The Kansas City Star from Kansas City, Missouri • 31

COMMENTARY RACE WEEKEND AT KANSAS SPEEDWAY JOE POSNANSKI Sanchez too good to miss Tony George presidentCEO of the Indy Racing League is pleased with the state of the series as it prepares for race at the Kansas Speedway JOE LEDFORD The Kansas City Star As IRL makes KC debut the future looks bright After all these years Foyt still man to respect unrutmuun COMMENTARY By JIM PEDLEY The Kansas City Star motorhome in the infield at Kansas Speedway this past week awaiting Indy debut event today at the trade know the league is better than some of the criticism it receives and yet I know it is not up to some of the accolades it receives" Some things about the IRL these days however speak for themselves Attendance at IRL events is on the rise a nice television contract is in the pocket stars are beginning to be produced and the racing could be the best in the sport An official with the rival CART series who for obvious reasons did not want to be identified says you have to hand it to the IRL: JASON WHITLOCK You have to watch Rey Sanchez play every day the only way to appreciate him Sure if you think hard enough you might remember a fabulous play like the time in Minnesota when he ranged hard to his left the ball took a wicked skip to his right and Sanchez impossibly reached back with his glove snared the ball flipped it into his hand and in one blind motion threw a perfect throw to first base Even that play he made it so well easily It wasn't like he barehanded the ball or dived headfirst and popped up like agym-nast or even threw from his knees He made the play so efficiently so smoothly so seamlessly that if you were not watching closely it would have looked as routine as a trip to the supermarket for milk Score it 6-3 up next? And Royals shortstop Rey Sanchez He never does anything flashy He never stands out He just goes out there everyday and quietly plays the best defense of any shortstop in baseball You have to see him every day the way he gets to every ground ball (he leads all shortstops in assists) the way the ball just stick to his glove like Velcro (he leads all shortstops in fielding percentage) the way he turns the double play on pace to break the Major League record for double plays by a shortstop) There are different kinds of underrated Some like forward Nick Collison golfer Brad Faxon food in Scotland the Southern Mississippi football team actress Laura Linney New York Giants coach Jim Fassel the For a kid who grew up in Indianapolis during the 1970s even for a kid whose first love was the Indiana Pacers and whose passion was football sports legends come any bigger than A Foyt Since the death of stock-car driver Dale Earnhardt there has been a lot of pontificating about who i the greatest race-car driver of all time is A Foyt virtually no debate Foyt won in whatever type of car I he chose to race Of course he owned Indy-car racing and my Indianapolis 500 winning that event four times But he i also won Daytona 500 and the 24 Hours ofLe Mans IRL racing WHAT: The i Ameristar Casino Indy 200 WHENWHERE: Noon today at Kansas Speedway I TICKETS: Race is sold out TV: Channels 2 9 INSIDE: Scott i Sharp and Eddie Cheever are the top two qualifiers and they like each other C-14 Tony George says of course he was hurt when he was being accused of single-handedly tearing apart open-wheel racing in North America But George was convinced he was doing the right thing for racing when in 1994 he announced plans to form the Indy Racing League still convinced of that And today as the IRL cars line up for Ameristar Casino 200 at Kansas Speedway most people in auto racing have become convinced as well are entitled to their he said quietly as he sat in his the Triple Crown of racing No other driver can make that claim As a kid I despised Foyt for his dominance and his arrogance He rolled into Indianapolis each May convinced that he was the bad-dest most fearless man on the planet See IRL C-14 See WHITLOCK C-14 Trucks win is all in family Rookie victory makes his father proud See POSNANSKI C-5 By RANDY COVITZ The Kansas City Star Bagwell enhances Royal pain Rick Hendrick has watched his son Ricky grow up in a garage On Saturday he saw him grow up on the race track Ricky Hendrick son of four-time NASCAR Winston Cup series championship owner Rick Hendrick carved his place in Kansas City lore on Saturday by winning the inaugural NASCAR Craftsman Thicks Auto Parts 250 at the sparkling new Kansas Speedway A sellout and sun-roasted crowd of more than 80000 watched Hendrick become the first rookie to win a NASCAR Thicks race this season Hendrick 21 years three months and five days old is the youngest driver ever to win a trucks race And those beads of sweat Rick Hendrick was wiping from his eyes They were tears of joy had a lot of Winston Cup and See TRUCKS C-I5 By DICK KAEGEL The Kansas City Star Six of one kind half dozen of the other The Royals after winning a sea-son-best sue straight games now have lost a season-worst six in a row First baseman Jeff sev-tilf en RBIs pro- Sr pelled the Hous- ton Astros over the Royals 10-8 on a 91 -degree Saturday night at Kauffman Stadium Bagwell smacked a three-run homer and twice drilled two-run doubles last two RBIs proved devastating for the Royals The bases were loaded with two outs when Jason Grimsley relieved Cory Bailey and the Astros ahead just 8-7 in the eighth inning Bagwell lined a double down the left-field line "I know how far fair that was it looked like it was right on the said Royals manager TbnyMuser Vinny Castilla and Tony Eusebio scored before Craig Biggio was JOE LEDFORDThe Kansas Cily Slat The huge Kansas Speedway crowd (above) cheered the start of the NASCAR Craftsman TYucks Auto Parts 250 which was won by Ricky Hendrick (above right) See ROYALS C-6.