IRL: Many top teams emerging as IRL comes to Atlanta
8 July 1999
Points leader Goodyear, Ward trying to hold off Ray, other hard chargersHAMPTON, Ga., - The sleeping giants of the Pep Boys Indy Racing League are starting to awaken as the second half of the 1999 season starts in Atlanta.
A handful of top Indy Racing drivers are overcoming slow starts or temporary bobbles to emerge as contenders for the Pep Boys Million awarded to the league champion. Those drivers will try to gain ground on points leader Scott Goodyear at the Kobalt Mechanics Tools 500 presented by MCI WorldCom on July 17 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
It's hard to blame Goodyear and second-place Jeff Ward for looking over their shoulders at Greg Ray, who is on a rocket ride toward the top of the Pep Boys Indy Racing League point standings after five of 10 races. Ray finished a disappointing 21st in each of the first three races of the season in the Glidden-Menards Dallara/Aurora/Firestone and was tied for 20th with 34 points after the Indianapolis 500 on May 30. It wasn't exactly the kind of start that most observers expected for Ray, immediately tipped as a title contender after joining top-drawer Team Menard before this season.
But Ray finished second at the Longhorn 500 presented by MCI WorldCom on June 12 at Texas Motor Speedway and broke through for his long-awaited first Indy Racing victory at the Radisson 200 on June 27 at Pikes Peak International Raceway.
Just like that, Ray found himself in third place in the point standings, 33 behind leader Goodyear.
There's no question that Ray will be a contender for victory on the 1.54-mile oval at Atlanta. He loves the high-banked sister tracks at Atlanta, Texas and Charlotte and knows the secrets of speed and wheel-to-wheel racing on the 1.5-mile ovals.
Kelley Racing teammates Scott Sharp and Mark Dismore are two other drivers starting to emerge as championship contenders. Neither driver has a victory this season, but consistency has carried them both into the top seven in the points.
Sharp is tied with defending league champion Kenny Brack for fifth in the Pep Boys Indy Racing League standings with 109 points. He has finished in the top 10 in four of the five races this season in the Delphi Automotive Systems Dallara/Aurora/Goodyear.
Dismore is tied with Davey Hamilton for seventh with 107 points. He will be a threat for victory at this event in the MCI WorldCom Dallara/Aurora/Goodyear, as he won the PPG Pole for the Longhorn 500 presented by MCI WorldCom in June on the 1.5-mile oval at Texas. Hamilton is another candidate for the comeback kid of the season so far.
He nearly didn't compete at the season opener in January in Orlando, Fla., but team owner Rick Galles assembled a crew just days before the race. Hamilton went on to finish eighth.
After finishes outside the top 10 in the MCI WorldCom 200 at Phoenix and Indianapolis, Hamilton has regained the formula of consistency that has helped him place second in the point standings the last two seasons.
He finished seventh at Texas and a season-best third at Pikes Peak in the Galles Racing Spinal Conquest Dallara/Aurora/Goodyear. Hamilton could break through for his first league victory at Atlanta, as he finished second to Brack at this event last year.
Another win waiting to happen could be Sam Schmidt. He finished second at Pikes Peak and third at Texas in the Sprint PCS G Force/Aurora/Firestone, pulling him from 26th to 11th in the Pep Boys Indy Racing League point standings. But with 101 points, Schmidt is just eight points out of fifth.
It might sound ironic to consider Brack and Eddie Cheever Jr. as sleeping giants awakening, since each won a race earlier this season. But a strong case can be made that both are hitting their stride after setbacks.
Cheever won the season opener at Orlando and then made a bold move by switching from the Aurora engine - winner of every event in league history - to the Infiniti engine before the Indianapolis 500. Cheever finished 18th at Indy and 16th at Texas but appears on the verge of a return to winning form after finishing a strong fourth at Pikes Peak in The Children's Beverage Group-Team Cheever Dallara/Infiniti Goodyear.
Brack had a tough start to the season in the A.J. Foyt Racing Power Team Dallara/Aurora/Goodyear, finishing 22nd at Orlando and 24th at Phoenix. But his year took a U-turn with a thrilling victory in the series' crown jewel, the Indianapolis 500. Since then, Brack has finished 13th at Texas and seventh at Pikes Peak to climb into a tie for fifth in the points.
Besides Ray, Brack could be the driver that leaders Goodyear and Ward fear the most. After all, Brack didn't hit peak form last season until the summer stretch of races, winning a league-record three consecutive races, including this event.
While many top drivers and teams are lining up to take their best shots at the top, Goodyear and Ward appear equipped to handle the pressure. Goodyear is the only driver with two victories this season, winning at Phoenix and Texas in the Pennzoil Panther G Force/Aurora/Goodyear co-owned by NFL quarterback Jim Harbaugh. Goodyear has remained unflappable atop the point standings since late March while others shuffled positions beneath him. He leads Ward, 164-149, entering this event.
Ward has been a model of consistency in his Yahoo!-MerchantOnline.com Dallara/Aurora/Goodyear this season as he strives for his first Indy Racing victory. He has finished in the top 10 in four of the five league races this season, including runner-up finishes at Phoenix and Indianapolis.
And here's tough news for all of the sleeping giants trying to uproot the top two drivers in the points: Goodyear and Ward combined to lead 75 percent of the laps at this event last year. Goodyear led 93 of 208 laps en route to finishing fourth; Ward led 64 before finishing sixth.
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