The Indianapolis Star from Indianapolis, Indiana • Page 72

R4 MONDAY, MAY 31, 2004 4i Sports THE INDIANAPOLIS STAR WWW.INDYSTAR.COM RACE mm REPORT ashes cause plenty of damage Cr mm ii 1 -ir-fimi 1 1 fiwiinionnii iiuli, i 4. rMMWIMMMVHMMMBMiiiMllttf iX-y 0 Cant get out of the way in time: Mark Taylor's car (left) gets air under its tires during a wreck with Ed Carpenter in turn three at Indianapolis Andrew Clark For The Star Motor Speedway. The accident occurred on lap 64. bad luck at Indy continues 4 1 r.7 --s Thomas C. Figure For The Star Didnt hang around long: AJ.

Foyt IV's car makes contact with the wall early in the Indianapolis 500. He finished in 33rd place. Foyts head home early; 11 cars fail to finish race v'fi s. Hornish's By Steve Ballard steve.ballardindystar.com Sam Hornish Jr. had two special occasions marked on his calendar less than a week apart.

He can only hope the second has a happier ending than the first. Hornish's early exit from the Indianapolis 500 on a rainy Sunday afternoon at least will let him focus his full attention on his marriage Saturday to Crystal Liechty. "I don't have to worry about doing the media tour now," Hornish said with a wry smile in reference to the whirlwind week that awaits an Indy 500 winner. Hornish, 24, had high hopes that some of the Team Penske magic would rub off on him and that his first year with the team would result in him giving owner Roger Penske his fourth consecutive Indy 500 win and 14th overall Instead, some of his bad Indy luck rubbed off on the team. Hornish crashed out of the race on lap 105, finishing 26th, and teammate Helio Castroneves, a two-time winner, finished ninth.

"You can't win 'em all," said team president Tim Cindric. "We certainly gave it a shot Overall, we had a good month." Hornish led his first laps in his fifth Indy 500 start and looked certain to be in the fight to the finish. But a pit stop miscue, when the vent hose stuck, forced him to pit again to have it removed. That put him back in the pack which, as he noted, is "where all the problems happen." Greg Ray and rookie Darren Manning got together coming out of turn four, and their cars slid directly into Hornish's path. They slid along the inside wall of the in the mix than we were, but the impact is much bigger for us because we're a much smaller team," he said.

"They've got plenty of ponies in the stable. We Hornish didn't necessarily need a strong finish, but he certainly wanted it The Defiance, Ohio, native has won 11 races and two championships in his four Indy Racing League seasons, but the Indianapolis Motor Speedway has not been kind to him. He has three finishes of 24th or below and none better than 14th. "I'm going in the wrong direction," he said after the worst of his five Indy finishes. "It's frustrating.

One of these days, it's going to turn out right." Hornish refused to blame his crew for the mistake that put him in harm's way, but he wasn't as forgiving of Ray. "We were up front doing everything we could to stay out of trouble, and we had a problem that was nobody's fault," he said. "We came in, fixed it and were moving back up through the field. "For two guys to get together in front of me, with one of them seven laps down, it's not very fun." For Hornish, the short end to his day was doubly frustrating because he had convinced himself he had a car capable of winning. Instead, he had to be content with merely leading the race for the first time.

"It felt pretty good," he said. "It took me five years to do it. I hope it doesn't take me another five to win it." Call Star reporter Steve Ballard at (317) 444-6184 Robart Senear The Star Headed home too early: Sam Hornish Jr. acknowledges fans at IMS as he leaves the pits after crashing out of the race on lap 105. Race incidents Nine drivers found themselves involved in wrecks during Sunday's 88th Indianapolis 500.

The wreck of Greg Ray and Darren Manning on the frontstretch during lap 105 was especially dramatic, as it frontstretch and made contact with the padded attenuator on the pit wall at the entrance to the pits. They finally came to rest on pit lane. "They crashed, and Sam ran into the crash," Cindric said. "There was nothing he could do." Hornish said it looked as if Ray initiated the contact with Manning. Ray didn't see it that way.

"I knew he was there, and I gave him room," Ray said. "I don't know if he bounced off the wall into me or not. I feel bad for Sam. He had nowhere to go." Ray, whose self-owned team's financial problems kept him away from the Speedway until the final day of qualifying, needed a good Jr. and and Ray make a quarter spin yr yvNSV 7rr By Michael Pointer michael.pointerindystar.com Sunday will rank near the bottom if A.J.

Foyt ever puts together his list of favorite Indianapolis 500 moments. The four-time Indy 500 winner as a driver and once as an owner watched as two relatives both work for A.J. Foyt Enterprises were the first two drivers to exit the race. A.J. Foyt TV brushed the turn-four wall, then spun in turn one during the 11th lap.

Uncle Larry Foyt got too high in turn two and crashed into the wall on his 54th lap. "He (the elder Foyt) didn't really say much," Larry Foyt said. "He said it's been a bad day for us, but we already knew that." It capped a frustrating month for the elder Foyt, who wasn't pleased with either of the drivers' qualifying times. He declined comment through a representative after Larry's crash, but told ABC earlier that A.J. IVs crash was due to a lack of experience.

"When he pushes like that, he won't give up and back off," he said. "When he does, he goes down into the wall like he did in qualifying. Maybe he'll learn from this." A.J. Foyt IV didn't argue the point. "It wasn't anybody's fault but mine," he said.

A.J. IV tried twice to continue. He didn't pit immediately after brushing the turn four wall, but he noticed some looseness in the car on the next turn and crashed. His crew fixed the car enough to get it back on the track following a nearly two-hour rain delay, but Foyt IV and the rest of the team realized it wasn't worth it. "We were just kind of in the way," Foyt IV said.

"There was no sense in standing out there and getting run over, so we decided to call it a day." Larry Foyt also said he was to blame for his mishap, but added that he was struggling with his car the entire day. "What's disappointing is the car is just the worst it's been all month," Larry said. "You hate that You feel like you're going in the right direction and you make it better, better, better and better. Then come race day, you lost it for some reason. Eleven cars failed to finish the rain-shortened 180-lap race.

Rookies Ed Carpenter and Mark Taylor went out when they crashed on their 63rd laps going into the third turn. Taylor was up high and went in a quarter spin. Carpenter went into a half spin, and each of their cars suffered heavy damage to the rear. Carpenter walked from his car without incident, but Taylor was taken to Methodist Hospital where he was treated for dizziness and a knee injury before be-. ing released, Panther Racing; spokesman Mike Kitchel said.

"There was nowhere for me to go," Carpenter said. "At some point, Mark has to respect that I have the corner and try to pass me back on the next straightaway." Carpenter and Taylor were 500 rookies. 1 "Indy isn't like Texas or Chicago where you can run two- wide," Carpenter said. "You have to give and take. There wasn't room for two cars." Taylor didn't assign blame.

1 "I was holding my line going into turn three," he said. "I'm not sure exactly what happened I thought I was holding my line solid and saw one of the Red Bull cars (Carpenter's team) going into me." PJ Jones went out on his 93rd lap when he made contact with the wall in turn two. "We just didn't have any speed," Jones said. "The balance was OK for the first 10 laps after new tires. After that, it went loose every time." Jaques Lazier took over for Robby Gordon when the rain forced Gordon to leave the race early because of his commitment to race in NASCAR's Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte, N.C.

But Lazier's day ended on lap 88 because of mechanical problems. Sam Hornish Darren Manning and Greg Ray were eliminated when they were involved in an accident on lap 105. Marty Roth went out when he slid into the wall on his 129th lap, and Buddy Lazier exited the race because of a problem with his fuel system on lap 164. Call Star reporter Michael Pointer at (317) 444-6641. "I knew (Darren Manning) was there, and I gave him room.

I don't know if he bounced off the wall into me or not. I feel bad for Sam (Hornish He had nowhere to go." Greg Ray finish to help attract a sponsor. So while he felt bad for being involved in a crash that knocked out two lead-lap cars, he felt worse for himself. "I'm sure they were higher up Crash-related cautions Laps 11-15 Laps 95-102 Laps56-61 Laps 63-69 Laps 106-115 Laps 132-136 Roth's car hits the wall in turn four. during the accident ManyRotn also involved the car of Sam Hornish AJ.FoytlVLlaBllJ Foyt brushes wall in turn four and does a half-spin in turn one.

AALarrvFovt lap 56 Foyt hits the wall while exiting turn two. 7 a -I. I i iwam itiyiur dim Ed Caraenter Ian 64 Their pari touch each other while going into turn three and they both spin. (AfcS PJ Jones I lap 94 Jones' car runs high out of turn two and makes contact with the wall. 5 fi Darren Mannina.

Grea Ray Sam Hornish Jr. lap 105) Manning contact exiting turn four. Their cars do Cars out Lap aflAJ.FoytlV, 11 Sam Hornish Jr. 105 ITS 33 Marty Roth 132 The Star ios 'VC- jfm i'X rtHGreoRay 105 f. and run into the car driven by Hornish.

All three cars slide along the inside wall of frontstretch and make contact with the attenuator at the end of the pit wall. The cars come to rest on pit lane, all heavily damaged. The three drivers climb from their cars without needing assistance. A pit lane worker for the track, David Stout, was slightly injured by flying debris and was taken to Methodist Hospital for X-rays on one of his feet I.