IRL: Colorado Indy 200 presented by Deloitte & Touche FAST FACTS
19 August 1999
WHAT:
Inaugural COLORADO INDY 200
presented by Deloitte & Touche
Eighth of 10 events in 1999 Pep Boys Indy Racing League season
WHERE:
Pikes Peak International Raceway, Fountain, Colo.
1-mile tri-oval superspeedway
WHEN:
2 p.m. (MDT) Sunday, Aug. 29, 1999
DISTANCE:
200 miles/200 laps
POSTED AWARDS:
More than $1 million
CARS:
Dallara and G Force chassis; Oldsmobile Aurora and Nissan Infiniti engines; Firestone and Goodyear tires
COVERAGE:
FOX Sports Net (live), 4 p.m. (EDT), Aug. 29 Announcers: Jack Arute, Dave Calabro, Arie Luyendyk Pit reporters: Calvin Fish, Vince Welch
(Qualifying)
SpeedVision (live), 2:30 p.m. (EDT), Aug. 28 Announcers: Jack Arute, Dave Calabro, Arie Luyendyk Pit reporters: Calvin Fish, Vince Welch
RADIO:
(Race)
Indy Racing Radio Network (live), 4 p.m. (EDT) Aug. 29. Pre-race show starts at 3:30 p.m. Area affiliates are KRDO-AM 1240, Colorado Springs, Colo., and KKFN-AM 950, Denver.
Host: Mike King
Analyst: Larry Rice
Pit reporters: Mark Jaynes, Chris Denari
Backstretch reporter: Jerry Baker
(Qualifying)
Indy Racing Radio Network (taped), 5:30-6 p.m. (EDT) Aug. 28. Area affiliates are KRDO-AM 1240, Colorado Springs, Colo., and KKFN-AM 950, Denver.
Host: Mike King
Analyst: Larry Rice
Pit reporters: Mark Jaynes, Chris Denari
Backstretch reporter: Jerry Baker
SCHEDULE (all times local):
(Friday, Aug. 27)
7 a.m.: Pep Boys Indy Racing League garage opens
10:45 a.m.-12:15 p.m.: Practice (Two groups)
2:15-3:45 p.m.: Practice (Two groups)
(Saturday, Aug. 28)
7 a.m.: Pep Boys Indy Racing League garage opens
10-11:30 a.m.: Practice (Two groups)
12:30-2 p.m.: PPG Pole qualifications
4:30-5 p.m.: Final practice
5:15-6:15 p.m.: Autograph session
(Sunday, Aug. 29)
7 a.m.: Pep Boys Indy Racing League garage opens
1 p.m.: Cars to grid
2 p.m.: Colorado Indy 200 (200 miles/200 laps)
TRACK:
Pikes Peak International Raceway opened in the shadow of 14,110-foot Pikes Peak in June 1997. The 1,000-acre facility features a 1-mile oval and a 1.38-mile road course. There are 42,787 permanent grandstand seats. The facility also includes 31 luxury VIP suites and the Pikes Peak Club, a private club. Sanctioning bodies that conduct races at the scenic facility include the Pep Boys Indy Racing League, NASCAR, USAC and the AMA.
THE RACE:
This is the third consecutive year the Pep Boys Indy Racing League has run at Pikes Peak International Raceway but the first year that two league events have taken place at this track. 1996-97 Pep Boys Indy Racing League champion Tony Stewart earned the first victory of his Pep Boys Indy Racing League career June 29, 1997 at PPIR. 1998 Pep Boys Indy Racing League and 1999 Indianapolis 500 champion Kenny Brack won the second Radisson 200 on Aug. 16, 1998. Greg Ray won the PPG Pole and claimed his first career Indy Racing victory in the third annual Radisson 200 on June 27, 1999 at PPIR.
RACE NOTES:
(Three Indianapolis 500 winners are entered in this event: 1999 champion Kenny Brack, 1998 champion Eddie Cheever Jr. and 1996 champion Buddy Lazier.
(This race has a strong Colorado connection. 1998 Indianapolis 500 winner Eddie Cheever Jr. formerly lived in Aspen. 1996 Indianapolis 500 winner Buddy Lazier lives in Vail, along with his brother Jaques, a Pep Boys Indy Racing League rookie. Jaques will drive the Warner Bros. Studio Stores entry for Truscelli Team Racing, based in Colorado Springs. Bobby Regester will make his Indy Racing debut at this event as teammate to Jaques Lazier. Regester lives in Florissant, Colo. Joe Truscelli, team owner, lives in Colorado Springs and is the president and chief executive officer of Electronic Data Submission Systems, a healthcare electronic data interchange company based in the Springs. Buzz Calkins, 1996 series co-champion, lives in Denver and is a graduate of the University of Colorado with degrees in economics and history. Calkins drives for Bradley Motorsports, based in Commerce City, Colo.
(One of the most famous names in Pikes Peak racing history will return to compete in this area, this time at PPIR. Robby Unser, son of three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Bobby Unser, will drive the PetroMoly-Team Pelfrey entry in the inaugural Colorado Indy 200 presented by Deloitte & Touche. Unser has four top-10 finishes during the 1999 season, which have moved him from 24th in points at the beginning of the season to seventh. Unser, 1998 Sprint PCS Rookie of the Year, is an eight-time winner of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb.
(Six Pep Boys Indy Racing League Rookies are entered in this event: Scott Harrington, John Hollansworth Jr., Ronnie Johncox, Jaques Lazier, Robby McGehee and Bobby Regester. Harrington leads the Sprint PCS Rookie of the Year standings with 93 points.
(1998 Pep Boys Indy Racing League champion Kenny Brack or Scott Sharp will become the all-time victory leader in the Pep Boys Indy Racing League if either driver wins the Colorado Indy 200 presented by Deloitte & Touche. Brack and Sharp are tied with the retired Arie Luyendyk with four career victories. Brack's most recent win was the 1999 Indianapolis 500. Sharp's most recent win was the Kobalt Mechanics Tools 500 presented by MCI WorldCom last month in Atlanta.
(Greg Ray is the only driver in league history to win consecutive events on 1-mile ovals. Ray won the Radisson 200 on June 27 at Pikes Peak International Raceway as well as the most recent league event, the MBNA Mid-Atlantic 200 on Aug. 1 at Dover Downs International Speedway. Ray has claimed all of his career victories and poles on 1-mile ovals, his two victories at Pikes Peak and Dover as well as poles at Phoenix and Pikes Peak, all in 1999.
(Four-time Pikes Peak International Hill Climb champion Bobby Regester will compete for the first time in an Indy Racing car, but it's not his first open-wheel competition in the Colorado Springs area. Regester won his class in the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in his open-wheel debut in 1985. He also has experience in regional stock-car racing and in the American IndyCar Series, competing against fellow Indy Racing competitor John Hollansworth Jr. Both teammate Jaques Lazier and team owner Joe Truscelli competed in the AIS. Truscelli Team Racing is based in Regester's hometown, Colorado Springs, Colo. Regester passed the Pep Boys Indy Racing League Rookie Orientation Program on July 19 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
SERIES NOTES:
(Scott Goodyear enters this event as the series points leader. Goodyear took the points lead for the first time after winning the MCI WorldCom 200 at Phoenix International Raceway in March in the Pennzoil Panther G Force/Aurora/Goodyear. Goodyear lost the points lead to Jeff Ward after the Indianapolis 500. Ward gained the top spot after finishing second at the 83rd Indianapolis 500, but Goodyear regained the lead after winning the Longhorn 500 presented by MCI WorldCom at Texas Motor Speedway, his second win of the season. Goodyear also won the MCI WorldCom 200 at Phoenix International Raceway in March.
(Buzz Calkins, winner of the inaugural Pep Boys Indy Racing League event in January 1996 at Orlando, Fla., leads all drivers in total laps completed for the season. Calkins has completed 1,320 of 1,416 (93 percent) laps this season and holds the league record for consecutive races running at the finish at nine.
(Greg Ray broke the league record for consecutive top-five starts, previously held by 1996-97 Pep Boys Indy Racing League champion Tony Stewart, at the MBNA Mid-Atlantic 200 on Aug. 1 at Dover, Del. Ray's eight consecutive top-five starts began at Las Vegas in 1998 where he started fourth. Of the eight top-five starting positions, Ray has earned two poles, three second-, one third- and two fourth-place starting positions.
(Sam Schmidt is the only driver to record top-10 finishes in the three previous Indy Racing events on 1-mile tracks this season, at Phoenix, Pikes Peak and Dover. Schmidt finished ninth at Phoenix, second at Pikes Peak and fifth at Dover driving the Sprint PCS Treadway Racing entry.
(Winners at Pikes Peak in the last two seasons have gone on to win the Pep Boys Indy Racing League title in the same year. Tony Stewart won the Radisson 200 in 1997 en route to the 1996-97 league title. Kenny Brack won the Radisson 200 in 1998 en route to the Pep Boys Million. Greg Ray won the Radisson 200 in June at PPIR and is only two points behind leader Scott Goodyear in the point standings. Goodyear leads, 193-191.
(All engines in the Pep Boys Indy Racing League are required to operate at a maximum of 10,000 rpm. Leo Mehl, executive director of the Pep Boys Indy Racing League, made this announcement at a press conference during the Indianapolis 500. The rule was instituted for the Longhorn 500 presented by MCI WorldCom on June 12 at Texas Motor Speedway and continues throughout the remainder of the 1999 season. This follows the reduction in rpm from 10,500 in 1998 to 10,300 at the beginning of 1999. The required reduction in rpm, controlled by a "rev limiter," will result in reduced speeds produced by the Indy Racing cars without jeopardizing handling. Engine revs are controlled electronically by Pep Boys Indy Racing League technical officials. Teams are not capable of manipulating the "rev limiters." One official can program an engine's electronic control unit in approximately five minutes.
(The Suspension & Wheel Management System (SWEMS) is required on every car competing in the Colorado Indy 200 presented by Deloitte & Touche. The system was used for the first time during the 83rd Indianapolis 500. Pep Boys Indy Racing League officials, along with car constructors Dallara, G Force and Riley & Scott, have worked vigorously to minimize the possibilities of wheel assemblies becoming detached during high-speed accidents. The SWEMS principle utilizes multiple restraints attached at multiple points to a car's chassis and suspension. The restraints are made of FIA-approved Zylon.
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