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IRL, Indy 500: Ray Fastest Again in Practice; Rookie Hollansworth No. 2

18 May 1999

INDIANAPOLIS -- Greg Ray was the fastest driver in Indianapolis 500 practice for the third day in a row, but rookie John Hollansworth Jr. made quite an impression Monday after finishing second fastest before rain ended the day's session approximately two hours early. Ray, from Plano, Texas, was fastest again at 224.843 mph in his backup Glidden-Menards Dallara/Aurora/Firestone when rain forced the cancellation of practice at 3:46 p.m.

Hollansworth, from Dallas, posted his best lap of 221.669 in windy conditions in the primary pcsave.com-Lycos Dallara/Aurora/Firestone. TeamXtreme hired Indy veteran Gary Bettenhausen as a driving coach for Hollansworth earlier this season, but the entire team has been soaking up his expertise.

"Gary has been a great help," Hollansworth said. "Really, I thought a lot of his help would be done as far as the driver instruction side of things, but he's jumped in and helped us with Mark Weida our engineer. They've been working on car setup issues as well, so he's been a great addition to the team."

Practice resumes from 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday. Pole Day is May 22; Race Day May 30.

1998 Pep Boys Indy Racing League champion Kenny Brack was third fastest at 221.282 in the A.J. Foyt PowerTeam Racing Dallara/Aurora/Goodyear, followed by Arie Luyendyk in the #5 Sprint PCS-Meijer G Force/Aurora/Firestone at 221.119.

Pep Boys Indy Racing League points leader Scott Goodyear was fifth fastest at 220.848 in the backup Pennzoil Panther G Force/Aurora/Goodyear. Like Ray, Luyendyk and Goodyear have been among the five fastest drivers all three days of practice in an impressive show of speed and consistency. Tough times continued for 1998 Indianapolis 500 pole sitter Billy Boat, who crashed for the second consecutive day and also encountered mechanical problems in his A.J. Foyt Racing entry. Boat was unhurt in the Turn 3 crash and ended up posting the 11th-best speed of the day, 219.603, in his backup car.

Four drivers took their first practice laps for the 83rd Indianapolis 500: rookie Jaques Lazier, and veterans Robby Gordon, Roberto Guerrero and Hideshi Matsuda.

Thirty-seven drivers in 39 cars combined to complete 913 laps Monday.

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