Battle Creek Enquirer from Battle Creek, Michigan • Page 21

AUTO RACING 4C Sunday, May 28, 2000 Battle Creek Enquirer AUTO RACING NOTEBOOK Brayton's memory still alive "3 W. i 1 1 1 -a. it 1 ASSOCIATED PRESS Three former winners competing in this year's Indy 500 are introduced during the annual drivers meeting at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Saturday. From left are: Al Unser Eddie Cheever and Buddy Lazier. Fisher hopes to be Indy pioneer I lllpM ipll ij L- 1 A display case at Coldwater High School keeps Scott Brayton's memory during practice for the Indy 500 in 1996.

DOUG ALLENTHE ENQUIRER alive after the Coldwater native died BRAYTON, from 1C "We used to go to Indy for the time trials, the practices and all the stuff," said Sours, whose son Lane Sours graduated with Brayton from Coldwater High School in 1977. "When Scott died it just lost something. When that happened I told my husband that I don't care if I ever go back." Sours gets constant reminders of the local racer through her son and because of her job as a housekeeper for Brayton's parents. Lane Sours, who started competing in the International Motor Contest Association two weeks ago, had "In Memory of Scott Brayton" printed on the hood of his racing car to remember his former classmate. Carol Sours is regularly surrounded by photos of Brayton and his IndyCars and other racing paraphernalia whenever she does housework at his parents' home.

"When I come here there's all the pictures and everything," Sours said. "They have a walk-in closet with all his racing outfits he wore in the cars and all his helmets he wore. I see that every week and tell my husband that Til never get over it" Though the Applebee's Neighborhood Bar Grill in Coldwater hasn't even been opened a year, Brayton was still very much worthy of a display on one of the walls of the establishment. The tribute includes a variety of racing photos of Brayton, a black-and-white checkered flag baring the Indianapolis Motor Speedway logo and an engraved plaque that reads, "A career most people only dream about." Shortly after Brayton's death a display honoring each of his Indy 500 appearances was hung next to the athletic department office at Coldwater High School to keep his memory alive. "It's amazing with the showcase we have here the amount of kids who walk by and look at it through the course of any of our winter events we have here," Coldwater athletic director Dave Hammer said of the display that's near the school's gymnasium.

"A number of people keep coming back and refreshing their own minds with the pictures we have here. If probably one of the most popular areas, other than the wall with the Hall of Fame at the other end, where people kind of congregate around." Coldwater junior Adam Beem will never forget what Brayton accomplished in his racing career. Beem, who moved to Coldwater from North Carolina last fall, was stunned when he watched Brayton's crash on Turn 2. "I remember sitting on my couch and thinking a man just died," said Beem, who's constantly reminded of the accident by now living in Brayton's hometown. "It's kinda hard to forget that.

Beem's also reminded of the local superstar because he plays football with Spencer Brayton, Scott's nephew. Though he often thinks of the racer, Beem doesn't talk about him with his teammate. "I don't bring it up," Beem said. "Unfortunately, I don't know what to say. I have not had someone die in my family for more than 10 years." RACING COMMUNITY REMEMBERS The racing community introduced the Scott Brayton Driver's Trophy in 1997 to be presented annually to a driver who best exem-plifies the character and racing spirit of the late Brayton.

Unser's INDY, FROM 1C "Now the best that the other series has to offer is competing in our race, and thaf a lot of fun," the 1998 Indy winner said. "I have a lot of respect for them coming over here. Indy is a very hard race to win, much less dominate. They have dominated eveiything they've done. We'll see if that applies here." Unser, who won here in 1992 and 1994, failed to qualify for the 1995 race and has spent the past four years in CART, away from his family's beloved Indy.

"It left a hole in my heart to not be here," Unser said. "Now I feel like I'm breathing again." Unser will start 18th Sunday. He is coming off a victory last month Associated Press INDIANAPOLIS Look out, Indy 500. There's a new gal in town, and she got an attitude. Sarah Fisher, 19, isn't content to just be the third woman ever to make the Indy field.

She wants to get to Victory Lane, a place no woman has come close to reaching. Janet Guthrie competed three times from 1977-79, never finishing higher than ninth. Lyn St James, the oldest driver in this year's race at 53, has yet to contend in six 500s. She placed nth in her 1992 debut and hasn't finished higher. "She helped kick the door open," the teen-ager said.

"I want to blow it open. I want to win and I think that's maybe a different attitude." Don't go looking for Fisher and St James to do any of that female bonding, either. Fisher attended the driving school that St. James runs when she was 15, and she doesn't give it glowing reviews. "Lyn's school was more about the media aspects of racing, more about the idea of preparing your mind and body to race," said Fisher, who will start 19th in Sunday's race.

"It didn't focus much of what you're doing in the race car. A lot of the info was not for me. I didn't take a whole lot away from it." St. James, who starts next-to-last in the 33-car field, conceded that she didn't have a close relationship with Fisher. "She came to my school about five years ago," St.

James said. "I really haven't spoken to her since." RAY'S PASSION There is no racing event in the world that means as much to Greg Ray as Indy. The defending Indy Racing League champion, has raced at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway three times and never finished better than 18th. Last year, he started from the middle of the front row, led 32 laps and was a contender until he pulled out of his pit in front of Mark Dis-more and the ensuing collision took him out of the race. "We had a radio failure," Ray said, shaking his head.

"I really thought we had a good chance of winning last year." Asked how much it would mean to him to win at Indianapolis, Ray got a wistful look in his eyes and replied: "In my career, I've won two Formula 2000 championships, Fve won an Adantic championship, and now I've won an Indy-car championship, a lot of poles, a lot of races, lot of accolades. "If I never win another race, if I never do anything else, Fve already been blessed. But, by the same token, every race win, every pole position, every championship, every fast race lap, I would trade it all for one Indianapolis 500 victory." The 33-year-old Ray will start from the pole on Sunday. Since 1970, seven drivers have won from the pole and only three in the last 10 years. The last was Arie Luyendyk in 1997.

BURTON HANGS ON FOR 12TH CAREER BUSCH WIN CONCORD, N.C. Jeff Burton went to school last weekend during the Winston Cup all-star race then went out and won the Car-quest Auto Parts 300 race Saturday. Burton took advantage of a mistake by Mark Martin's pit crew, a gamble from his own team and a wreck by Matt Kenseth near the finish for his second Busch Grand National victory this season and 12th of his career. Burton watched Dale Earnhardt Jr. take on four fresh tires and race from back in the pack to win last Saturday's Winston all-star race.

He used that same strategy again during a hot and humid day at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Burton beat Martin, who had won three of the last four Carquest 300 races at Lowe's, by about one second. He also beat Martin under caution March 4 in Las Vegas. Burton and Martin are Ford teammates, so the win broke a string of five straight Busch wins by Chevro-lets. "They're on the top of their game right now," Busch points leader Jeff Green said of Burton and Martin.

Green started 26th, but finished third for his fourth straight top three finish. Jeff Gordon was fourth and Todd Bodine fifth. All three drive Chevrolets. PENSKE GETS 100TH CHAMP CAR VICTORY NAZARETH, Pa. Car owner Roger Penske got his long-awaited 100th Champ-car victory when Gil de Ferran avoided a rash of accidents Saturday in the Bosch Grand Prix.

The victory, the first by a Penske car in three years, ended the hopes of CART champion Juan Montoya for a unique weekend double. Montoya, hurt early by slow pit stops and caught up in one of the accidents, wound up fourth. Today, he starts second in the Indianapolis 500. De Ferran, who started fifth, won for the fourth time in his career. Billv Boat.

"You can't say who the favorite is," Ray said. "You have too many good teams and good drivers." John Menard, owner of the car entered for Ray and Gordon, has been coming here since 1979 with strong cars and good drivers and has yet to win the big race. He came close last year when Gordon led with six turns remaining only to run out of fuel and finish fourth. Menard remains optimistic about his team's chances and is pumped up over the direction the race has taken this month. "The momentum is building again to make this a really exciting event Sunday," Menard said.

qualifications or the race. He was the first fatality since Jovy Marce-lo was killed during a 1992 practice run. Brayton, who had the pole in both the 1995 and 1996 races, marked the last driver to die at the Indy 500. A FAMILY REMEMBERS After placing the memorial wreath at his son's grave, Lee Brayton heads south to Indianapolis to work The 66-year-old Brayton supplies engines to drivers like Robbie Buhl, who is starting in the ninth position today. Buhl married Becky, Scott's former wife, last year and became part of the Brayton racing family.

Though Lee Brayton prefers to remember being in Indy for happier times like in 1981 when his son made his Brickyard debut or in 1993 when his son matched his best finish of sixth, he tries to keep his son's spirit alive down in the pits. Lee Brayton attends the annual event with his wife, Jean, son, Todd, daughter-in-law, Becky, and granddaughter, Carly. "We are only here because Scot-tie wouldn't have wanted me to quit and Becky is my partner now like Scottie was," said Lee, who builds IndyCar engines. "Thaf an income for Becky and Carly and there's no way Scott would have wanted me to just quit the business and throw that away. "The thing of it is that Scottie and I worked together, we hunted together and we raced together so there's not really any place I can go and not think about him.

If I got out of the business and went hunting then he'd be there beside me. Scott was a tremendous kid and we just had tons of fun together so there's no way that I can say this is fun like it used to be." Spending quality time with his granddaughter at the race and showing her video tapes and photos of the father she will never know helps ease some of the pain of Lee Brayton's loss. "You can see her daddy in her. I just don't want her to be a race car driver," Lee said. Greg Brayton, who is the musician of the family, produced an instrumental composition CD called "Wheel to Wheel" in memory of his younger brother.

The album includes sounds of Scott Brayton's car zooming around the Indy track and his car being worked on in the pit. But the 44-year-old doesn't need to listen to the Indy 500 anymore or visit his grave to remember Scott Brayton. "I think about Scott every day," Greg Brayton said while sitting beside his race-car like bike track located next to his Coldwater home. "He continues to motivate me in just trying to do the best in I know how to do and if I'm getting too lazy he (yells) at me that maybe I need to get off my butt. But I don't have to try to keep him alive because to me he still is." ered flag, would be even happier if Montoya or Vasser could overcome the logistical disadvantage of racing 225 miles Saturday in Nazareth, then win here on Sunday.

Fisher, who has run in only two previous IRL events, probably won't contend Sunday. But her confident, charismatic presence, combined with a strong qualifying effort four laps averaging 220.237 mph has made her an instant Indy favorite with fans and drivers. For Fisher, who follows Janet Guthrie and Lyn St. James onto the 2 i2-mile speedway oval, arriving at Indy is simply the next step in her development. "I don't even think about that SCOn BRAYTON DRIVER'S TROPHY WINNERS At the race banquet that's held each year at the Indy 500, one of the racers is awarded the Scott Brayton Driver's Trophy for best exemplifying the character and racing spirit of the late Scott Brayton.

Winners receive $25,000 along with the crystal trophy and have a bust made to be permanently displayed at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The award began in 1997, a year after Brayton was killed during a practice run. Here are the past winners: 1999. Eliseo Salazar. 1998, Roberto Guerrero.

1997, John Paul Jr. Winners receive $25,000 along with a crystal trophy. They also have a bust made that's permanently displayed at the speedway in Indianapolis. Lee Brayton has personally presented the past three awards. However, starting this year the previous winner will hand out the trophy.

"I think thaf real, real meaningful," Brayton said. The PPG Pole Award, which includes a check for $100,000 and a special Indy 500 ring, is also presented in Scott Brayton's memory. Drivers in various racing arenas have started scholarship funds and insurance policies for Scott Brayton's 6-year-old daughter, Carly. Brayton marked the 40th Indy 500 driver to die during practice, return to in Las Vegas his first IRL win and first of any kind in five years. On his first day back at Indy, Unser got a standing ovation every time he appeared on pit road.

The response hasn't died down much since. The arrival of Ganassi's team, winners of a record four straight CART tides, is at least as significant as Unser's return. The IRL and CART require entirely different chassis and engines, and although an initiative to unify the series fell apart last summer, CART decided to open the door for its teams to return to the speedway. The weekend of Indy time trials and the race were left open on the Indy 500 brings back excitement issue, sne saia wnen asKea aoout being a woman in what has been a man's sport. "I'm a race car driver." She's also the third youngest starter in Indy history behind Josele Garza and Troy Ruttman.

St James, who will be in the race for the seventh time, is the oldest dri-. With Kenny Brack, last year's winner while driving for A. J. Foyt's team, racing in CART, the top contenders from the IRL roster include Unser; defending IRL champion and pole-winner Greg Ray and his teammate Robby Gordon; Cheever; two-time Indy runner-up Scott Goodyear; and Foyf three entries of Eliseo Salazar, Jeff Ward and CART schedule, although a snowed-out race in Nazareth, was rescheduled for Saturday long after Ganassi and fellow CART owner Derrick Walker had committed to Indy. Ganassi's arrival made the most impact, since he brought Montoya and 1996 series champion Vasser, while Walker is running the entire IRL schedule with Fisher.

"We've been working very hard," Ganassi said. "I've been asking a lot of these guys and, this isn't an easy place a lot of times. But I'm finding it enjoyable. I'm glad we're here." Ganassi, who was co-owner of the winning team in 1989 when Emerson Fittipaldi took the check 14. (18) r-Sam Hornish Dallara-Aurora, 220.496 15.

(98) Donnie Beechler, Dallara-Aurora, 220.482 Row 6 16. (91) Buddy Lazier, Dallara-Aurora, 220.482 17. (50) r-Jason Leffler, Force-Aurora, 220.417 18. (3) Al Unser Force-Aurora, 220.293 Row 7 19. (15) r-Sarah Fisher, Dallara-Aurora, 220.237 20.

(7) Stephan Gregoire, Force-Aurora, 219370 21 (88) r-Airton Dare, Force-Aurora, 219370 Rowll 31. (41) Billy Boat, Force-Aurora, 218.872 32. (90) Lyn St. James, Force-Aurora, 218.826 33. (48) r-Andy Hillenburg, Dallara-Aurora, 218.285 Field average: 220.794 mph (Record 227.807, 1996), First Alternate (21) Jack Miller, Dallara-Aurora, 216.154 Second Alternate (17) Scott Harrington, Dallara-Aurora, 215371 Row 8 22.

(12) Buzz Calkins, Dallara-Aurora, 219.862 23. (75) Richie Hearn, Dallara-Aurora, 219.816 24. (55) Raul Boesel, Force-Aurora, 222.113 Row 9 25. (27) Jimmy Kite, Force-Aurora, 220.718 26. (33) r-Jaques Lazier, Force-Aurora, 220.675 27.

(23) Steve Knapp, Force-lnfiniti, 220.290 Row 10 28. (16) Davey Hamilton, Force-Aurora, 219.878 29. (6) Jeret Schroeder, Dallara-Aurora, 219.322 30. (22) Johnny Unser, Force-Aurora, 219.066 5. (8) Scott Sharp, Dallara-Aurora, 222.810 6.

(14) Jeff Ward, Force-Aurora, 222.639 Row 3 7. (10) Jimmy Vasser, Force-Aurora, 221376 8. (92) Stan Wattles, Dallara-Aurora, 221.508 9. (24) Robbie Buhl, Force-Aurora, 221.357 Row 4 10. (51) Eddie Cheever, Dallara-lnfiniti, 221270 11 (28) Mark Dismore, Dailara-Aurora, 220370 12 (5) Robby McGehee, Force-Aurora, 220.661 Row 5 13.

(4) Scott Goodyear, Dallara-Aurora, 220.629 Indy 500 Lineup INDIANAPOLIS Lineup for the 84th Indianapolis 500 on Sunday, with car number, driver, chassis-engine and four-lap qualification average speed in mph on the 212-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway track (r-rookie): Rowl (1) Greg Ray, Dallara-Aurora, 223.471 1 (9) r-Juan Montoya, Force-Aurora, 223.372 3. (11) Eliseo Salazar, Force-Aurora, 223.231 Row 2 4. (32) Robby Gordon, Dallara-Aurora, 222.885 0.