It wasn't much fun waiting around for three hours for the weather to clear so the 84th "Indianapolis 500" could get underway, but it's part of the routine you go through to see the big race. Make no mistake, the "500" is still a big race. It's still the biggest race. The "500" history and tradition is what makes the "Brickyard 400" such a huge event. The "500" is the foundation for all the excitement coming up in this week when Formula One comes to Indianapolis. There was more magic in the air around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in May than there's been since the Indy car split of 1995. People were anxious to see this year's "500" and it went beyond the purists like me and the people who always go to the "500" because it's what they do. Having Chip Ganassi's guys and Al Unser Jr. added that little extra that's been missing at the Speedway for some people in recent years. 

I didn't want Juan Montoya to win the "Indianapolis 500," let alone dominate the way he did. The result however has been good for the "500." Chip Ganassi made it clear that winning the "Indianapolis 500" was a bigger deal than four consecutive CART titles which had to be a slap in the face for all of his fellow CART players. More CART drivers and teams want to come back to the Speedway and finding a way to do that has been a top CART priority all summer. Why? Because it says what a lot of people have always known, the "Indianapolis 500" is bigger than all 20 or 22 CART races put together. 

Before I was hit smack in the face with Guy Nadeau's death, I was feeling a lot of excitement about what was ahead for the "Indianapolis 500" in the days immediately following this year's race. It was a feeling not unlike the era of big change that began in 1963 when Colin Chapman brought Jim Clark and his Lotus - Fords to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. I do believe the 85th "500" is going to bigger than the 84th "500" for a number of reasons, but primarily because people who've forgotten are now beginning to remember what a wonderful thing the race is. By the way - as always - if you try to buy a ticket for the 85th "Indianapolis 500" on May 27, 2001, you'll discover the Speedway has sold out.  

USAC Midgets at Salem Speedway - June 25

As hard as I try I can't seem to make a race fan out of my wife. She just hasn't gotten it so far. I make her go to the "Indianapolis 500." It's like the father of a large family saying "if you live in this house, you go to church on Sunday." It's kind of like that with my wife and the "Indianapolis 500." Actually though I think she really wants to go and if she didn't go she'd be disappointed. She doesn't go to the "Brickyard 400" but she is going to the Formula One race.

She went with me to Salem on a sunny Sunday afternoon in June however. We didn't get to Salem Speedway until a few minutes before the 30 lap Midget feature. Ryan Newman was missing, a sign that his USAC days are numbered I guess. There were only 22 cars at Salem but the nice thing about going to USAC races is that because I like so many of the drivers, there's always a lot of guys to watch. Tracy Hines, Jay Drake, Dave Darland and Kasey Kahne were the headliners that day.

I believe it was Ryan Scott who flipped wildly, during the six or seven car melee that brought out the red flag after three or four laps. When the race resumed it was a wild one. Ed Carpenter, who is Tony George's stepson and who gives every indication of being a good racer, took the lead at the start and he and Tracy Hines fought like crazy all around the worn out half mile high banks. Hines passed Carpenter for the lead after nine laps. But Jay Drake, the USAC man of the year for 2000, caught Carpenter and then Hines on lap 21. After Jay established himself in the lead Carpenter made a run at Hines to take second. Then the young Butler University student went after Drake. With less than two laps to go Ed got inside Drake going into turn three. Jay held him off however for another USAC win. Filling the top five finishing places behind Drake, Carpenter and Hines were Dave Darland and Sarah McCune. This was good stuff and my wife liked it too!      

It's hard to overstate how terrific a season Jay Drake is having in USAC in the year 2000. He has one Silver Crown win in Knoxville, ten USAC Sprint feature wins and five feature victories in the USAC Midgets. It's unlikely that Drake will win all three USAC championships this season the way Tony Stewart did in 1995. But if memory serves me correct he's winning more races than Tony did during his triple crown season. According to Curt Cavin in The Indianapolis Star  the record number of USAC "feature" wins in a single season is 19. The record was set by A.J. Foyt (who else) in 1961. 

Indy Racing League at Atlanta Motor Speedway - July 15

I plan an individual feature on the trip my wife and I took to Atlanta for the IRL race. So I won't go into a lot of detail. A lot of you know how badly Greg Ray beat everyone else at Atlanta. It was an awesome performance to say the least. The thing I liked best about the Atlanta race however was Al Unser Jr. Little Al started at the back of the pack because he didn't complete a qualification run. But he showed me something as he passed car after car. He was running second to Ray in the closing laps but was passed by Buddy Lazier. Junior didn't give up however and he only lost second place to Buddy by inches. I was really keyed up on the way home from Atlanta.

World of Outlaws at Terre Haute Action Track - July 17

I had a couple vacation days after the wife and I returned home from Atlanta. So what the hell? I had a chance to see the Outlaws run at Terre Haute the following night. To make things even better Tony Stewart was racing his J.D. Byrider late model car on the same bill.

I was feeling pretty neat as I headed west on Interstate 70 to Terre Haute even though my wife thought I was nuts for going to another race the day after the trip to Atlanta. That mid-summer dew sort of settles on the corn and creates a haze at dusk. I probably think the same thing every summer but there is a peace that comes over me when I see this, sort of an "aint God good to Indiana" feeling. When I got to the shabby old Action Track that same feeling "ain't God good" overtook me again. Indiana is the racing state and there I was at another famous old Indiana race track watching the World of Outlaws on a beautiful night in mid-July. Life is good.

The Outlaws were coming off a big racing weekend at Eldora Speedway and the entry was smaller than usual. A lot of the cars looked beat up and dirty after the racing at Eldora. The dust was flying around the Action Track too. I sat in the front row near the end of the main stretch leading into turn one during the Outlaw feature. I was pelted with dirt clods and by the time I drove home my eyes were stinging from sweat and mud.

Judging from the cheers of the crowd they had come to see Indiana's two biggest racing heroes of the moment, Steve Kinser and Tony Stewart. They were booing Sammy Swindell all evening and cheering Kinser's every move on the track. 

Sammy and Steve started the 25 lap feature from the front row. Swindell grabbed the lead at the start and was leading when his car stopped on the backstretch about halfway through the race. The battle shifted to Kinser and Danny Lasoski. Kinser was trying everything he knew to pass Lasoski. But a tire puncture in turn one on the final lap slowed Steve's number 11 Quaker State car and Danny "the dude" came home the winner.

The late model cars followed the Outlaws. In addition to Tony Stewart, Kenny Schrader also showed up in Terre Haute. Tony's car looked like a new Rolls Royce among backyard specials but the best Stewart could do was finish fifth or sixth. I don't remember the name of the driver who won the late model feature.  

"Brickyard 400" - August 5

I'm not concerned the coming Formula One race will lessen the importance of the "Indianapolis 500." I've been more concerned about the "Brickyard 400" at different times over the past seven years. But I saw signs last month that the NASCAR race at the Speedway was becoming less special than in the past. The Speedway grandstands were still full on August 5th when the seventh "Brickyard 400" began. But the scalpers were selling tickets cheaper. The traffic to and from the Speedway was lighter. The electricity was less. People were paying less attention and it was more like a regular Winston Cup race than in previous years.

Don't get me wrong. I'll always go to the "Brickyard 400." I'm glad the Speedway added the race in 1994. It makes sense financially of course and the money from the NASCAR race is possibly what makes the Indy Racing League possible. It's an asset to Indianapolis to have a Winston Cup race and it's a convenient way to see NASCAR in person. It's just that its always such a letdown  to go to the holy ground of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to see those clumsy NASCAR "moving billboards" playing follow the leader into the corners lap after lap. My mind is still full of the "Indianapolis 500" when I go to the "Brickyard 400" and it's such a stark contrast.

I buy my ticket for the "Brickyard 400" within an hour of the start of the race. It's a pretty casual thing for me. This year my friend Tony Smith came from Chicago for the race. The seats we bought put us on the front row in the seats at the end of the backstretch. They were so bad that I was embarrassed for having purchased them, even at a reduced rate. Tony and I were sitting almost on top of the cars as they rolled into turn three.

It seemed like forever as Rusty Wallace led the race lap after lap. Thank goodness that Bobby Labonte caught Rusty 14 laps from the end to win or else it would've been completely boring. Actually thank goodness when the race is over has been my reaction each year after the "Brickyard 400." It's NASCAR and it doesn't mean a lot to me, no matter how hard I try to get excited. I have one big NASCAR moment each season and it comes in February when the "Daytona 500" is run. I basically go through the motions the rest of the season, including August at the Speedway . I guess I'm just an open wheel guy through and through.    

USAC Silver Crown cars at Indianapolis Raceway Park - August 6

Like the Indy Racing League event at Atlanta, this is another race I'll do a separate piece on because it was one of my favorite evenings at the race track this season. The race was originally scheduled for Wednesday August 2, as a kickoff event for "Brickyard 400" week in Indianapolis. As I was headed to IRP the lightning was flashing and thunder was booming and it started raining and that was it for the night. 

The race was postponed until the evening following the "Brickyard 400." There was a relatively small crowd at Indianapolis Raceway Park when the race started at 6 PM that Sunday. Although overcast, there was enough daylight to allow me to get some good photos from the almost empty bleachers outside the fourth turn at the 5/8 (or what ever it is) mile IRP oval. Whenever I can take good photos that makes it a good race.

The starting grid at IRP was a USAC fan's dream. Tony Stewart was driving the George Snider/A.J. Foyt Silver Crown car with Kroger sponsorship. Stewart had qualified second to pole sitter J.J. Yeley. Yeley and Stewart were joined in the grid by Ryan Newman, Jason Leffler, Jack Hewitt, Dave Steele, Tracy Hines, Dave Darland, Eric Gordon and Tony Elliott. The only "biggie" missing was USAC man of the year Jay Drake, who'd crashed hard the previous night at the Belleville Midget Nationals.

Russ Gamester, who finished second to champion Ryan Newman in the final USAC Silver Crown point standings for 1999, managed his tires well. This is always a key at IRP. Gamester was able to hold off Yeley to win in a close finish. 

USAC Sprints and Midgets at Salem Speedway - August 12

I went back to Salem for the twin bill under the lights on a cool evening with a good crowd. I don't like the view from the grandstands at Salem Speedway unless you're sitting high. By the time I got to the track all the good seats were taken. "It's a hard world to get a break in. All the good things have been taken." I don't know why I threw that in except that I always liked the Eric Burdon and the Animals record "We Gotta Get Out of This Place." Anyway I moved to the infield at the first opportunity.  

The entire night's program was called the "Joe James/Pat O'Connor Classic" and its the 41st time the event, which usually features only sprint cars, has been run at the old Salem oval. There was a good crowd on a cool early August night in southern Indiana. The car turnout wasn't that good however. There were 23 sprint cars and 21 midgets.

I'm not sure what happened to Tracy Hines but his was one of the two cars that didn't make the 30 lap midget feature. Dave Darland led the first ten laps before giving way to Ryan Newman. Then eight laps from the end Ryan's familiar number 39 slowed and Darland's Steve Lewis Beast number 9 regained first place and held it to the finish. Clay Klepper, Sarah McCune, Jay Drake and Aaron Pollock followed Dave across the finish line. 

Darland, Newman, Drake and Kasey Kahne were doing double duty running both the midget and sprint features that night. In the 50 lap sprint feature Eric Gordon took the lead at the start and led from flag to flag. Behind Gordon there was some good racing for second, which Newman finally gathered up. At the finish the order of the top five were Gordon, Newman, Drake, Billy Puterbaugh Jr. and Dave Steele.  

I'd been up since early that morning to take my wife to the airport to catch a flight to New York. The weather was bad and her flight was diverted to Hartford before eventually landing in New York several hours later than scheduled. The USAC racing didn't conclude until 11:30 PM. I ended up pulling over a truck stop near Seymour, Indiana to sleep for a couple hours. Then after waking about 2:30 AM Sunday I drove for a few miles and stopped for another couple hours sleep at a rest area, along Interstate 65, near Columbus, Indiana. Finally about 5 AM I was on my way home, watching the sun come up as I drove which was a nice experience.

USAC Midgets at Indianapolis Raceway Park - August 23

By the time the 40 lap "Mel Kenyon Classic" got underway there was lightning flashing all around Indianapolis Raceway Park. Jason Leffler was making a rare return to the USAC Midgets after spending most of his time this season in the NASCAR Busch series. Leffler, Dave Darland and Kasey Kahne made up a three car Steve Lewis Beast armada. It reminded me of the three car Penske team at the "Indianapolis 500" in the 1980's, made up of Rick Mears, Danny Sullivan and Al Unser Sr.

Michael Lewis led the first two laps of the race before giving way to Tracy Hines. By lap seven Leffler had charged to the front and he proceeded to run away from the field. There was a wreck in turn one on lap 20 involving Darland, Dane Carter and Mel Kenyon. After the cleanup the race resumed for three more laps before the rain, which had been spitting throughout the feature, began to get serious. This brought out the yellow flag again and then the red. Jason was declared the winner with his long time rival Newman a distant second. Kasey Kahne finished third, followed by Michael Lewis and Ed Carpenter.

Indy Racing League at Kentucky Speedway - August 27

I'd been looking forward to the Indy Racing League event at Kentucky Speedway all season. It was difficult to go to IRL races other than the "Indianapolis 500" during the series' first four seasons. The races haven't been close to either Indianapolis or Chicago. My wife and I went to Charlotte in July 1998 for the IRL race. We went to Atlanta this past July. The race last month in Kentucky was the only other IRL race I've attended in person. I'm pleased about the 2001 IRL schedule which includes races at Kentucky, the new track near Chicago, Gateway and another new track in Nashville. Those races will be relatively easy to do and maybe I'll be able to go to the race at the new track in Kansas City and run back down to Atlanta next April too.

The Kentucky Speedway is a clean and modern racing facility. It's so new that it hasn't developed a real personality but the entire layout was well planned. It's convenient in that's it's within two hours of Indianapolis and not far from Interstate 71. The track is situated on a large tract of rolling northeastern Kentucky countryside. In some ways it reminds me of Michigan International Speedway (that's the official name again), the way it's situated in an open rural area. Of course the new track in Kentucky is more modern than MIS which was built in 1968. Kentucky Speedway also resembles Las Vegas Motor Speedway in appearance and layout, at least from what I can tell from TV and PC racing games. I never went to Las Vegas. 

The crowd at Kentucky Speedway was good, especially considering there was a threat of rain and for most of the race the skies were overcast and hazy. They reported an attendance in excess of 61,000. I think that's an overstatement. The crowd looked to be somewhere closer to 50,000 to 55,000. Still it was a good crowd for an Indy Racing League event and both Tony George and the promoters had reason to be pleased. The one thing that bothers me however is that 66,000 people filled the Kentucky track in June for a NASCAR truck race at night.

The humidity was high and I was sweating a lot. The sun came out later in the day and by the time the race was over it was hot. I'd forgotten where I'd parked and it took about an hour of walking around looking, carrying some heavy photo and video equipment. By the time I found the car I was sweaty and exhausted.

I had an excellent seat within a few rows of the highest seats at Kentucky Speedway. That's where I made a mistake. I was so high that it seemed almost like I was watching the race from the Goodyear blimp. I only shot a couple rolls of film because the race cars weren't much bigger than dots from my vantage point. Most people would've loved this seat. But I like to be close to the cars. If I want a perfect view I can watch the race on TV. I want to shoot photos and feel the cars flying by. Next year I'll sit lower but I wish I could go in the infield to take photos.

Let me take a minute to do some complaining. It seems like the new trend for race tracks being built is to leave the infield closed to spectators. I guess it's cheaper that way because they don't have to build debris fences or enclosures for the pits and garage area. There are people like me, however, who like to stretch out with their gear, get up next to a fence and take photos. Other folks like to park their vehicles, set up camp and cook on their barbecues. The infield at Kentucky Speedway isn't open to the public. Outside the backstretch there is an area where fans can park an RV or van. The view from that location is good and has some photo potential despite the high debris fence. I'd like to be there. I talked to some fans in the RV area after the race had concluded and they said they paid $1500 for their season parking privileges. Wow, that's way out of my budget. I don't think Chip Ganassi's Chicago Motor Speedway in Cicero, Illinois has any infield access either. It doesn't look as if there are any fan areas in the infield at Gateway International Raceway either. That's too bad.     

The IRL race at Kentucky lost a lot of its charm for me when Al Unser Jr. was knocked out of the race on lap three. Little Al tapped the turn two wall trying to avoid the cars of Jeret Schroeder and Eliseo Salazar. Salazar took the lead from pole sitter Scott Goodyear on the first lap. Schroeder was challenging Salazar when the two cars hit in turn two. Scott Sharp's car was damaged too. 

There was some terrific racing going on however. The Kentucky crowd was treated to a good show as is usually the case whenever the IRL races. The former IRL slogan "we come to race" is no stretch of the imagination. 

Sam Hornish was racing the G-Force entry from the low budget PDM team. Hornish and PDM skipped the Atlanta race because they didn't have the necessary funds to race. They didn't even bring the white car number 18 day with day glow red trim out for the final practice because the team's only Oldsmobile V8 engine had lots of miles on it already. Such is life in the IRL.

Once the Kentucky race started young Hornish was an absolute "hell on wheels." The kid had the car flying and Sam came through the field from 20th on the grid. He passed the leader Goodyear on lap 32 (of 200) and looked like a combination of Bill Vukovich, Parnelli Jones and Mario Andretti. For a period of about eight laps near the midway point of the race Hornish and "little brother" Jaques Lazier put on a masterpiece for the fans. Lazier in another low budget entry, Dave Didero's number 43 Dallara, caught Hornish and tried to pass on the outside. The two cars ran absolutely side by side for eight laps. It was incredible!  Think what you must but there's no racing on earth that compares with the racing in the IRL!  

Unfortunately Hornish's car ran out of fuel while leading and then a pit rules infraction put him one lap behind. Sam ended up in ninth place at the finish. Lazier was out of the race after 121 laps with an engine failure but what a ride Buddy's brother gave the light blue number 43 Didero car while it was running! 

Jaques Lazier impressed me a couple times in 1999 with his ride in Joe Truscelli's white number 33 car. It looks to me as if he has a lot of the same stuff that brother Buddy has. I really haven't paid much attention to Sam Hornish, but I will from now on. Both Hornish and Lazier gave every indication at Kentucky Speedway that they're talented racers. I look forward to seeing their careers grow in the races to come.

When Jimmy Kite beat (I can't remember who it was now - maybe Mike Bliss) to the finish line in the USAC Silver Crown race at Phoenix International Raceway in 1997, it gave him notoriety. Perhaps Andy Evans (where'd he go anyway?) thought he had another Tony Stewart in Kite.  Evans signed Jimmy for his Scandia team after the 1997 "Indianapolis 500." In one of his earliest IRL races Jimmy battled winner Buddy Lazier and Billy Boat during the inaugural IRL event at what is now known as Lowes Motor Speedway in Charlotte in July 1997.   

After that things went downhill. Andy Evans either ran out of money or decided racing was too expensive. Jimmy Kite was continuously crashing cars at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway during pre-race for the 1998 "500." During the 1999 "Indianapolis 500," Kite's car was involved in the pit lane accident that injured Robby McGehee's crew chief Steve Fried.

Kite has managed to stay involved however and he was among the fastest each day in practice for this year's "Indianapolis 500," driving a G-Force for Team Blueprint. Jimmy's fortunes took another bad turn when he wrecked his car during qualifications. The team was able to lease another G-Force from Chip Ganassi and Kite qualified 25th. In the "500," Jimmy was out after 74 laps when the engine let go.   

At Kentucky Kite's Team Blueprint G-Force carried a new black paint job with sponsorship from a maker of men's toiletries. Jimmy started the race 12th on the grid and ran strong from the start. Kite took the lead on lap 139 and was leading the race on lap 155 when he lost an engine.

The race came down to a fight between a couple of the "usuals," Buddy Lazier and pole sitter Scott Goodyear. Both Lazier and Goodyear ran near the front of the entire race. Scott led a race high 64 laps and Buddy was in front for 48 laps.

Lazier must've been blessed at Kentucky. Buddy missed his pits and had to come back in the next lap, during one of his pit stops. The gearbox in Lazier's purple and white number 91 Hemelgarn Dallara broke just as he took the checkered flag 1.9 seconds ahead of Goodyear, who was trying hard to catch Buddy over the final 25 laps. 

Sarah Fisher received the loudest applause when the drivers were introduced before the race. This must've motivated Sarah. She ran a steady race and led nine laps during the final pit stop sequence. Fisher was in third when the race ended, only 7.7 seconds behind the winner Lazier and a full 15 seconds ahead of fourth place Eddie Cheever.

Stephan Gregoire finished fifth one lap off the race. Greg Ray was surprisingly never in the battle and he was lucky to finish sixth. This was the first race for Mitch Davis to serve as crew chief for the Menard team, replacing Ray's long time associate Tom Knapp. Shigeaki Hattori finished eighth in one of Fred Treadway's G-Force entries. Hornish was ninth. Donnie Beechler finished tenth.   

Going into the Indy Racing League finale next month at Texas Motor Speedway, Buddy Lazier holds a 38 point lead (258 to 220) lead over Scott Goodyear for the 2000 championship. Eddie Cheever is another three points behind. 

Honestly, if any driver deserves to be the Indy Racing Northern Lights Series champion in the year 2000, it's Buddy Lazier. He's the only driver to score more than one IRL win this season. It was Lazier who provided the toughest challenge for Juan Montoya in the "Indianapolis 500" after starting the race 16th on the grid. Next year things may be different, but right now Buddy Lazier is the best driver in the Indy Racing League.  

I don't think Buddy ever got his due for winning the 1996 "Indianapolis 500." In my opinion the 230 mph charge Lazier put on in the closing laps was outstanding. He was nearly overcome with pain from his Phoenix crash eight weeks earlier. Yet he ran down, caught and passed both Alessandro Zampedri and Davy Jones to win the race by something like seven seconds. It was one of the most courageous and excellent winning efforts in the history of the "Indianapolis 500" as far as I'm concerned. 

Unfortunately Lazier's glorious win occurred right after the Indy car split with CART. As a result there's been something of a stigma attached to the Lazier victory by some people. Remember, CART ran their "U.S. 500" at Michigan the same day that Buddy won at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway? Can you remember who won the CART race? It was Jimmy Vasser. Hey, let's compare Buddy Lazier and Jimmy Vasser.

The Hemelgarn team is pretty solid. I like Ron Hemelgarn. He's been in Indy car racing since 1986 I believe. At one point, in the late 1980's Hemelgarn was one of CART's major players. Then Hemelgarn pulled back for whatever reasons and now he and Lazier form one of the strongest associations in the Indy Racing League. Hemelgarn seems to be able to hold on to his people. Lee Kunzman, a former Indy car racer during the 1970's and Ronnie Dawes appear to be team principals and both have been with Hemelgarn for a number of years. I saw the crew chief for Lazier's number 91, Dennis LaCava run in the "Hut 100" USAC Midget race at Lincoln Park Speedway on Labor Day weekend. LaCava didn't make the feature however.      

USAC Midgets at Lincoln Park Speedway - September 2

This was one of those classic Saturday night short track specials. The weather was nice and there was a decent crowd at Lincoln Park Speedway in Putnamville, Indiana enjoying a lazy Labor Day weekend. They were running the famous 49th annual "Hut 100." I honestly don't know why the "Hut 100" was moved from the Terre Haute Action Track. So there seemed to be a little bit missing from the atmosphere, although I've never actually been to the Hut 100" in Terre Haute.

There was a good entry of 46 midgets. There were several "names" too. USAC's leading race winner for 2000, Jay Drake was fastest qualifier. Drake has had to change cars recently, moving from Ralph Potter's number 6 midget to the Kunz number 67. Also entered at Putnamville were Kasey Kahne, Dave Darland, Ed Carpenter, Tony Elliott, Jerry Coons Jr., Brian Gerster, Michael Lewis and Tracy Hines.

They ran the Lincoln Park local sprint cars before the "Hut 100." Jay Drake won the race. The "sprinters" tore up the dirt pretty good too.

Tracy Hines missed the feature after finishing 11th in the second qualifying race. But there were 28 other drivers lined up for 100 laps around the tiny dirt oval in Putnamville. Kahne led the first 50 laps which were interrupted several times with yellow flags from cars flying all over the place. Lincoln Park Speedway is definitely one of the wildest races tracks I've been to. 

Drake got things going and went by Kasey on lap 51 to take the lead. During the second half of the race Tony Elliott came on strong. Elliott is Drake's biggest obstacle for the 2000 USAC Sprint Car championship. At the finish Drake led Elliott to the flag, with Kahne third. Tracy's older brother Ted Hines finished fourth. Aaron Fike finished fifth. 

USAC Sprints and Midgets at Indianapolis Raceway Park  - September 16

It was cold last Saturday night at Indianapolis Raceway Park! I don't know what happened because Saturday was perfect during the daylight hours. But standing high in the grandstands at IRP as the chill of Autumn kept blowing through made summer seems like something from a long time ago. It's gotten warmer again and we're enjoying sunny, clear blue skies and temperatures are near 80 as Formula One weekend in Indianapolis approaches. You had to be real USAC fan to stand and freeze last Saturday night at IRP however.

I always love the September USAC sprint - midget "doubleheader" at IRP. This is the third year I've gone. Jay Drake, Ryan Newman, Tracy Hines, Dave Darland and Kasey Kahne were entered in both the midget and sprint events. Jason Leffler was making one of his rare USAC appearances in the midgets. Dave Steele, Bryan Tyler, Tony Elliott, J.J. Yeley, Eric Gordon, Derek Davidson, Bud Kaeding and Russ Gamester were entered in the sprint car event.  

Although I'm sure he didn't think it was funny, Jay Drake provided some comic relief while we were all freezing. Drake's black number 62 "sprinter" came together with the car driven by Levi Jones during the second heat race. Drake's crew made hasty repairs. As they were preparing to push Drake's car on to the track for the sprint semi-feature a USAC official stopped them. Drake was furious and later got on the public address system and called the USAC official a "dork," angrily berating the sanctioning body. Just as Jay was getting wound up the sound went off. They must've pulled the plug on the interview. Drake needs the points in his fight with Tony Elliott for the sprint title. Jay's teammate Billy Puterbaugh Jr. turned his number 7 over for the feature.  

I must've moved to about five different locations during the course of the heat races and semi-features just to try to keep warm. That cold was getting to me in other ways too. I think I went to the restroom five or six times.

Ryan Newman wasn't at his best Saturday at IRP. He won the third heats for both the midget and sprint features but when it came to the two 30 lap features he was missing something.

Tracy Hines and Dave Darland were on the front row as 22 midgets took the green flag to start the feature. Hines pulled out a slight advantage and led Darland across the line at the end of the first lap. Newman was flying though. He went by Darland and Hines to take the lead on lap two. Ryan pulled out to a substantial lead for a  few laps. 

Newman must've used up his tires in that early charge. All of the sudden I looked up on lap 11 and Leffler was going by Newman like Ryan was standing still. As Leffler pulled away, Newman fell victim to Darland, Jay Drake and Kasey Kahne. There's was that Steve Lewis Beast blitzkrieg again! While Newman fell back, Drake made repeated charges at Darland. At the finish Leffler had about a half lap lead. Darland was just able to hold off Drake for second, while the third Steve Lewis Beast with Kahne finished fourth. Newman was fifth.

The sprint car race was the more exciting of the two feature events. But it ended up a runaway like Leffler's win in the midget race. Bryan Tyler and Russ Gamester led the 22 cars to the flag from the front row. The first couple laps Tyler was able to hold off Gamester. Then Dave Steele and Ryan Newman came up to challenge the leader. Steele got by Ryan and held him off for seven laps. On lap 11 Newman made it by Steele's red number 91 to go into first. However lurking quietly behind Newman and Steele was Tracy Hines in his red number 19, a team car to the 91 Dave was racing.

The public address announcer mentioned a couple times that no one other than Tracy Hines or Dave Steele has won a USAC Sprint feature at IRP since 1997. While Newman was fighting to hold off Steele, Hines slipped by on the inside going into turn one on lap 17. From that point Tracy was gone.    

Steele faded and fell back to sixth place at the finish. Meanwhile Eric Gordon began to close on Newman. Hines was about a half straightaway in front when he took the checkered flag. Newman held off Gordon for second. J.J. Yeley moved up to fourth at the finish. Tony Ave was fifth. Incidentally the two contenders for the USAC Sprint championship finished 15th and 16th respectively, with Tony Elliott one place ahead of Jay Drake.

That's what I've been doing since May, going to races. In two days Formula One cars will be practicing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and I'll be there, still in the zone and ready for more racing.