Andy Michner
|
INDIANAPOLIS -- Andy Michner, the third-highest finishing
rookie in the 1998 Indianapolis 500, was named Tuesday to replace injured
Eliseo Salazar in the Reebok Riley & Scott car for the VisionAire 500 Pep
Boys Indy Racing League event July 25 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Chief engineer Bill Riley selected Michner, from Ann Arbor,
Mich., from a
list of four candidates.
"Putting all the drivers out there, it was a pretty tough
decision to pick
Andy," Riley said. "He had a nice run at Indy, and everywhere we'd go
there
were nice things said (about him).."
After the one-race arrangement was made by phone, Michner, 29,
flew
immediately to Charlotte to be fitted into the cockpit. The Riley & Scott
chassis was built in Indianapolis and late last year joined the Dallara
and
G Force chassis on the Pep Boys IRL circuit.
The VisionAire 500, scheduled for a 9 p.m. (EDT) start, will be
Michner's
second Indy-style race.
He drove from 19th to eighth in the 82nd Indy 500 on May 24 in
the No. 17
Konica/Syan Racing Dallara/Aurora/Goodyear. Only Steve Knapp, who finished
third and was named Bank One Rookie-of-the-Year, and fifth-place Robby
Unser
placed higher among eight drivers making their first start in the historic
race.
"For Charlotte, we're looking for a nice, consistent finish,"
Riley said.
Riley thought the Reebok R&S MK V machine, powered by an Aurora
engine, was
moving up well in practice at Dover, Del., on July 18 when Chilean driver
Salazar hit the outside wall.
Salazar suffered a broken right arm, hip, leg and pelvis in the accident
and
is presently recovering at Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis. He was in
fair condition July 21 after undergoing eight hours of surgery July 20 at
Methodist. He should be released from the hospital within five to seven
days. Fans can send get-well greetings via e-mail to fans@eliseo.com.
"The major thing is we're disappointed about Salazar getting
hurt," Riley
said. "We're staying behind him."
The team placed Indianapolis driver Scott Harrington in its
backup car for
the start of the Pep Boys 400K at Dover.
"We've worked very hard since Texas (June 6) on our
mile-and-a-half setup"
Riley said. "We'll see how it pays off at Charlotte."
Michner, a marketing graduate from Jackson (Mich.) College,
started driving
USAC midgets in 1990. He was USAC national midget series runner-up in 1994
and 1995 and has seven victories in 125 career races. He also has won five
USAC sprint car races. In 1996, he won sprint races at Phoenix,
Winchester,
Ind., and Indianapolis Raceway Park (twice) for the most victories by a
driver that season.
He signed to drive at Indy for Chitwood Motorsports last April
14 and
quickly passed his rookie refresher test. He then qualified on the inside
of
the eighth row at a speed average of 216.922 mph. He completed 197 laps in
the race and received a check for $182,050 for his finish.
"I wish we were more in the hunt," he said after the race, "but
we brought
it home in eighth, so we'll take it."
Michner's father, Joe, entered cars at Indy between 1965 and
1972 that were
driven by, among others, Johnny Rutherford, Lloyd Ruby and Sammy Sessions.
Rutherford qualified Michner's car in the middle of the front row for the
1970 race.
R&S Cars, Inc., is co-owned by Bob Riley and Mark Scott.
Bob Riley, Bill's father, has designed cars that have won 28
Indy-style car
races. This includes the car A.J. Foyt drove to his fourth Indy 500
victoryin 1977. Scott, a native of New Zealand, worked in Formula One
until coming
to America in 1984 and helped Tom Sneva win the pole at Indy that year.
Eliseo Salazar
|
In more recent years, the two formed a partnership that
produced a world
sports car that won the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona, 12 Hours of Sebring and
challenged for the Triple Crown at Le Mans in 1996. The car repeated in
1997
at Daytona.
Their firm designed and built the current Pep Boys IRL car. It
qualified
for its first race in August 1997 at New Hampshire with Mark Dismore
driving, but was withdrawn from the race. Two R&S cars made the race at
Las
Vegas on Oct. 11, 1997.
In four races this year, Salazar has had finishes of 12th,
23rd, 23rd and
sixth (at New Hampshire) in the R&S car, with a top starting position of
sixth (at Phoenix).
Editors Note: The images displayed in this article
(plus many more) can be viewed in The Racing Image
Galleries and the Visions
of Speed Art Gallery.
