IRL: Scott Goodyear back on top of speed charts in opening Texas practice session
16 October 1999
Posted By Terry CallahanMotorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
FORT WORTH, Texas - Scott Goodyear appears to be climbing out of his slump after turning the fastest lap, 216.045 mph, in practice Friday for the Mall.com 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.
We ran both qualifying and race setups today, and the car is really working good, Goodyear said. We usually make an engine change for qualifying, but I think well leave everything just as it is. I told them (crew), Just leave it like it is. Its great.
Goodyear, from Carmel, Ind., turned the fastest lap in both the morning and afternoon practice sessions in the Pennzoil Panther G Force/Aurora/Goodyear on the 1.5-mile oval. Goodyear won the Longhorn 500 presented by MCI WorldCom here in June - his second victory of the season - but has five consecutive finishes outside the top 10 since that victory. He has slipped from first to fifth in the Pep Boys Indy Racing League point standings since June but still is one of six drivers mathematically eligible to win the Pep Boys Million as season champion at this event, the season finale. The car is running very good in traffic, so we havent had any problems, Goodyear said. But we know weve got two races to run. One, to get some points in qualifying and the second to win the race. We still have a shot.
Dallas Morning News qualifying for the PPG Pole starts at 1 p.m. (EDT) Saturday. The Mall.com 500 starts at 2 p.m. (EDT) Sunday. Scott Sharp, fourth in the standings, posted the second-fastest lap at 215.627 in the Delphi Automotive Systems Dallara/Aurora/Goodyear. His Kelley Racing teammate, Mark Dismore, at 215.069 in the MCI World Com Dallara/Aurora/Goodyear. The top three drivers posted their fastest laps in the afternoon session.
Sam Schmidt, who won the Vegas.com 500 last month at Las Vegas, was fourth fastest at 214.444 in the Sprint PCS-Mall.com G Force/Aurora/Firestone. Davey Hamilton rounded out the top five at 214.373 in the Galles Racing Spinal Conquest Dallara/Aurora/Goodyear.
Series points leader Greg Ray was eighth fastest at 213.395 in his backup Glidden-Menards Dallara/Aurora/Firestone. Defending league champion Kenny Brack, 13 points behind Ray, was 19th fastest in the A.J. Foyt Power Team Racing G Force/Aurora/Goodyear at 211.730. The A.J. Foyt Power Team switched from a Dallara chassis to a G Force chassis last month at the Vegas.com 500 and finished second.
Sarah Fisher, 19, was ninth fastest at 213.169 in her Pep Boys Indy Racing League debut in the Team Pelfrey Dallara/Aurora/Firestone as teammate to Robby Unser, the 1998 Sprint PCS Rookie of the Year. Also debuting this weekend is Doug Didero in the Mid America Freight Systems-Western Star Trucks Dallara/Aurora/Firestone.
MALL.COM 500 NOTEBOOK
On the air: The Mall.com 500 will be televised on a same-day, delayed basis at 4 p.m. (EDT) Sunday on ABC.
SpeedVision will televise PPG Pole qualifying live at 1 p.m. (EDT) Saturday.
The Indy Racing Radio Network will broadcast a 30-minute prerace show at 1:30 p.m. (EDT) Sunday, followed by the live race broadcast at 2 p.m. A qualifying highlights show will be broadcast from 5:30-6 p.m. (EDT) Saturday.
The area IRRN affiliate is WBAP-AM 820, Arlington, Texas.
The IRRN race broadcast also will be available live on the Internet at www.indyracingleague.com as part of a partnership between Indy Racing Online and broadcast.com, the worlds leading Web broadcast site.
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