INDY RACING: Northern Light Series Notebook
Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
August 24, 2001Schmidt to field two new drivers at Gateway; Walker switches to Menard power
INDIANAPOLIS - One week ago, Sam Schmidt Motorsports was a team without a driver. What a difference a week makes. Schmidt's team will field two cars in an Indy Racing Northern Light Series event for the first time in its initial season, as Alex Barron and Anthony Lazzaro will make their Indy Racing League debuts with the team at the Gateway Indy 250 on Aug. 26 at Gateway International Raceway near St. Louis. Barron, 31, from San Diego, will drive the No. 99 Sam Schmidt Motorsports Racing Special Dallara/Oldsmobile/Firestone vacated by Jaques Lazier last week. Lazier suddenly left the team last week to replace the released Greg Ray at Team Menard.
Lazzaro, 37, from Acworth, Ga., will drive the No. 44 Parsons Project G Force/Oldsmobile/Firestone. He passed his Indy Racing League rookie test in a Schmidt-owned car Aug. 17 at Gateway. The co-owner of the car is Ray Parsons, a businessman from Belleville, Ohio, who suffered a spinal-cord injury and is a quadriplegic, like team owner Sam Schmidt.
"This is the epitome of what the IRL is about, giving opportunity to talented, open-wheel American drivers to compete at the highest level of the sport and to have the chance to participate in the greatest race of all, the Indy 500," Schmidt said. "As a team, I believe it demonstrates the incredible amount of persistence by the entire Sam Schmidt Motorsports organization to continue to bounce back from set backs and campaign competitive efforts without the comparable funding of some other teams.
"It is important to point out that it is the formula of the IRL that allows us to be competitive even though we are a smaller team."
Barron competed in CART from 1998-2000 with All-American Racers, Penske Racing and Dale Coyne Racing, with a best finish of eighth last year on the 2-mile oval at Fontana, Calif. He won the Toyota Atlantic championship in 1997 and competed against his new team owner, Schmidt, in U.S. F2000 in 1996.
"It's always exciting when you know you have an opportunity in a competitive car," Barron said. "Sam Schmidt Motorsports has certainly demonstrated their ability this season. I know that Sam is anxious to continue making progress through the year-end, and I believe we have the tools to do just that."
Lazzaro was the 1999 KOOL/Toyota Atlantic champion and has eight career wins in that series. In addition, Lazzaro has experience in the American Le Mans Series, NASCAR Busch Series, Grand National Division and the USAC Formula Ford 2000 series. He is a class winner of the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona and won the F2000 portion of the prestigious "Night Before the 500" in 1994 at Indianapolis Raceway Park.
"This has been a long time coming," Lazzaro said. "I really have to thank Sam for stepping up and all the guys at Treadway/Hubbard Racing. I am looking forward to making my IRL debut at St. Louis. It's a great track that pays a premium for getting the car to handle well in race conditions and after the test, I feel really good about getting a solid finish on the board."
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Walker switches engine builders: A Menard-built Oldsmobile engine will power Sarah Fisher for the first time when she drives the No. 15 Walker Racing Kroger Special Dallara/Oldsmobile/Firestone in the Gateway Indy 250 this weekend.
"We had a generous offer from Butch Meyer and the Menard Engine Development program for the St. Louis race," team owner Derrick Walker said. "We're in the later part of the 2001 season and have been evaluating all aspects of our program, so this was an opportunity we needed to take advantage of, based on their winning history."
Menard engines have won two Indy Racing League championships, nine races and 22 poles since the league's debut in 1996.
"We're very pleased to have Walker Racing and Sarah Fisher come on board with us," said Butch Meyer, Menard Engine Development general manager. "Derrick Walker and his team have an excellent reputation and team, and we think we will be a good fit together."
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The big jump: Kaptain Robbie Knievel will attempt to jump $10 million worth of Indy Racing cars before the start of the Chevy 500 Indy Racing Northern Light Series finale Sept. 16 at Texas Motor Speedway. Knievel will attempt to jump 20 cars, a distance of approximately 175 feet. The cars will be lined up just like the start of the race - 10 rows of cars parked nose-to-tail, two cars wide. The cars are valued at $10 million.
"I'm really excited to be jumping at Texas Motor Speedway," Knievel said. "Not only am I jumping 10 million dollars worth of Indy cars, it will be another huge record to add to my 31-year jumping career."
Said Eddie Gossage, Texas Motor Speedway general manager: "This jump is about the same distance of a 55- or 60-yard field goal. With 10 million dollars worth of Indy cars between the ramps, it is obviously important to Kaptain Robbie Knievel's health and our bank account that he makes it completely over the gap and doesn't damage himself or these expensive cars."
In April 1989, Knievel successfully jumped the fountains at Las Vegas' Caesar's Palace Hotel where his father, legendary stunt man, Evel Knievel, suffered his famous accident in 1969. In February 1999, the younger Knievel successfully completed the "Building-to-Building Death Jump," jumping from roof top to roof top 13 stories above the ground in Las Vegas.
In February 2000, Knievel jumped over a speeding train that destroyed his take-off ramp in Palestine, Texas. In May 2000, Knievel jumped a 231-foot gap over the Grand Canyon.
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Hot laps: A.J. Foyt IV, grandson of four-time Indianapolis 500 winner A.J. Foyt, was unable to start the feature in his USAC Coors Light Silver Bullet Series debut Aug. 18 at Springfield, Ill., after he hit the outside wall and flipped during qualifying due to a stuck throttle. Foyt was unhurt ...The repaving of Texas Motor Speedway is nearing completion as crews have applied the final layer of asphalt to the racing surface of the 1.5-mile oval. The project is on schedule, as the speedway received its final layer of the granite-based asphalt paving last week. Work continues to finish the drainage and paving on the speedway apron. Striping of the race surface will begin shortly ... Indy Racing standout Robbie Buhl was a co-grand marshal of the seventh annual Woodward Dream Cruise on Aug. 18 in Detroit, the largest single-day car show in the world, attracting 1.6 million people. Buhl also accepted a check of $1,000 from the Citizens of Ferndale, Mich., for Racing For Kids, the national charity for which Buhl serves as national spokesperson. Buhl visited patients at Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital on Aug. 23 in St. Louis as part of his extensive work with Racing For Kids.
Text provided by Paul Kelly
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