The Indianapolis Star from Indianapolis, Indiana • Page 44

a Kite hoping to build on Little Al not at all impressed i Avilli IRL action last weekend -v i i start flying CAHT NOTESCOX tCt I Young Jimmy Kite is flying high. Kite is driving his first full season in USAC Silver Crown dirt cars and Is off to an auspicious start. In two races he has a first at Phoenix and a second at Indi- Short Tracks 1 Dick Mittman By Curt Cavin STAFF WRITER MADISON. 111. Al Unser Jr.

said he watched the final weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on television and was livid. Late Friday, he pointed out, Robby Gordon's team demonstrated pit stops because there were no cars practicing. "When I was there (competing)." Unser said, "there were lots of guys searching for speed because they wanted to make the show." Suffice it to say, the two-time Indianapolis 500 winner was not happy about two bumped cars being added (Lyn St. James and his cousin, Johnny Unser) after qualifying. In 1995, Unser and teammate Emerson Flttipaldi did not make the 33-car field, and Unser reportedly reminded Speedway president Tony George of that by telephone this week.

Little Al called Johnny "a lucky dog." "In the two years I won Indy. it was the greatest show on earth and it was the hardest one to win." he said. "And now. it's sad and you know, we don't miss anything about what Is going on there. "Winning Indy without Michael Andretti, Bobby Rahal and the greatest drivers in the world wouldn't mean anything." Unser said he doubted his owner, Roger Penske, would ever build a car under the Indy Racing League's supply specifications (fixed price and three-month delivery to anyone who requested one).

"Roger is not a car manufacturer and he is not in the car-manufacturing business," Unser said. "He is not set up for that. He is set up to build his own cars, to try and' accomplish a mechanical advantage over his competitors." Flttipaldi Improving Injured driver Christian Flttipaldi saw Indianapolis doctor Terry Trammell erf Wednesday and received a better forecast for his return to CART racing. A likely date is June 22 when the series travels to Portland. spokesman.

Notes Rookie Dario Franchitti, driving Carl Ho-gan's car. was third quickest in Wednes-' day's practice at Gateway International. Raceway. Roberto Moreno, Fittipaldl's replacement who was willing to give up his' ride on ovals if a more-suited driver was-found. was ninth in practice, four-tenths of; a second behind Alex Zanardl (25.244).

Staff Photo Greg Qriffo BEAT THE CLOCK: The crew of the Monsoon Galles Racing car No. 4 practices in preparation for today's pit stop competition during Carburetion Day activities. Kenny Brack will drive the car in Sunday's race. anapolis Raceway Park and leads the point standings 117-102 over Donnie Beechler. Kite will be busy the next few days as the short tracks around central Indiana rev up for hectic activity surrounding the Indy 500.

Friday night, he will be at the wheel of his Bob Hoerner-owned Brayton-powered dirt car as the Silver CARD DAY Continued from Page 1 OVAL Continued from Page 1 Today, Ray, like several other late qualifiers, will get his first opportunity to work on preparing his car and lone engine for the race. He plans to practice driving In traffic, scrub In some tires and do some pit stops. He has never driven a race longer than 100 miles. "Physically, it'll be a challenge," he said. "I've tried to prepare myself mentally and physically.

I feel I'm In the best shape of my life. But I'll tell you better after the race Sunday." Ray said his engine must survive qualifying, Carb Day practice and the 500 miles In the race for him to get a good finish. He figures that's a distance of between 620 and 640 miles. The key Is they are new engines," he said. "The strategy for everybody Is, how fast can you go and have an engine at the end of the race?" There are a number of other drivers who are in the same category, Including Johnny Unser.

Unser qualified as a rookie last year, but never completed a lap. Part of the Carb Day activities is the Coors Indy Challenge Pit Stop contest starting at 2:30 p.m. Eight teams will participate for a record $70,000 purse. The winner receives $40,000. the runner-up $10,000 and Coors also will donate $5,000 to Youth-links on behalf of the winning team.

The heats: 1. Marco Greco, Team Scan-dia vs. Steve Kinser, Slnden Racing Service; 2. Jim Guthrie, Blueprint Racing vs. Jeff Ward, FlrstPlus Team Cheever; 3.

Arie Luyendyk, Treadway RacingLLC vs. Eddie Cheever, FlrstPlus Team Cheever; and, 4. Kenny Brack. Galles Racing International vs. Robby Gordon, Team Sabco.

to get another special watch," Ray said. "It was a classic. He put his hand on his cheek, walked away and came back about 5 minutes later. "He said, 'Daddy, this watch Is really special to me and you can wear it for good Winston handed his father his watch, complete with a pink face and a white plastic strap. Ray has worn it the past two months and it was on his wrist when he qualified his Tobacco Free KidsArizona Diamondbacks DallaraAurora last Sunday at 213.760 mph.

He is to start Sunday's race on the outside of Row 10. On Tuesday night, Winston flew to Indianapolis from Dallas to Join his father and mother, Angela. "I've never brought him to a race track," Ray said. "But I couldn't stand being away from him on his birthday." Wednesday was Community Day at the Speedway, so his parents took Winston around the track and into the pits. Today, the plan Is to have a picture taken with father and son by the car before Ray joins the other 34 qualified drivers on the track between 11 a.m.

and 1 p.m. On Saturday, Ray intends to have Winston accompany him in the 500 Festival Parade. That afternoon, Winston will be flown back to Dallas, where Ray's father-in-law will pick him up. "I still think he's a little young for the race track," Ray said. "I'd have a hard time focusing on racing because I would be focusing on him." smoothed out the entry and exit of the corners.

Cagle, who for many years was the superintendent of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, spent most of the spring here' making sure the plan was executed. Dallenbach called the project, which fig-' ures to one day host a NASCAR Winston' Cup race, "a keeper." "Inside of an hour." Dallenbach said?" "they were running two and three abreast coming down toward Turn 1. That's a good sign." Alex Zanardi and Paul Tracy each ran' laps of 25.2 seconds (181.112 and 180.87f mph, respectively), and they will Improve as" the track wears off its lime coating, applied'', to keep the heat out of the surface atxd therefore, improve the asphalt's life. "It's a very fast race track and I really think it will get quicker and quicker," Unser Jr. said.

"I think it's going to be greaf to race on and we're going to be able to pass anywhere, if the lime gets washed which is good for the show." Zanardi said he welcomes Turn 1. 1 "You kind of throw yourself in, so the entry is very fast," he said. "It's a nice circuit, a place where you can overtake people virtually everywhere. You can carry 1 a lot of speed on the outside." believe will be a fantastic addition to St. Louis' growing sports culture.

A new football stadium, the Trans World Dome, sits Just across the Missouri River. "I like the track," said defending PPG Cup champion Jimmy Vasser, who was fourth-fastest in the Initial practice. "It's a good little oval. It reminds me of Phoenix." In racing talk, that is a compliment. Gateway has many of the same characteristics as Phoenix International Raceway, Including identical corner banking (11 degrees in Turns 1-2, 9 degrees In Turns 3-4).

At 60 feet wide, it looked plenty roomy Wednesday. There are good sight lines and every seat Is ideal. Wally Dallenbach. CART's acting chief steward, calls it his "nine-month pregnancy," and he is pleased with Its outcome. He first arrived in the fall, when Gateway officials were still finishing up the removal of the old road course and drag strip.

The oval was nothing more than a dirt pile, but it took shape quickly. In the shadow of St. Louis' skyline. Dallenbach and Indianapolis' Clarence Cagle Final Speedway practice period very crucial for drivers, crews s. yi Kir jt a jr Carburetion Day.

The final practice session. Now we Jcnouj race day Is near. Today's routine Is pretty simple, actually. The crews for each team have put hundreds of man-hours in since last Saturday, rebuilding everything on the cars from up- cz I Scalar Buddy Lazier (3 Crown series actually moves to dirt for the first time at the Indiana State Fairgrounds, Then Saturday night the Mighty Mite (he's about 5-3, pounds) from Georgia will compete in the 52nd Budweiser Before The 500" midget race at Indianapolis Raceway Park. "I'm looking forward to the dirt," Kite said.

'That's where I came from; that's basically what I grew up on." Kite, 21. can't explain his success in his first two pavement races. He said he didn't attend a winter driving school to improve his pavement skills. At Phoenix, he won by about a foot. "The finish was so close I basically didn't know who won it" he said.

"I Just went ahead and pulled into tech." That's when Kite learned he had won. He had no idea where Victory Lane was and had to be guided to It. At IRP last week, he drove a conservative race to save his tires, fell behind and then moved back toward the front and finally took over second. His tires, however, were too far gone to challenge winner Pat Abold of Syracuse, N.Y. Kite was born In Effingham, but his family moved around and wound up in Stock-bridge, In 1989.

He drove quarter-midgets and mini-sprints. Veteran car owner Charlie Patterson and Kite's dad worked together years ago on a dirt car. Patterson brought young Kite north last year. "I met him at a Winston Cup race at Atlanta," Kite said. "We were up in Jeff Gordon's trailer talking.

Charlie and dad kinda got something worked out." Practice for the Foyt's Fairgrounds race begins at 5, with qualifications at 6, consolation race at 7 and the 100-mile feature at 8. The IRP midget race Saturday night will feature the tight points chase between leader Tracy Hines (158), Jason Leffler (147), Chris Shultz (146) and Jay Drake (137). Qualifications are at 5:30, racing at 8. Racing around the area The 49th annual Little 500 sprint car race will be held Saturday night at Anderson Speedway. Qualifying will be conducted between 1 :30 and p.m.

today and Friday, with the 500-lap feature for 33 cars on the quarter-mile track due to take the green flag at 8 p.m. Saturday. David Steele of Tampa, won last year and collected a prize topping $30,000. He returns along with such name drivers as Eric Gordon, Jack Hewitt, Bentley Warren, Brian Tyler and Chet Fillip. Most of these drivers also are entered In the Border Wars II IJSAC sprint races tonight at Winchester and Sunday at El-dora.

Qualifications are at 7:30 tonight and the first race at 8. Eldora's first race is at 8:30 p.m.' Many of the top midget drivers will be at 16th Street Speedway tonight. Billy Boat had planned to race but withdrew when he qualified for the Indy 500. Jay Drake holds the one-lap record of 12.104 seconds. More action planned The Indianapolis Speedrome will run back-to-back 50-lap Figure 8 races Friday and Saturday nights.

Jack Dossey Jr. and Duane Lee, a former track champion, seek their second wins of the season. Racing both nights begins at 7:30. Elsewhere, Brian Hayden of Filmore bids for his third win in the non-wing sprint feature at Lincoln Park Saturday night. PJalnfleld's Kent Christian leads Hayden 105-103 in the sttndings.

IndySOO Analysis rights to engines. The mission for today's practice Is to give yourself driver get warmed up and ready to race. From this point on, a driver Is mentally getting Into race mode. Carb Day Is also a chance for teams to put the polishing touches on pit stops and for the crew and driver to become comfortable where they are along the pit lane. It's so important for the driver to know where his or her pit Is on race day.

Today's practice also lets you find out what gear it's best to be in when you're In the pits, so you can travel at the proper rpm to maintain the speed limit There's another importance to Carburetion Day that many may not realize. Some teams completely change the dashboards on the cars from qualifying to race setup. The driver and the team's telemetry guru will sometimes decide to move some gauges and digital readouts so that they are more easily read by the driver In the race. It's crucial for the driver to become accustomed to a changed dash today. Again, race day Is too late.

Buddy Lazier, the defending champion of the Indianapolis 500, shares his thoughts in a series ol first-person accounts of this month at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Gv3 Pick the Winners at Indy! 1 IK IP mhlim Xtm a chance to weed out any gremlins in the race car be they electrical, water lines, fuel pickup, whatever. Carburetion Day Is a great opportunity to make sure the race car Is as mechanically sound as it can be. It also allows the teams and drivers to make small, final chassis adjustments to ensure the car Is as good as possible for race day. It can also give drivers a chance to get in one or two "hot" laps.

Just to get a good feel for the race car under conditions with full traffic on the course. It helps a A rfLEPHONE INFORMATION SEUVICE OF THE STA 1 THE NEWS Call 624-4636 and enter category 4500 4ri.i.if.K. Rookies of the year were once rewarded with $500 and a years supply of meat How to Enter Using a Touch-Tone phone, call 624-4636 and enter category 4500 to play. Call anytime before 10:00 am on May 25th. Call 24 hours a day.

Eacn call is FREE within the Indianapolis local calling area. Check this ad carefully and make a list of the drivers you think will place first, second and third in the Indianapolis 500. You will be asked to enter the assigned number for each driver you have selected. Driver number does not reflect starting position as of race time. You wilfbe asked to enter your area code and seven digit phone number.

Each person may enter up to five times. If your driver dos net start the race, the MibitHute driver becentes yeur selection. Don't forget the TIE-BREAKER question: Guess the average speed of the first place winner through the 500 mile race. Each player who correctly picks the top three winners will be eligible to win the $500 grand prize. Average speed will be used as the tie breaker.

A 'Tsir. I' The rookie of the year award celebrates its 45th anniversary. It was conceived In 1952. then underwritten for the next 26 years by Stark Wetzel, the locally-based meat packing and supply company. Remember the shrill whistle on Rules Rules Rules No purchaw necessary to ploy.

You must call from a Touch-Tone phone to enter the Fast Cash Contest. Computer generated entries will result in disquolrficotton. Moil entries ore not accepted. All players must call in their entries by 10:00 am on May 25, 1997. You may phone in your entry anytime, 24 hours a day.

You must enter working pnone number and a nine-digit identification number. This nine-digrt number is used for identifying the winner (you may use your Social Security Number for this purpose). The grond prize winner will be selected based on the greatest number of correct picks. Average speed will be used to determine the winner. If no perfect entries ore round, the entrant who correctly picks first and second winners becomes eligible to win.

Entrant is responsible for misdioled entries. Employees of Indianapolis Newspapers, Jiffy Lube, their advertising agencies and their immediate families ore not eligible to enter this contest. Decision of the judges is final. Donald Davidson's Indy 500 the famed obliterated the one- and four-lap qualifying records on his way to winning the rookie of the year award in 1960. "We had Just moved here and were renting a house which we shared with Parnelli and Grayce (Jones) and a couple of others," she explains.

"Once a week, I'd drive downtown to Stark Wetzel's and they'd give me whatever we wanted. I'd usually Just get some lunch meat and bologna for the kids, then Jim would get on me because I hadn't come home with steaks and chops! I don't remember if there was a limit and, In fact, I think they told us we could still go down there even after the year was up. The total value for everything they gave us? It must have been at least $1,000. It was great." Donald Davidson's look at the historic aspects of the Indianapolis 500 will be published through May 26 in The Indianapolis Star and The Indianapolis News. He also is the host of The Talk of Gasoline 4ey daily on WIBC-AM 1070).

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Washington St. 1 270 S. Range Line Carmel 8125 U.S. 31 Greenwood pnOur ervice Oil Change IN05 NoAppt. Necessary Expires June 30,1997 Not valid with any other offer their radio commercials? The original award was a cash prize of $500 not bad for those days plus a bonus of a year's supply of meat from Stark Wetzel! While such a prize would likely have done little more than raise an eyebrow on some of the more recent Jet-set recipients, the up-through-the-ranks racers of the 1950s and '60s were very grate- "Oh, it was great," says Jane Hurtubisa whose late husband, In) 254 S.

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