IRL: Ray and Olds Take Texas Pole
17 October 1999
FORT WORTH - Texan Greg Ray gave his hometown fans reason to cheer as he
added three points to his championship tally today by winning the pole for
Sunday's Mall.com 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, the season finale of the Pep
Boys Indy Racing League. Ray increased his lead over second-ranked Kenny
Brack to 16 points by claiming his fourth pole of the season in Team
Menard's Glidden Oldsmobile Dallara. Ray circled the high-banked Texas
track in 24.238 seconds at an average speed of 216.107 mph. It was Ray's
first pole on a 1.5-mile oval; he previously captured poles on the Phoenix
and Pikes Peak one-mile tracks.
"I almost spun the car on the first lap because I was pushing so
hard," Ray revealed. "Winning the pole was huge. We had struggled all
weekend. We put in our race engine and made some calls for qualifying, and
didn't really know how the car would respond. It was a big gamble, but
every point is crucial."
The top five contenders for the $1 million championship will start in
the first four rows. Kenny Brack, second in the standings, qualified A.J.
Foyt's Power Team Oldsmobile Dallara fifth on the grid. Fifth-ranked Scott
Goodyear and third-ranked Sam Schmidt will start side-by-side in the second
row. Scott Sharp, fourth in the points race, will start on the inside of
row four.
Ray gave Oldsmobile a clean sweep of the pole positions under the
IRL's four-liter formula, putting the IRL Aurora V8 on the pole for the
tenth time this season and the 29th straight race. Oldsmobile engines
powered the 19 fastest qualifiers for the Mall.com 500; the one Infiniti
Indy in the field qualified 20th at a speed 3.396 mph slower than Ray's
pole-winning pace.
"Tomorrow's a big day with a championship and a million dollars at
stake," said Team Menard engine builder Butch Meyer. "Greg qualified with
our race motor, so we feel really good about the speed we can get out of it
- but we still have a 312-mile race to run."
Mark Dismore qualified Kelley Racing's MCI WorldCom Oldsmobile Dallara
on the outside front row at 216.071 mph, his fourth front-row start of
the season. "My first lap was excellent, and the second lap was the same
line, just a little different speed," Dismore reported. "I'll gladly take
second if I can win tomorrow."
Scott Goodyear posted the third fastest time in Pennzoil Panther
Racing's Oldsmobile G-Force at 216.036 mph. "We had a misfire on the second
lap, and I think we didn't pick up all of the fuel in the tank," Goodyear
noted. "For sure the second lap was going to be a little stronger. We have
a good race car for tomorrow; the horsepower is there, and this engine has
over 400 miles on it, so the reliability of the engines is very good, too."
Twenty-six of the 27 qualifiers used Oldsmobile engines. The
three quickest qualifiers represent three independent Oldsmobile engine
builders: Team Menard (Greg Ray); Comptech Machine (Mark Dismore), and
Speedway Engine Development (Scott Goodyear).
Weather forecasts call for dramatically cooler temperatures on race
day, with a projected high nearly 30 degrees colder than today's mid-80s.
Teams will have to make significant changes in their setups to cope with
the rapidly changing conditions.
"With the temperature dropping, it will be real interesting
tomorrow," Dismore predicted.
"It's going to be a Texas-sized shootout," Ray added. "You better
come with your six-shooter loaded."
The Mall.com 500 will start at 1:00 a.m. CDT on Sunday, October 17.
The 208-lap, 312-mile race will be televised on tape delay by ABC Sports at
4:00 p.m. EDT. The event will be broadcast live on the Indy Racing Radio
Network.
MALL.COM 500 TOP FIVE QUALIFIERS
Driver Entrant Engine Speed
1. Greg Ray Team Menard Oldsmobile 216.107 mph
2. Mark Dismore Kelley Racing Oldsmobile 216.071
3. Scott Goodyear Panther Racing Oldsmobile 216.036
4. Sam Schmidt Treadway Racing Oldsmobile 215.662
5. Kenny Brack A.J. Foyt Ent. Oldsmobile 214.593