LOCAL HERO LAZIER FINISHES EIGHTH FOR CHEVY IN PIKES PEAK IRL
RACE
FOUNTAIN, Colo., Aug. 22, 2004 - The thunderhead that inundated Pikes
Peak International Raceway on Saturday was a forerunner of the dark cloud
that followed Tomas Scheckter and the Pennzoil Panther Racing team in the
Honda Indy 225. After starting 13th, Scheckter drove his Chevy-powered
Dallara through the 22-car field to second position on the 138th lap.
Scheckter was again in contention for a victory, just as he was in the
preceding races in Michigan and Kentucky - but then the misfortune that has
dogged the Panther Racing team this season spoiled the day when a halfshaft
(rear axle) broke as Scheckter was leaving his pit stall on Lap 161. Dario
Franchitti scored his second victory of the season in a Honda Dallara.
"I'm still shell-shocked," said Scheckter. "We just had an awesome car
and to have it end like this is like falling off a cliff.
"I could run high or low and Chevy gave us a great engine," the
South African continued. "Talk about a great heartbeat - we were cookin'
all day. To have it end like it did was a huge disappointment for all of
us, but we'll learn from this and come back stronger at Nazareth. We're
tough, we'll be back."
With Scheckter on the sidelines, local favorite Jaques Lazier, a
former resident of Vail, Colo., turned in his best performance of the
season with Patrick Racing, finishing eighth with the Stacker 2 Chevrolet
Dallara.
"Eighth for this team at this stage of the game is like a
victory," declared the elated Lazier. "It was an eventful day. I think we
might have had something at the end, but it's so competitive out there that
it's difficult to gain positions."
Lazier started 14th and was able to capitalize on an out-of-sequence
pit stop to finish on the lead lap.
"We're getting stronger and stronger," he said. "We've got the chassis
now where it's working well and we're able to utilize all of the Chevy
power. We're going to keep moving forward."
Lazier relishes the next race at Nazareth (Pa.) Speedway, the
final short-track race of the season for the IRL IndyCar Series.
"I'm definitely looking forward to going to Nazareth," Lazier said.
"We had a good car here today, and that tells us that we had a good
mechanical setup. Nazareth is all about mechanical grip so we'll try to
continue this momentum."
Alex Barron continued his steady performance for Red Bull Cheever
Racing, notching his fifth top-10 finish of the season.
"Everything went flawless and we found out a lot about the car
this weekend," said Barron. "We had too much understeer at the start of the
race, and after we dialed that out we were able to run consistently.
Unfortunately the last yellow caught us out and we lost some positions.
Still, we need to find more speed. Top-10s are not what we want; we need
top-fives every weekend."
Barron's rookie teammate Ed Carpenter delivered another
rock-solid performance on a short track to bring his Red Bull Chevrolet
Dallara home in 11th place.
"Our car was the best it's been all weekend," said Carpenter. "As
the track rubbered in, our car got a lot better. The radios weren't working
well and I couldn't hear the call to come into the pits for fuel. I stayed
out an extra lap and the engine was on fumes. It died and had to be
restarted on a green-flag stop. Then on the next stop under yellow a wheel
gun didn't work.
"We were two laps down and battled back one lap," Carpenter reported.
"The longer we ran, the better the car got. We were a bit behind at the
start of the weekend, but I'm happy to roll the car into the trailer and
get ready for the next race."
Townsend Bell gambled on an alternative pit strategy but didn't get
the break he needed. He broke into the top 10 with Panther Racing's
Menards/Johns Manville Chevrolet Dallara before finishing 12th.
"We were really quick at the end of the race, but earlier we took a
gamble with pit strategy and unfortunately it didn't pay off," said Bell.
"On our second stop we had some miscommunication and we took wing
(downforce) out of the front when we should have put more in, and that
really caused us some problems.
"Chevy races to win," Bell noted, "and Tommy (Tomas Scheckter) and I
were right there once again."
Felipe Giaffone fought handling problems in the closing stages of the
race and soldiered to a 16th place finish in the Team Purex/Dreyer &
Reinbold Racing Chevrolet Dallara.
"We were having a good weekend, but we're missing something in our
setup on short tracks," said Giaffone. "We still have Nazareth next week
and we have to make things better. As the race goes on, the car goes wicked
loose and I just can't drive it. The first part of the race was OK, just
like Milwaukee and Nashville, we're good in the first half. But then the
car goes really loose and I'm saving it to keep it out of the wall."
The IRL IndyCar Series will conclude its string of three races on
three consecutive weekends with the final race to be held at historic
Nazareth Speedway. The Firestone Indy 225, the 13th round of the 16-race
IndyCar Series, will start at 2 p.m. EDT on Sunday, August 29, and will be
televised live on ABC.
RACE SUMMARY
Track: Pikes Peak International Raceway, 1-mile oval
Winner: Dario Franchitti, Andretti Green Racing Honda Dallara
Margin of Victory: 2.2429 seconds
Average Speed: 142.182 mph
Pole: Tony Kanaan/Honda, 174.311 mph (starting grid determined by
practice speeds)
Fastest Lap: Dan Wheldon/Honda, 169.109 mph
RESULTS
Pos./Driver/Engine/Laps
1. Dario Franchitti/Honda, 225
2. Adrian Fernandez/Honda, 225
3. Dan Wheldon/Honda, 225
4. Darren Manning/Toyota, 225
5. Tony Kanaan/Honda, 225
8. Jaques Lazier/Chevrolet, 225
10. Alex Barron/Chevrolet, 224
11. Ed Carpenter/Chevrolet, 224
12. Townsend Bell/Chevrolet, 223
16. Felipe Giaffone/Chevrolet, 219
17. Tomas Scheckter/Chevrolet, 161 (half shaft)
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS (After 12 of 16 events)
Driver/Engine/Points (victories in parentheses)
1. Tony Kanaan/Honda, 463 (3)
2. Buddy Rice/Honda, 395 (3)
3. Dan Wheldon/Honda, 381 (2)
4. Helio Castroneves/Toyota, 326
5. Sam Hornish Jr./Toyota, 295 (1)
Manufacturer/Points (victories in parentheses)
1. Honda, 117 (11)
2. Toyota, 83 (1)
3. Chevrolet, 64
NEXT EVENT
August 29, Firestone Indy 225, Nazareth Speedway, 1-mile oval
TV: ABC, 2 p.m. EDT
