor Speedway to clinch his first Northern Light Cup and earn a $1 million bonus as 2000 Indy Racing Northern Light Series champion. Lazier leads second-place Scott Goodyear, 258-220 in the Northern Light Cup standings entering this race.
Even if Goodyear scored a maximum of 55 points in this event, a 13th-place finish with no bonus points would give Lazier 17 points, tying him with Goodyear atop the points with 275. But Lazier would take the title due to his two victories this season in the Delta Faucet/Coors Light/Tae-Bo/Hemelgarn Racing Dallara/Oldsmobile/Firestone. Goodyear is winless entering this event in his Pennzoil Panther Dallara/Oldsmobile/Firestone.
Eddie Cheever Jr., third at 217 points, is the only other driver in mathematical contention for the title. Cheever has one victory this season in the #51 Excite@Home Indy Race Car Dallara/Infiniti/Firestone.
On the surface, Laziers task doesnt look that difficult. After all, he only has two finishes worse than seventh this season, both the result of mechanical failure. His average finish in the first eight races this year is 7.9. He has finished second and first, respectively, in his last two starts.
And Lazier and the Hemelgarn Racing team can be counted on to perform in the spotlight. Just look at their record in the Indianapolis 500 - the biggest stage in auto racing in the world - since 1996. Lazier and Hemelgarn have teamed up to finish seventh or better every year since 1996, including a victory in 1996 and runner-up finishes in 1998 and this year.
So a championship run should be a mere formality, right?
Hardly.
Every racer knows that gremlins can strike at any time. But drivers and teams often have little control over that.
The variable that Texas Motor Speedway adds to the championship equation is tighter competition arguably than at any other track in the Northern Light Series.
Scott Sharp won the Casino Magic 500 by .059 of a second over runner-up Robby McGehee in June at Texas, the closest finish in Indy Racing Northern Light Series history. There were a series-record 31 lead changes among eight drivers, including Lazier. He led 11 times for 62 laps but finished seventh.
And thats the nerve-wracking problem facing Lazier and Hemelgarn Racing. The wheel-to-wheel, inches-apart racing seen in June at Texas probably will be repeated on the high-banked, 1.5-mile oval at this event. So that means that as many as 12 cars will be running in a freight train around the track, side by side. At many points during the Casino Magic 500, less than a second separated first and 12th place.
So its Laziers job to ensure that he stays toward the front of the pack and out of trouble, especially if Goodyear or Cheever are leading.
Qualifying and pit stops will play a vital role in determining track position at this event. Qualifying hasnt been a strong suit of Laziers for most of the season, as he won the MCI WorldCom Indy 200 in March at Phoenix after starting last.
But Lazier qualified a season-best seventh at The Belterra Resort Indy 300 in August at Kentucky Speedway, paving the way to a victory. Lazier started fifth in the season opener at Walt Disney World and first in June at Texas, but the starting grid was determined by entrant points at both of those races after qualifying was rained out.
Pit work also is a strong suit of Hemelgarn Racing, consistently one of the best crews in Indy Racing.
The Northern Light Cup isnt the only title up for grabs at Texas. The battle for RaceSearch.com Rookie of the Year honors is even tighter than the chase for the championship.
Brazilian Airton Dare leads Jeret Schroeder, 124-122, in the standings. Dare finished 10th at Texas in June for Dallas-area team TeamXtreme. Schroeder was 21st in the Tri Star Motorsports entry.
Also in contention for the rookie title are Sam Hornish Jr. with 107 points and Sarah Fisher with 105.
Fisher, who made her Indy Racing debut last October at Texas, might be the dark horse for the RaceSearch.com rookie crown. She finished a career-best third in The Belterra Resort Indy 300 on Aug. 27 at Kentucky Speedway in the Walker Racing Cummins Special Dallara/Oldsmobile/Firestone.
Regardless of which driver takes the Northern Light Cup and RaceSearch.com Rookie of the Year Award, expect a new face in the winners circle at this race. No driver has ever won more than once at Texas in the six previous Indy Racing events contested at the state-of-the-art 1.5-mile oval.
Text provided by Paul Kelly
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