Fort Worth Star-Telegram from Fort Worth, Texas • 68

Section Page 22 Star-Telegram Sunday May 26 1996 Motorsports drivers ignore Indy for inaugural US 500 CA romenommlminmiel 1 41: together in such a short period" she added "but the fans are going to get good value for their tickets" Some of them she suggested had turned back tickets to the Indianapolis race when the split developed and some didn't even bother eating their Indy tickets and buying here she said The drivers? Most would rather be at Indy where the field includes mostly rookies and journeymen but The IRL "ridiculously saved 25 spots for their own drivers regardless of their speeds" said Jimmy Vasser winner of three of CART's five races this season and the US 500 pole-sitter in his ReynardHonda The situation "doesn't need to be analyzed any farther than that" Unser a two-time Indy winner who missed last year's race because he wasn't fast enoughis regretting missing his second but is supportive of CART's decision "I'm disappointed but I back my car owner Roger Penske and the PPG Indy Car World Series because it's the most competitive series in the world" he said adding that racing is racing wherever it's done "Once the green flag falls it's all business" Car races a strictly American oval-track series known as the Indy Racing League That made CART a tad nervous Its own series of oval street and road races in this country and others is highly successful but George does operate from a bully pulpit there in Indy at the holiest of all tracks in the realm Then George announced the rules for this year's Indy 500 There would be no new equipment '95 cars and engines or older would suffice and 25 of the 33 starting spots would be reserved for IRL teams That made CART downright mad The organization that for years had supplied most of the technology cars and drivers for "the greatest spectacle in racing" would be made to scramble for eight spots even if many of its drivers were faster than the IRL's "Nuts" CART said when diplomacy and negotiations failed to shake George from his intent "We'll have our own race that day" Hence the US 500 in southeastern Michigan and a slogan proclaiming: "The real cars the real stars the real race The US 500 The Real 500" Not that there won't be lots of sirnilari ties to the Indy 500 all strictly intentional of course The Michigan track is a banked two-mile tri-oval rather than a flat 2-mile oval but the speeds are similar And the cars will start three abreast just as they do at Indy even though there will be only 27 starting not the traditional 33 The winner at Indy figures to make $15 million or more At the US 500 the winner is guaranteed $1 million There is only one Borg-Warner trophy and Indy has it but CART has come up with what would seem a suitable substitute: a gleaming 31-inchhigh sterling silver replica of the Vanderbilt Cup a symbol of racing excellence in this country in the early part of the century This race won't draw Indy's 350000 or more fans but more than 100000 are expected and CART finds that remarkable considering that the race has been on the schedule for less than six months Said Rena Shanaman general manager of the US 500 "All 90000 seats have been sold and the demand here was strong enough that for the first time in MIS history we had an advance sale of general admission infield tickets "It was not an easy task to pull this all By MIKE MATER Los Angeles Times ROOKLYN Mich If it's your cus- tom on the Sunday before Memorial Day to pull up to your TV set and watch the Indianapolis 500 and you haven't been paying close attention to Indy car racing this year there is something you should know Former winners Bobby Rahal Emerson Fittipaldi Al Unser Jr and Jacques Villeneuve won't be racing today at Indy Neither will Michael Andretti Paul Tracy or Jimmy Vasser Robby Gordon? Uh-uh Raul Boesel? Nope All of them with the exception of Villeneuve last year's surprise winner who has taken his talents across the Atlantic to Formula One will be racing here today 250 miles northeast of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway at the Michigan International Speedway in the inaugural US 500 The US 500? It's Championship Auto Racing Teams' answer to the Indy 500 the wedge that has split Indy car racing like a dry chunk of oak Not quite a year ago Tony George owner of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway announced a new series of Indy I 040- 4 -101 414-q IV sss i LA The Associated Press Rena Shanaman general manager of the US 500 has been responsible for selling the inaugural event to the racing public US 500 Dual-bank plan fuels skepticism The lineup for today's US 500 with driver car number chassis-engine qualification speed in mph and comment from staff writer John Sturbin (r-rookie X-backup car all cars 1996 models unless noted): Driver car number Chassis Speed Comment ROW 1 Jimmy Vasser (12) Reynard-Honda 232025 IndyCar's hottest property would be fitting first champ Adrian Fernandez (32) Lola-Honda 231108 Surprise front-row starter thanks to Honda power Bryan Herta (28) Reynard-Mercedes 230774 Back to his "High Speed" ways with Team Rahal ROW 2 r-Alex Zanardi (4x) Reynard-Honda 230751 Rookie scared himself silly qualifying at 230751 mph Al Unser Jr (2) Penske-Mercedes 230213 His heart is at Indy his right foot is in Michigan Andre Ribeiro (31) Lola-Honda 229710 This Brazilian will win the first US 500 toor- -il 4 '1e '-1 41(1 0 i i--- 1r- ti -1- sc ''1 14 r-r--- if-----" 0 4 It -A '''t I 1404 t) a 2 4 -er0 111 ft 4 tire 5 olk zr-- ti ttv 1 Illtk '4 -0 -'s c1 il-- i Penske-Mercedes Penske-Mercedes Lola-Ford Cosworth 228980 Usually finds mechanical trouble in long-distance races 227816 His kind of track if the Mercedes V8 can last 227718 Won last July's race here in a thriller over Little Al Reynard-Ford Cosworth 227561 Lola-Ford Cosworth 226602 Lola-Ford Cosworth 226246 Inherits Jacques Villeneuve's former ride Hard to be aggressive when on double-secret probation Emmo's nephew appears lost with Newman-Haas Lola Reynard-Honda 225957 Reynard-Ford Cosworth 225625 Reynard-Mercedes 225464 Car-owner Jim Hall knows how to win 500-mile marathons "Big Mo" needs to steer dear of former teammate Andretti Not as racy as when he won Indy 10 years ago ROW 3 Paul Tracy (3) Emerson Fittipaidi (9) Scott Pruett (20x) ROW 4 Raul Boesel (1) Michael Andretti (6x) Christian Fittipaldi (11) ROW 5 Oil de Ferran (8x) Mauticio Gugelmin (17) Bobby Rahal (18) ROW 6 Parker Johnstone (49) r-Greg Moore (99) r-Eddie Lawson (10) ROW 7 r-Mark Blundell (21) Roberto Moreno (34) Robby Gordon (5) ROW 8 Stefan Johansson (16x Fredrik Ekblom (15) Neff Krosnoff (25) ROW 9 Hiro Matsushita (19) Juan Fangio II (36) Gary Bettenhausen (26) ROW 6 Parker Johnstone (49) r-Greg Moore (99) r-Eddie Lawson (10) ROW 7 r-Mark Blundell (21) Roberto Moreno (34) Robby Gordon (5) ROW 8 Stefan Johansson (16x) Fredrik Ekblom (15) Neff Krosnoff (25) ROW 9 Hiro Matsushita (19) Juan Fangio II (36) Gary Bettenhausen (26) Reynard-Honda Reynard-Mercedes Lola-Mercedes 224372 Fast and savvy enough to log a top 10-finish 224025 1996's Canadian rookie phenom a la TracyNilleneuve 221618 Ex-motorcycle champ remains on steep learning curve The Associated Press Indianapolis 500 rookie Tony Stewart of Rushville Ind grimaces as he removes his earplugs after practice this week Reynard-Ford Cosworth 221487 Lola-Ford Cosworth 221447 Reynard-Ford Cosworth 220877 First start since horrifying oval crash at Brazil Formula One veteran returns for Payton-Coyne Racing The shine is fading a bit on Ford's Indy Car wundetkind Indy 500 Reynard-Mercedes 219081 Reynard-Ford Cosworth 218501 Reynard-Toyota 217341 Switch from Penske to Reynard chassis is not cure-all Subbing for the recuperating Scott Goodyear Readjusting to US racing after seven seasons in Japan From Page 1 Lola-Ford Cosworth 216048 Eagle-Toyota 209476 Penske Mercedes-Benz 208607 Burning up family-owned Panasonic's sponsorship money Better days loom for team-owner Dan Gurney Spent past two years overcoming physical ailments Indianapolis 500 The lineup for today's Indianapolis 500 listing the driver car number chassis-engine four-lap qualification average speed in mph and a comment from staff writer John Sturbin (All cars 1995 models unless noted otherwise r-rookie): Comment Chassis Speed Driver car number ROW 1 r-Tony Stewart (20) Davy Jones (70) Eliseo Salazar (7) BY JOHN STURM Star-Telegram Staff Wrner INDIANAPOLIS Indy Racing League founder Tony George says he is not sold on the "dual-banking" concept planned by developer Bruton Smith for Indycars at Texas Motor Speedway Instead George envisions the new generation of IRL-specification Indy-cars competing on the same 24-degree banking that will accommodate NASCAR Winston Cup cars "My feeling is we're going to have technical rules that will allow ps to run on the regular racetrack" said George who also is president -0-of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway "If 4--- we're in a position to attract their interest in Fort Worth I think that will be our goal I don't think we I want to run on the 'inner ilA 1 I loop' or what-George ever you want to call it" In the name of safety and creating a better show for spectators Smith plans to have Indy-cars run through a 45-foot portion of the tack's turns tapered and banked at 8 degrees A temporary barrier of some sort has been proposed to prevent the Indy-cars from running up on the 24-degree banking Indy-cars are to race down the same front and back straights as stock cars "The concept was explained to us" George said "but I'm not sure that I understand it" Cary Agajanian executive vice president of the sanctioning US Auto Club's IRL Division also expressed skepticism about the design "I've not seen it before so it's very hard for me to visualize how it will work" Agajanian said Eddie Gossage vice president and general manager of the under-construction 15-mile tri-oval in far north Fort Worth took George on a tour of the project this spring Beginning in 1997 the IRL and USAC will implement new-specification chassis that initially will be constructed by Dallara of Italy and Force of Great Britain The chassis remain close to the current generation but will accommodate the IRL's new and bigger normally aspirated 40-liter V8 engines to be supplied by Oldsmobile and Nissan "We're going to build the cars to run on oval tracks" George said "We don't think it's going to be a problem at this point running at a higher-banked facility" Craig president and chief executive officer of the competing Championship Auto Racing Teams also has toured the $110 million facility Both IRL and CART officials have indicated a desire to add Texas Motor Speedway to their schedules 'Dallas-Fort Worth is very appealing" George said --1 -Texas Motor Speedway is scheduled for completion this fall Lola-Menard Lola-Mercedes Lola-Ford 233100 Flying start looms as IR rookie's moment of truth 232882 Outstanding qualifying job with lone Mercedes-Benz entry 232684 First start since suffering broken right leg on Jan26 231781 Two-race la career has been marked by a run of crashes 231468 Suffered fractures of vertebra pelvis in crash at Phoenix 231373 Capable of top-10 finish for Pagan Racing of Corpus Christi Lola-Menard Reynard-Ford Reynard-Ford Lola-Ford 229595 Lola-Ford 229380 Reynard-Ford 229013 "Some of what they said I laugh at it" said Stewart 25 "Some of these veteran stories make 'em sound like a bunch of little girls You kind of believe nothing what you hear and half of what you see "I think the concerns they have are legitimate But they make a little more out of it than there is" Stewart who grew up in Rushville Ind downplayed the idea that this is his moment of truth as a race-car driver Last year he became the first driver to win USAC championships in Sprint Midget and Silver Crown cars in the same season This year he inherited the pole position after Team Menard teammate Scott Brayton was killed in a practice crash May 17 "Starting from the pole is going to be I guess a hair-raising experi ence in everybody's eyes" Stewart said "Basically I'm going to treat it just like I would treat a Sprint Car race "It's the biggest race in the world granted But you still drive- the car the same as you would any- where else I don't anticipate any problems" However first-lap problems in turn I have marred the race five times in the past 14 years Last year's six-car debacle left Stan Fox critically injured Armed with that history chief steward Keith Ward and his staff dusted off the videotaped starts of the past six Indy 500s Call it the equivalent of the films shown to high school seniors before prom night but with the havoc played out at 200-plus mph "Not one start since 1990 was very professional from what the tape showed" said Davey Hamilton 33 a Super Modified champion driving for AJ Foyt "The Speedway would like 100 feet in between each row of three All the way through the field At the green flag at the start-finish line most generally the first five or six rows are so close together that you couldn't even find a lot of cars in there "I think that as a rookie group we're going to stress on ourselves and everybody else to make this a professional start" Ran as high as ninth last year as Indy 500 rookie Youngest starter is proud protege of uncle Bernard Jourdain Winner of IRL opener at Disney World leads series points Varied short-track resume landed this ride with AJ Foyt Journeyman flying the colors of CART's Walker Racing Formula One expatriate finished eighth in Phoenix Lola-Ford 228887 Reynard-Ford 228704 Reynard-Ford 228229 Hence the concern on the part of IRL officials and members of the sanctioning US Auto Club Even Tony George Speedway president and founder of the IRL agreed that today's events will help shape the fate of his all-oval five-race series "I think in that it's the first IRL Indy 500 it's a crucial day for us" George said "The start's important in any race I expect a good start They the rookies expect a good start I'm confident USAC has prepared them for their first start" Endurance sports car driver Fermin Velez of Spain said USAC officials have painted a vivid picture of what to expect at "The Brickyard" at 11 this morning "One of the things they say is that because of the crowd the track is going to look different" said Velez: 37 one of Team 'Scandia's armada of five international rookies "It's going to look narrower than we're used to That's what they told us" Italy's Michele Alboreto who has driven in 194 Formula One races and won five said he has learned more than he cares to know about hot air during the last week "There is a lot of legend about the turbulence and the handle on the car things I think we will all discover" said Alboreto 39 "But the advice from the veteran drivers is very helpful" How deeply the advice has sunk in will be determined when rookie pole-sitter Tony Stewart leads the field off of turn 4 and down the front straight for the traditional flying start Former Indy 500 champion Bobby Rahal once said the start of the Indy 500 is like driving down a straight road at 200 mph and turning left into your garage Stewart the fastest rookie in Speedway history at 233100 mph said similar tales were spun this week Reynard-Ford Lola-Menard Reynard-Ford 227556 First Indy 500 start since 1993 when he led one lap 227260 First Indy 500 start since devastating practice crash in 1991 226521 Highest-placing rookie (fourth) at Phoenix race Reynard-Ford Lola-Menard ('93) Lola-Ford ('94) 226115 Father Jerry was first Unser to drives at Indy 224757 Flamed-out 1993 Lola-Menard looks better than It runs 224594 Carrying the colors of "Spirit of San Antonio" ROW 2 Eddie Cheever (3) Buddy Lazier (91) Roberto Guerrero (21) ROW 3 Alessandro Zampedri (8) r-Michel Jourdain Jr (22) r-Buzz Calkins (12) ROW 4 r-Davey Hamilton (14) Mike Groff (60) r-Michele Alboreto (33) ROW 5 Stephan Gregoire(9) r-Mark Dismore (30) r-Richie Hearn (4) ROW 6 r-Johnny Unser (64) John Paul Jr (18) Lyn St James (43) ROW 7 r-Jim Guthrie (27) Me Luyendyk (5) Scott Sharp (11) ROW 8 Marco Greco (41) r-Robbie Buhl (54) r-Paul Durant (96) ROW 9 r-Racin Gardner (90) r-Brad Murphey (10) Johnny Parsons (16) ROW 10 r-Fermin Velez (34) r-Johnny O'Connell (75) Hideshi Matsuda (52) ROW 11 r-Joe Gosek (43) r-Scott Harrington (44) x-Danny Ongais (32) Lola-Menard ('93) 222394 Reynard-Ford 236986 Lola-Ford 231201 Rookie has raced about everything on two and four wheels Lose this one and he's got a lot of 'splaining to do IRL has rejuvenated his flagging Indy-car career Lola-Ford (94) 228840 Lola-Ford ('94) 226217 Lola-Buick ('92) 225404 Foyt's No3 man returns after a one-year absence Led 73 laps finished third at Disney World Super Modified veteran crashed in IRL debut at Phoenix Lola-Ford (94) 224453 Reynard-Ford ('94)226053 Lola-Menard ('93) 223843 Racin is his name and undoubtedly his life Former rodeo cowboy is bucking 700-something horses One of lndy's favorite sons returns after 10-year hiatus Lola-Ford Reynard-Ford Lola-Ford ('94) 222487 Veteran endurance driver making the transition to ovals 222361 Former Nissan factory sports car ace now turning left 226856 Third consecutive Indy 500 start for the former journalist Lola-Ford (94) Reynard-Ford Lola-Menard 222793 "Double-0 Joe" is pride of fans in upstate New York 222185 Sold everything but microwave oven to buy a ride In memory of Scott Brayton have a safe race Field average 227807 mph (Record) Former record 226912 mph 1995 x-Car qualified on pole by Scott Brayton at 233718 mph and moved to rear of lineup after Brayton was killed in practice and Ongais substituted as driver tylon at iini mpn and moved to rear of lineup after Brayton was killed in driver 44-.