IRL: Ray races to IRL title as Dismore scores first victory

17 October 1999
FORT WORTH - Mark Dismore won the battle, Greg Ray won the war,
and Oldsmobile's IRL Aurora V8 won it all in the Mall.com 500 at Texas
Motor Speedway, the season finale of the ten-race Pep Boys Indy Racing
League series.

    Mark Dismore scored his first career victory in Kelley Racing's
MCI WorldCom Oldsmobile Dallara by a one-lap margin over Davey Hamilton.
Greg Ray finished third in Team Menard's Glidden Oldsmobile Dallara and won
the $1 million Pep Boys championship. Oldsmobile ended the IRL's
"Four-Liter Era" with a perfect 29-0 record and swept the manufacturer,
driver, team, and rookie championships for the third straight year.

    "I'll take second if I can win tomorrow," Dismore declared
after qualifying second to Ray on Saturday. He made the trade on Sunday
and celebrated an emotional victory. "I needed a windshield wiper in my
helmet," said the tearful driver.

    After a four-hour rain delay, the 208-lap race began with temperatures
40 degrees colder than practice and qualifying. IRL officials introduced a
unique yellow/green starting procedure to bring the tires up to
operating temperature. Polesitter Ray led the first 24 laps before
relinquishing the lead to Dismore. Scott Goodyear dominated the first half
of the race with Pennzoil Panther Racing's Oldsmobile G-Force, leading 65
laps before he crashed in Turn 4. Kenny Brack led 53 circuits and was in
position to snatch the $1 million prize from Ray, but a problem with the
rear wheel hub sidelined the defending IRL champion.

    Dismore took control on lap 187 and held the lead to the finish. Savvy
pit strategy gave Dismore a comfortable one-lap margin at the checkered
flag.

    "Mark won tonight because he was patient and our strategy paid
off," explained car owner Tom Kelley. "He has a lot of heart."

    Ray secured Team Menard's second driver and team titles in the last
three years. After a slow start this season, he rocketed to the top of the
standings with four poles, three wins, and a runner-up finish.

     "I felt we could have won tonight, but we gambled on a call," said
Ray. "It's hard to put the whole weight of the championship season on one
night, but that's what it came down to - and we won it."

    Scott Harrington claimed the rookie championship in his
Certainteed Building Products Dallara with a single Oldsmobile engine. "All
year long we practiced, qualified, and raced with that one motor,"
Harrington reported. "We'd pull it out, rebuild it, and go to the next
race. I can't even think how many miles it has on it. It should be retired
and put in a museum!"

    "The car felt great, and I was able to go flat-out all day long,"
noted Hamilton after scoring his second runner-up finish of the season. "We
had a good day, a good car, and everything performed well. I think we've
run over 600 miles on our engine, and it was still strong at the end."

    Accidents sidelined several of the contenders as Goodyear and Sam
Schmidt were both involved in incidents. A total of 78 laps were run under
six caution flags.

    Oldsmobile IRL Aurora V8 engines swept the podium and powered 16 of the
17 cars running at the finish. Competing against Nissan's Infiniti
Indy, Oldsmobile engines won every race, won every pole, won every
championship and ran the fastest lap in all 29 races since the IRL
introduced its naturally aspirated engine formula in January 1997.

    A new generation of 3.5-liter engines will be introduced next year
when the IRL kicks off its fifth season at the Indy 200 at Walt Disney
World Speedway on January 22, 2000.

RACE SUMMARY:
Track: Texas Motor Speedway, 1.5-mile oval, Fort Worth, Texas
Winner: Mark Dismore, Kelley Racing MCI WorldCom Oldsmobile Dallara
Margin of Victory: One lap
Average Speed: 135.246 mph

Top Five Finishers:
Pos./Driver/Engine               Laps
1. Mark Dismore/Oldsmobile       208
2. Davey Hamilton/Oldsmobile     207
3. Greg Ray/Oldsmobile           207
4. Eddie Cheever Jr./Infiniti    207
5. John Hollansworth/Oldsmobile  206

Pole: Greg Ray/Oldsmobile, 216.107 mph
Fastest Lap: Scott Goodyear/Oldsmobile, 217.579 mph

Manufacturer Results:
          Aurora    Infiniti
Laps Led    208       0
Starters    25        1
Running
at Finish   16        1
Winning Oldsmobile Engine Builder: Comptech Machine

POINT STANDINGS:
(After 10 of 10 events)
Driver/Engine       Wins    Points
1. Greg Ray/Olds     3       293
2. Kenny Brack/Olds  1       256
3. Mark Dismore      1       240
4. Davey Hamilton    0       237
5. Sam Schmidt/Olds  1       233
Manufacturer        Wins    Points
1. Oldsmobile       10       110
2. Nissan            0        70