Scott Sharp Wins AMBER Alert Portal Indy 300

Wrapped up in glory

By Dave Lewandowski indyracing.com

Sunday Aug 14, 2005

SPARTA, Ky. – Through the lean times that seemed like an eternity and whispers questioning whether he still had “it,” Scott Sharp just strapped on his helmet and persevered.

Entering this season with a new team, he had faith that his abilities in the super-competitive IndyCar Series had not waned at age 37 and corresponding results would be in the offing. He re-dedicated himself to a strenuous workout regimen, seeking to push the No. 8 Delphi Panoz/Honda/Firestone and himself to the limit while putting faith in the top-notch Fernandez Racing team.

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There were early signs of success – three top-5 finishes, including runner-up to Dan Wheldon at Twin Ring Motegi in April – but still the big payoff was missing. Then arose the opportunity in the AMBER Alert Portal Indy 300.

Sharp, starting seventh, took the lead on Lap 169 and held off Rahal Letterman Racing’s Vitor Meira by 0.0779 of a second to give Fernandez Racing its second consecutive victory at the 1.5-mile Kentucky Speedway. Déjà vu? Last year, team co-owner Adrian Fernandez beat Meira’s teammate, pole sitter Buddy Rice, to the checkers by 0.0581 of a second.

In Victory Circle , the veteran of 102 starts in a row was overflowing with emotion as the buckets of water were flowing over his head.

“Sure there are dark times; sure there are people doubting you,” said Sharp, who recorded his ninth career victory and first since Twin Ring Motegi in 2003 (40 races ago). “Sure you doubt yourself when you have people telling you that you can’t drive the car anymore. I just feel when I get in the car I try to go 100 percent.

“But this makes up for a lot. I can’t thank everyone enough.”

Sharp has at least one victory in eight seasons, and the 60 laps led were his first of the season. A 7.1-second final stop for tires and fuel on Lap 171 under yellow (wheel bearing issue on the No. 27 ArcaEx car driven by Dario Franchitti) helped Sharp beat Wheldon off pit lane. On the Lap 175 restart, Sharp got a good jump on Meira and remained on the point. The two jockeyed for position – team co-owner Tom Anderson telling Sharp to hug the white line – the next 15 laps, and Meira was 0.1178 of a second off the pace on Lap 195.

“I knew my only job coming out of that last yellow was to keep the car at the bottom and stay in front of everyone,” Sharp said.

Meira made a low move heading to the finish line, but Sharp held his position. “I wouldn’t give him that option,” he said.

Making that final pass is getting old – and frustrating – for Meira, who is looking for his first victory. This was his fourth runner-up finish over the past two seasons.

“The Menards Johns Manville car kicked butt again,” Meira said. “This team wants to win and deserves to win. We give ourselves chances to win and as long as we are doing that, we are fine. There was no way I could get him on the outside. I would have had to catch him on the restarts, which I didn’t, or pass him on the inside on the last lap. I was waiting for that to happen, trying sixth gear, but couldn’t do it. The important thing is that Menards Johns Manville car was up there again.”

Wheldon, who started alongside pole winner Danica Patrick, finished third to increase his championship points lead to 90 over Sam Hornish Jr. (365). Alex Barron was a season-high fourth and Helio Castroneves rounded out the top five.

“I think it was a good result for the Klein Tools/Jim Beam car today, but it was a real shame that my three teammates didn't finish the race,” said Wheldon, referring to mechanical issues that forced all three to the pits early. “I think from a championship standpoint, it doesn't look too bad."

Patrick, who led the field to the green flag based on her combined practice speed (217.516 mph) when Marlboro Pole Qualifying was rained out Aug. 13, developed a gearbox problem after the No. 16 Argent Pioneer Panoz/Honda/Firestone stalled during a Lap 71 pit stop during a caution period. She fell to the back of the field and limped in 16th.

“The yellow flag came out and we were going down in the pits, and I put the pit speedometer on early and it was making a noise,” she said. “I hit the brakes and it just stalled. Then when I went back out, something happened and I must have damaged the gears because fifth and sixth were gone, so we had to change gears back. There you go.”