The Indianapolis Star from Indianapolis, Indiana • Page 40

OOO D2 THE INDIANAPOLIS STAR SATURDAY, MAY 23, 1998 FtilLLER Continued from Page 1 isii isle i get a feel for how it responds and if it performs like we hoped." Two-time Indy winner Arie Luyendyk doesn't necessarily want to test Pierce's polyethylene plan, but he hopes it's successful. "I'd like to see it on every wall, on every oval, so we don't have to hit concrete anymore." Safer season for IRL After 30 IRL drivers went to the hospital In 1997, It's been a dramatically safer season and May (knock wood). John Mclvin, a research manager at GM, and Pierce studied the head and neck Injuries and recommended numerous safety changes In the cockpit and rear end of '98 IRL cars. The result is that they were presented the 1998 Louis Schwltzer Award, which has recognized outstanding engineering, innovation and achievement in race-car design the past 31 years at Indianapolis. 80 Gs," said Forbes, who got rid of the IMS apron several years ago to reduce the angle of impact.

Championship Auto Racing Teams has used tire barriers with rewarding results the past two years in two corners at its oval in Brazil. At least four high-speed accidents into these tire walls produced no injuries and diminished damage to cars. But those tires, strapped together in stacks of eight, take up a lot of space and haven't been used anywhere else. "It looks like those tire barriers CART uses have done what they're designed to do, but they take up 8 to 10 feet. We don't have 8 to 10 feet and neither do a lot of other tracks," said Forbes, pointing out that PEDS is 18 inches wide.

As for putting PEDS on the outside walls at Indy, Forbes replied, "We're not going to do that until we're sure it's not going to make the situation worse. We've got to impact but not shatter like the cars. And not throw the car back into traffic or do extra damage to the driver. Some smaller American short tracks have tried tires or foam, but polyethylene seems to be perfect for the job. "Foam does something, but it doesn't do enough and tires are too big for this place, but polyethylene is indestructible and it doesn't shatter or tear or break," Forbes said.

"You've got to have something that doesn't slow down the show, either. "This material compresses on impact, then returns to its original shape," With assistance from impact-sled testing at Wayne State University, Pierce designed this shock absorber after evaluating several designs. "Our goal is to bring the big spike (impact) down and decrease the amount of injuries. To take those trauma-producing spikes of 120 or 140 Gs and reduce them to lsr about our Perma-last series with limited lifetime warranty. Indianapolis 9400 Rockville Rd.

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"For four years we've been trying to find a way to attenuate impacts on our walls, reduce injuries and see if there's a way we could do it without worsening the situation," said Kevin Forbes, the director of engineering facilities at the Speedway. "So we got John Pierce to sit down and think about it for the past year and this is what he came up with." Pierce, honored Friday for safety improvements on the IRL cars, is a retired safety engineer for General Motors who's been Involved with crash testing all his life and now serves as an IRL safety consultant. His big challenge was to come up with a wall that could absorb RACE DAY Qa Park FREE at Yellow Cab! And Take A Gab To The 500 1-70 Halt Rd. 5a Call for Info. 487-7777 (i a)f "sltTi of your choice (offer WWW IVY HOMES COM DrPrP By Phillip B.

Wilson STAFF WRITER Davey Hamilton should have a chip on his shoulder. The 35-year-old driver, who will make his third Indianapolis 500 start Sunday, lost his ride with A.J. Foyt last season and never was told why. And this was a season in which Hamilton was runner-up in the Indy Racing League series, six points behind Tony Stewart. But does Hamilton act as if he's annoyed about the end of a two-year relationship with his racing Idol? Not in the least.

He moved on. He joined the Nienhouse Motor-sports team and drove the No. 6 ReebokNienhouse Motorsports G-ForceAuroraGoodyear into the middle of the third row for the 82nd Indy 500. That's the same spot he started from last year when he finished sixth for Foyt. "I don't know If I should or shouldn't be bitter, but I'm not," Hamilton said.

"A.J. gave me a great opportunity. He had a great team and I have nothing bad to say about it at all. "A.J. has been known to make driver changes.

We're still on great terms. As a matter of fact, I went and asked him a couple of questions this week on some issues. A.J. has been a hero of mine for a long time, way before I ever came to this race track. I got to drive for my racing hero and he taught me a lot." Hamilton believes that, if it wasn't for Foyt, he wouldn't have received the opportunity with Nienhouse Motorsports.

Team general manager Rick Galles. back at Indy for the 16th year, is just glad Hamilton was available. "1 want to thank Foyt for giving me the opportunity to hire him," he said. "We feel like we got one of the best. Davey is as good as anybody I've ever had drive for me.

Galles, who backed Al Unser triumphant ride in 1992, believes Hamilton's day in the sun is coming. Hamilton's best IRL finish this season was a third place In Orlando. Fla. "A win is Just around the corner," Galles said. Hamilton hopes so.

A four-lap qualifying average of 219.748 mph this month put him alongside his Foyt teammate of a year ago, Scott Sharp, who is now with Delphi Automotive Systems. Unlike past years, his goal Is to win. When he arrived at Indy in 1995, his dreams of just making the race ended painfully as a wheel failure caused a turn four crash that broke his right ankle. In the final hour of qualifying, he GASOLINE ALLFY lJU; iJ-" 1 Staff Photo Paul Sancya READY TO RACE: Davey Hamilton, starting in the middle of the third row, believes he finally has the equipment to win the Indianapolis 500. ran two 226 mph laps before an undertray broke on his car.

He realized his ultimate goal and a lot more the next year. Hamilton started 12th and finished 10th In his first Indy 500. but also learned some valuable track lessons, from handling dirty air to dirty drivers. "There are a couple of rookies you need to be cautious around this year, but there are also a few veterans you've really got to be cautious around," he said. "If you talk to the guys in the garage area, they'll say the same thing.

If you ask names, they'd be the same names. They're very defensive drivers and not real racers. They're not real polite on the race track. "That's one thing I'm proud of. I try to be polite.

If I have a car that can win a race, I'm going to win it. I'm going tp be smart and pass when I can. But if somebody is faster than I am, I'm not going to run them Into the wall or block them. This is called auto racing, not auto blocking." This year's field includes eight rookies, many untested In these cars. For them, Hamilton repeats some simple advice.

"The bottom line, as Arie Luyendyk was saying the other day: 'There are two pedals In the car and you need to learn how to use both of he said. Hamilton has learned, sometimes the hard way, that racing Is a business and winning validates careers. Close only counts for so long. SHARP Continued from Page 1 and some exaggerated media reports, some wondered whether he would drive again. Sharp said there was never any doubt.

The only question he had was for whom he would be driving. Sharp began driving for A.J. Foyt In the 1995 500. He Joined the team full time in '96, the IRL's Inaugural season. He won his first IRL race at Loudon, N.H..

In August '96. Last year, he finished fourth at Orlando and 16th at Phoenix before his concussion at Indy. "I felt we could tackle the world at the beginning of last year," he said. "After all the crashes, a lot of things changed. I didn't feel I could get the same out of the team this year that maybe I could have last year." An opportunity to join the Kel-ley Racing team also swayed Sharp to move on.

"My gut said this was going to be a great deal and, for once, I listened to my gut. I don't always," he said. The only hang-up was Sharp was still under contract to Foyt, so he had to buy himself out of it. Team owner Tom Kelley said he never worried Sharp would have continuing health problems. "A lot of guys might have tried to come back and drive and been OK, but he took the safe route," Kelley said.

The toughest thing for Sharp was leaving Foyt, who had been his mentor. The California resident's experience was more on road courses. He drove on the Sports Car Club of America and Trans Am circuits before running his first Championship Auto Racing Teams race In 1993. Sharp said Foyt taught him how to drive comfortably on ovals. "He showed me the grooves to run and how to set up the car," Sharp said.

"In some ways, he molded my style because A.J. was very aggressive." The concussions haven't changed Sharp's hard-charging approach. Yet he admitted he has learned from the crashes to temper his aggressiveness. Sharp finished sixth at Orlando In January and won at Phoenix in March. He was second fastest at 223.310 mph during the 500's open testing In April.

He was one of the quickest in last week's practice but had trouble running in the heat on pole day. After waving off his first attempt, he qualified with a four-lap average of 219.910 mph in his Delphi Automotive Systems Dal-laraAuroraGoodyear. On Thursday, he blew an engine after running six laps on Car-buretion Day. Sharp said he would have liked more time to see how his car responded in traffic but believes his car will be one of the three or four fastest on race day. programs, models, more! photos, toys, posters and much 1 i'-J ecause your family grows with time, Ivy Homes introduces the new Expandable Home Series.

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