Indy 200 Journal
part 2
Thurs. 1/25: While waiting for the "crossover gate" to open, sit up in the stands outside of turn one during the Formula Ford 2000 practice. Good sight lines. Virtually all of the track visible, particularly 10 or so rows up. Folks are gonna get an eyefull here. Bet the Indy cars look neat. Pass a 15-yard wide circle of burned grass where apparently one of the test rounds of the raceday fireworks landed yesterday. Startled the heck out of the press crew in spite of a tipoff that they were going to do it. Nobody said it was going to be so close to us, though. Speedway luminaries Mari Hulman and Tony George jumped a foot, when the first salvo was fired, prompting one wag to remark, "Incoming! Look out, it's a Penske gunship." Veteran Indianapolis Star writer Robin Miller is among the journalists in attendance today. An outspoken critic of Tony George's IRL and in particular, some of its rookie drivers, his first words to a friend are, "Let's go out to turn two where weRelated Stories: "Indy Journal, part 1", "Indy Journal, part 3", "Indy Journal, part 4", "Who's the leader..."can see'em crash." By all accounts, turn two is the most difficult spot on the track, very fast, oddly banked, and so far, with no clear-cut preferential line. It is also critical, speedwise, as the flat- out turn three follows, leading to the front straight. Walk out to witness it myself. Unlike most current tracks, one can get right next to the guardrail from the infield. Reminds me of my photography stints. First order of business, check around for a bail-out place I can dive in case of a problem. These guys are smokin' by at 180+. Predictably, Luyendyk and Cheever immediately look smooth and fast, but it's the rookie Hearn that is quickest at 19.799 seconds, followed closely by Lazier, also under 19 seconds. Three legends of American circle-track racing sit on the pit wall, schmoozing about the new all-oval track IRL, Al Unser, Gordon Johncock, and Johnny Rutherford. "Wish they'd have done this 10 years ago," says Johncock a couple of minutes later. Guys like Rutherford and Unser and me didn't have much road racing experience, but with ovals, it was different." I'll say. At Indy alone, between them, these veteran gunfighters have nine Indianapolis 500 victories. I realize it's a touchy subject, but privately ask Rutherford, who has tried to help the less-experienced drivers, what the plan is to deal with drivers or cars that aren't fast enough. Quite obviously, there are a few among the 24 cars here so far and on a narrow on-mile track, at these speeds, it's definitely a safety issue. Even rookie Richie Hearn worried aloud yesterday about lapping some of the slower entries. In some cases, we're talking about 30 mph speed differentials. "Well," answers J.R., "we're gonna give three or four of them a little time after lunch and see if they can find some speed." And if they don't? "If not, then maybe we'll let'em start at the back and pull in after a few laps. It's not really set yet." No getting around it, this is a thin field. As of now, just 24 cars, of which maybe 16 are decently fast. CART partisans will certainly point to that in their criticisms of the IRL. On the other hand, it's interesting how many young American drivers have come to the IRL. Richie Hearn, Davey Hamilton, Robbie Buhl, Buz Calkins, and Tony Stewart are perfect examples of the kind of driver that the IRL hopes to involve in Indy car racing. Along with Buddy Lazier. Though no rookie - he's driven Indy cars before - Lazier has never had a chance to prove himself with a truly competitive car. Now, with equal equipment (to anyone here) and the opportunity to test, he's shining. Score one for the IRL side. Out on the line: Sidle up to a three-way conversation between Goodyear honcho and sage Leo Mehl and two former F1 teammates, one a recently retired Indy car driver, the other, an Indy car rookie - with a problem. Though ex-Ferrari Formula One driver Michele Alboreto is not slow (172.208 mph), he's not yet feeling confident in his car. Mehl and '85 Indy 500 winner (and now, ABC TV commentator) Danny Sullivan are trying to help. Both Mehl and Sullivan urge Alboreto to dial in understeer. "You've got to get your butt comfortable in the car," Sully tells his 1983 Tyrell F1 teammate, "so you can get on the gas. Otherwise you won't be able to pass anybody. You know, it's not like F1, where there's a big horsepower difference. On a mile [track], you're gonna have to be passing people all the time. Get it [the car] so the back end is really stuck to the ground. Make it comfortable. Then you can get on the gas." Mehl adds, as Alboreto turns to go away, "Let me know if there's anything I can get for you." Sully winks at Alboreto and says, "Two seconds." Well, Alboreto's going in the right direction, picks up almost 2 mph in the afternoon session. Quickest in the session is rookie Buzz Calkins in the Bradley Motorsports '95 Reynard-Ford. Afterwards, ask the Indy Lights graduate if he's had any threats or bad vibes from CART teams. He answers, "Yes, some people with CART teams have said, "Are you sure you're doin' the right thing? I don't think that's fair. I haven't chosen sides. I just want to race and this is where the opportunity was." Quick time for the day is Richie Hearn, from this morning's session. He, too has felt the vibes from CART supporters. "Yeah," says Hearn, "it bothers me personally. We're just trying to do our thing. The IRL just made our transition to this top level of racing easy." How is it to drive with people that he doesn't know? "It's one thing on my mind. I'm just gonna have to feel it out. I don't know any of them - like they don't know me. You know, they've talked to us about that in the drivers meeting. There'll be a little bit of a pact that we'll all look out for each other." Fastest of anyone yet, at both the Disney and Phoenix miles this year, is Hemelgarn #1, Buddy Lazier in a '95 Reynard-Ford. He credits much of his new-found speed to testing. "For the first time, I've had the opportunity to do a real test program, to put a lot of laps in, for Firestone. In my whole career, I've never had that. It helped." How about passing on this fast, narrow track? "Well, it's okay when there's a two-second difference, but it's gonna be difficult for the first three to five guys. It [the Indy 200] may turn out to be a pit race." Persistent (in the press room) but as yet unconfirmed rumor: The race is not the 50,000+ sellout claimed by Disney and the IRL, but that some of the temporary bleachers were cancelled to make it look so. Some estimates now place the capacity closer to the high 30,000 bracket. More research needed here. Interesting fact: The Disney Company, on the grounds of Walt Disney World, has turned over the concessions at the Indy 200 - to NASCAR! Little spade work for another kind of race being done here? To be continued..... Copyright Tim Considine, 1996 Editor-at-Large, The Auto Channel