The Index-Journal from Greenwood, South Carolina • Page 22

Sunday, May 30, 2004 8B The Index-Journal, Greenwood, S.C. glory Indy 500 struggling to reclaim its lost INDIANAPOLIS 500 Rice is this year's pole leader co-owned by comedian David Last year's winner, Gil de be back Sunday to challenge Helio Castroneves, who won two track" INDIANAPOLIS (AP) Can this be the Indianapolis 500? Just two days before the "Greatest Spectacle in Racing," a call to the ticket office provides plenty of options. "We have tickets in the North Vista, South Vista and along the backstretch in the Northeast Vista," a cheery voice replies. "We also have a few scattered along the main straightaway." Quite a change from the glory days in the 1970s, '80s and early '90s. Back then, some fans would head to the ticket windows as soon as the race was over, plopping down money right away to ensure they got the same seats the following year.

Tickets were passed down in wills. Divorces got especially ugly when it came time to decide who got the Indy 500 seats. Scalpers made more in the month of May than they did the rest of the year. Now, after nearly a decade of wrenching changes, Indy faced the very real possibility that its sleek, open-wheel cars will be racing in front of a bunch of empty seats today. "It's obvious that we're not what we were in the '70s," said Tony George, president of Indianapolis Motor Speedway and founder of the Indy Racing League.

"Why aren't we? I don't think anyone has the answer to that. I don't" Actually, there's plenty of theories as to why the Indy 500 lost its place as one of the most anticipated events on the sporting calendar. The ugly split in open-wheel racing. The rise of NASCAR. A watering down of the 500's mystique when the speedway added two other major events.

More entertainment options in general. George, in fact, insists he's not at all surprised by the reduced demand for 500 tickets and the It's obvious that we're not what we were in the 70s. Why aren't we? I don't think anyone has the answer to that. I don't. Tony George, IMS president perception that the race has lost its luster.

"We used to have one event that sold out," he said. "We expected that to change when we expanded to include Formula One and NASCAR. We really haven't been hit by any surprises." The 500 is hardly on the verge of going out of business. Sellout or not, a crowd of more than 250,000 is expected today still the most-attended one-day sporting event in the world. There's plenty of people who will gather in front of their TV sets because it's Indy, even if they don't have any idea who Buddy Rice is (He's the pole-sitter).

"I don't go back to the '60s or '70s. I've only been around the last five years," said Loren Matthews, senior vice president of programrning for ABC Sports, which will televise the race for the 40th consecutive year. "But I'm blown away by it. If this wasn't what it used to be, then it boggles my mind what it used to be." Matthews believes those words "Indy 500" still carry a special mystique. You may not know the difference between a spoiler and a sidepod, but you've heard of this race.

"It's like the Kentucky Derby Starting grid DRIVER MPH Row 1 1. Buddy Rica 222.024 2. Dan WheWon 221.524 3. Dario Franchttti 221.471 Row 2 4. Bruno Junqueira 221.379 5.

Tony Kanaan 221.200 6. Adrian Fernanda 220.999 Row 3 7. VKorMetra 220.958 8. Hello CastronevM 220.882 9. Kosuka Matsuura 220.740 Row 4 1 0.

Tomas Scheckter 220.41 7 11. SamHornishJr. 220.180 12. Roger Yasukawa 220.030 Row 5 13. Scott Dixon 219.319 14.

Mark Taylor 219.282 15. Darren Manning 219.271 Row 6 16. Ed Carpenter 218.590 17. AlUnser Jr. 217.966 1 8.

Robby Gordon 21 6.522 Row 7 19. Sarah Fisher 215.771 20. Scott Sharp 215.635 21. AJ. FoytlV 214.256 Row 8 22.

Larry Foyt 213.277 23. Bryan Herta 219.871 24. Alex Barron 218.836 Row 9 25. Felipe Glatfone 216.259 26. Tora Takagl 214.364 27.

Greg Ray 216.641 Row 10 28. Buddy Lazier 215.110 29. Jeff Simmons 214.783 30. Richie Hearn 213.715 Row 11 31. PJ Jones 213.355 32.

Marty Roth 211.974 33. Robby McGehee 211 631 8 8 (up years Indian apoJ Is Motor Spoodwsy Startfinish Track length: 2.5 miles Race length: 200 laps Qualifying track record: Arie Luyendyk, 236.986 mph May 12, 1996 (four-lap avg.) Qualifying times 500 mph faUU Year: '20 '30 '40 '50 '60 70 '80 '90 '00 Any time over 70 mph qualified in 1 91 1 SOURCES: Indianapolis Motor Speedway rf ti5 Formula One 200 Fastest time Slowest time Jf 150 4f 50 Buddy in a car Letterman. Ferran, wont him, but in a row and came in second last year, will be. Last year's champion: Gil de Ferran, 228.633 mph Track record: Arie Luyendyk, 185.981 mph, May 27, 1990 Total purse $12 million $10.2 million i -j $27,550 1 2 AP Sarah Fisher trying to get her career out of mX'r- 1 in horse racing," Matthews said. Aside from the potential for empty seats, the most compelling evidence of Indy's decline is in the TV ratings.

The audience for last year's race was less than half of what it was in 1995 the final year before open-wheel racing was torn apart by the CART-IRLfeud. NASCAR stepped into the void, claiming the top spot on the podium of American motor-sports. CART was driven out of business, while the IRL is nothing more than a niche player closer to sports cars than stock cars in terms of TV ratings. Even Morgan Freeman, the Oscar-nominated actor who will drive the pace car at Indy, admitted he's a NASCAR fan first. That's obvious while talking about his friendship with actress Ashley Judd, he kept calling her husband "Dariusf (It's Dario, as in Franchittj, a front-row starter in today's race).

Another Indy tradition that seems on the verge of fading away is "Bump Day." A week before the race, a second round of qualifications is held in which drivers have a chance to bump others out of the 33-car field. The unique format used to provide some of the most compelling story lines of the month. Defending series champion Bobby Rahal got knocked out of the race in 1993. Two years later, Roger Penske's powerful team couldn't get a car in the field, forcing Al Unser Jr. and Emerson Fittipaldi to watch the race from home.

'To this day, I gleefully tell my son about how I bumped Bobby Rahal out of the Indy 500," said Eddie Cheever now an IRL car owner. "Bump Day is a very important part of this race. No such suspense these days. For the second year in a row, no one gpt bumped out of the race. neutral IRL ride much quicker than most drivers of her age and experience because of her unique status a woman in a malerdprtijnted sport.

quickly became one of the most recognized faces in the IndyCar Series, attracting more media attention than her male counterparts. There she was on "Good Morning America." There she was on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno." There she was on the pages of People magazine. "Everybody felt she was so wonderful," Walker said. "I think that affects you. It goes to your head a little bit.

It makes you think things are a lot easier than they really are. When I knew her, she was pretty vocal. It's good to be confident, but you've got to get the results." At this point, Fisher doesn't have a ride beyond Indy. A strong run in the 500 could change that, but she's also weighing other options. She talks about going back to sprint cars.

She would certainly look at any opportunity to race in NASCAR. PER MONTH l.99AreforthetVstxmoRfhs and 0 Down Payment on ihe Hondo Card1 HONDA y-m" iJ INDIANAPOLIS (AP) Sarah Fisher arrived in the pits to take a spin in an old-style roadster, another of those incessant photo ops that must be in the days leading up to the Indianapolis 500. Unfortunately, the car stalled before it ever got off the line. Sort of like Fisher's career. Feted when she arrived in the Indy Racing League as a teenager and still the most popular driver on the circuit Fisher has yet to do much behind the wheel.

She doesn't even have a full-time ride for the rest of the year, though she will start her fifth straight 500 in a second machine provided by Kelley Racing. "It's tough," she said. "I don't have a job." Still only 23, Fisher hasn't lost hope that she'll get things back on track. But the frustration in her voice is unmistakable when she discusses her inability to line up a major sponsorship deal, or the direction the IRL has taken with an influx of foreign drivers and big-money car owners such as Roger Penske and Chip Ganassi. "The opportunity isn't there anymore for the short-track driver," Fisher said.

"Just look around." Then again, she's been more fortunate than most, getting a full-time ride with Walker Rac AP file photo Sarah Fisher talks with one of her crewmen anapolis 500 at the Indianapolis Motor Speed-during Thursday's final practice for the Indi- way. from sprint cars to the IRL. "She's been able to qualify quite well," Walker said. "But when it comes to racing, that takes a different attitude, different requirements." Walker concedes Fisher got an Year: '20 '30 '40 '50 '60 70 '80 '90 '00 NOTE: there was no race during the two World Wars ing shortly after her 20th birthday. She spent two years with that team before moving to Dreyer Reinbold Racing, which employed her the last two years.

Neither is one of the stronger teams in the series, but at least she gained some valuable experience. There were flashes of her potential. Fisher finished second at Homestead in 2001, the best showing ever by a woman in an Indy-car race. The following year, she became the first woman to capture a pole when she started up front at Kentucky. But those performances were hardly typical.

Fisher has only two other top-five finishes in 47 career starts. She has failed to finish 21 races sometimes because of faulty equipment, other times because of driving mistakes. She has wrecked out of the Indy 500 three times, finishing 24th the only time she made it to the checkered flag. If Bobby Rahal has his way, Fisher may even lose her distinction as the only IRL woman in 2005. Danica Patrick, currently driving in Toyota Atlantic, will be promoted to Rahal Letterman Racing if sponsorship can be secured.

Patrick already has made a splash by doing a racy photo shoot for FHM, a men's magazine. During an appearance at Indy this week, she also took a following a loss with a win. The Lightning have alternated wins and losses for nine straight games, three short of New Jersey's 12-game streak in 1988 a fitting run, too, because Tampa Bay has usually followed a strong game with a weak one. The Lightning had evened the series by winning 4-1 in Game 2 following an uninspired 4-1 loss. In all three games so far, the winning team has scored first and, with both teams sensing how important that first goal would be again, the game started at a frenetic pace and stayed that way.

For good reason, too; Calgary is 12-1 and Tampa Bay is 11-2 when scoring first. Tampa Bay wasted an excellent chance to take the early lead, getting more power-play chances (3) than Calgary did shots (2) in the first period. shot at Fisher's lack of succeiss and implied that it's stymied opportunities for other female racers. "She's done some good things, but then there are some bad things," Patrick said. "Like, she struggles, I think, with the racing part of it." Fisher responded with a few obscenities and a challenge: "I'd like her to get in that car and see what she can do." In fact.

Fisher takes umbrage with anyone who suggests she Flames blank Lightning jfbbeville 205 SOUTH MAIN STREET PO BOX 428 ABBEVILLE. SC 29620 (864)346-2138 hasn't fulfilled her potential. "I am looking forward to that first win," she said. "That will eliminate what a lot of people are thinking." Derrick Walker, who gave Fisher her first big break in the IRL, believes she was rushed into a major series too quickly. He wonders how her career might have turned out if she had spent a couple of years in the minor leagues Toyota Atlantic or the Infiniti Pro Series instead of jumping straight should be May 25, 2004.

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