Coors Pit Stop Challenge Worth $70,000 at Brickyard on Monday
11 May 1997
COORS PIT STOP CHALLENGE PACKS RECORD $70,000 PAYOFF AT "500" For Immediate Release INDIANAPOLIS, May 9, 1997 -- Indianapolis 500 race teams will be shooting for a record $70,000 purse in an expanded format when open qualifying begins Monday for the Coors Pit Stop Challenge at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. They'll be aiming for a record top prize of $40,000 as the traditional Carburetion Day (May 22) finals are expanded to eight teams in a bracketed format. The runner-up crew will receive $10,000 and all eight will share in the payoff. Coors will also donate $5,000 to Youthlinks in the name of the winning team. Four of the eight teams have already qualified for the test by virtue of finishing in the top two in pit-stop time during the Indy 200 at Walt Disney World Presented by Aurora in January and the Phoenix 200 in March as Coors Brewing Co. has expanded the competition to include all Indy Racing League events. Team Scandia's No. 22 entry, driven by Marco Greco, and Blueprint Racing's No. 27 machine, driven by Jim Guthrie, were the top two finishers in pit-stop competition during the Indy 200 and advance to the quarterfinal round here. The No. 77 Chastain Motorsports entry, driven by Stephan Gregoire, and the No. 14 AJ Foyt Racing machine, driven by Davey Hamilton, qualified during the Phoenix 200 and join the Disney qualifiers in the quarterfinals. Joining those four crews will be the qualifier for the PPG Pole and the three top qualifiers from Monday's preliminaries. Teams will be required to change the two right- side tires in the preliminaries. The contest quarterfinals are expected to start at 1:30 p.m. on Carburetion Day, with the semifinals at 2:30 p.m. and the finals at 3 p.m. For all the Carburetion Day rounds, teams will change all four tires and make a simulated fuel hose connection. Indy Pit Stop Championships have been held annually at the Speedway since 1977, when the Carillo team, headed by chief mechanic Dave Klym, bested Patrick Racing's entry, with chief mechanic George Bignotti, in the finals. Last year, Team Galles, with chief mechanic Mitch Davis and driver Davy Jones, won the contest for the fourth time, defeating the Pagan Racing entry with crew chief Doug Barnes and driver Roberto Guerrero in the finals. ..IMS97-07..