IRL Trackside Report form Pikes Peak (06/27/97, a.m.)
28 June 1997
FRIDAY, JUNE 27
DAY 1
Johnny Rutherford, the three-time Indianapolis 500 winner who drives
the pace car at IRL events, is not in attendance at PPIR and is at
home in Fort Worth recovering from viral meningitis. Don Bailey, the
caution-lap pace car driver for the Indianapolis 500, will replace
Rutherford for the Samsonite 200.
Billy Boat, who served as a substitute driver for Scott Sharp in the
True Value 500 at Texas, is at the wheel of the #18 Klipsch Overhead
Door V-Line Earl's Performance entry for PDM Racing this weekend. Tyce
Carlson drove the car at Texas while John Paul Jr., was on the
mend. Paul Jr., as of Wednesday, was not cleared to drive after an
evaluation of his leg injuries by Dr. Terry Trammell. Paul Jr. is here
at PPIR this weekend with a new carbon-fiber cast on his right leg to
assist the PDM team. He is expected to return next month at Charlotte.
IRL Practice Notes:
10:27 a.m. _ GREEN. #2 Stewart first out.
10:39 a.m. _ #91 Lazier turned a lap at 169.006 miles an hour,
fastest of session and faster than the track record set June 7 by Troy
Regier.
10:44 a.m. _ #2 Stewart turned a lap at 168.792, second fastest of session.
#14 Hamilton turned a lap at 169.595, fastest of session.
10:49 a.m. _ #2 Stewart turned a lap at 169.523, second fastest of session.
10:51 a.m. _ #6 Goodyear turned a lap at 169.086, third fastest of session.
10:54 a.m. _ #1 Sharp turned a lap at 169.523, tied for second fastest
of session.
10:55 a.m. _ #2 Stewart turned a lap at 170.908, fastest of session.
#5 Luyendyk turned a lap at 170.875, second fastest of session.
10:57 a.m. _ #14 Hamilton turned a lap at 170.875, tied for second
fastest of session.
11 a.m. _ Temperature was 86 degrees, track temperature was 117
degrees, according to Firestone tire engineers.
11:02 a.m. _ #33 Kite turned a lap at 170.600, fourth fastest of session.
11:06 a.m. _ YELLOW, debris.
11:08 a.m. _ GREEN.
11:10 a.m. _ YELLOW, #28 Dismore did a 180-degree spin traveling 380
feet in Turn 4, contacted wall, continued 220 feet to start/finish
line. Car had damage to left side, both front and rear. Dismore was
examined and released with a bruised right knee from the track
emergency center and cleared to drive, according to Dr. Henry Bock,
IRL medical director.
MARK DISMORE: "The car was pushing in my first segment out
there so we made some changes that should've corrected it. It was only
my second time through that turn (4). I'll bet the tires weren't even
up to temp(erature). I honestly don't know what happened. The thing
just swapped ends on me and I couldn't save it." According to PDM
co-owner Chuck Buckman, the car can be repaired.
11:29 a.m. _ GREEN.
11:30 a.m. _ Temperature was 84 degrees and track temperature was 110
degrees, according to Firestone tire engineers.
11:32 a.m. _ #33 Kite turned a lap at 171.748, fastest of session.
11:33 a.m. _ #4 Brack turned a lap at 171.789, fastest of session.
11:34 a.m. _ #6 Goodyear turned a lap at 171.412, third fastest of session.
11:42 a.m. _ #6 Goodyear turned a lap at 171.895, fastest of session.
11:43 a.m. _ #4 Brack turned a lap at 171.936, fasstest of session.
#4 Brack turned a lap of 172.645, fastest of session.
11:44 a.m. _ #51 Cheever turned a lap at 171.046, fourth fastest of session.
11:45 a.m. _ #5 Luyendyk turned a lap at 171.895, tied for second
fastest of session.
#51 Cheever turned a lap at 171.854, fourth fastest of session.
11:46 a.m. _ YELLOW, #22 Sospiri tow-in.
11:50 a.m. _ GREEN.
Noon _ YELLOW, #10 Unser smoking, track inspection.
Temperature was 87 degrees and track temperature was 127
degrees, according to Firestone tire engineers.
12:12 p.m. _ GREEN.
#2 Stewart turned a lap at 172.620, second fastest of session.
12:15 p.m. _ #33 Kite turned a lap at 172.117, third fastest of session.
12:21 p.m. _ #2 Stewart turned a lap at 173.344, fastest of session.
12:24 p.m. _ YELLOW, #5 Luyendyk did a 180-degree spin traveling 415
feet and made contact with the outside wall and continued on 500 feet
to come to a stop near the start/finish line. The car had left front
and rear damage. Luyendyk was examined and released from the rtack
emergency center with a bruised right knee and was cleared to drive,
according to Dr. Henry Bock, IRL medical director.
12:23 p.m. _ END OF SESSION.
POST-PRACTICE QUOTES:
EDDIE CHEEVER JR.: (when told he was fifth, he was asked if there was
more in the car): "I hope so. There's four guys faster than us."
JIMMY KITE: "They gave me a good car. I'm just getting used to the
car, so the car is ahead of me. Earlier, I was still lifting going
into the turns. I was following Scott Goodyear, so I was learning the
fast line. The last segment, I was flat-out. We're going to have to
find the speed somewhere else."
TONY STEWART: "Best paved track I've ever been on. Every race track
you go to, even the new tracks, you seem to find a bump. I can't find
one here anywhere." (Compared to Phoenix): "At Phoenix, you have to
slow down in Turn 1. Here, you don't have to do that quite as much,
it's so smooth. I think we can reach 175. I'm pretty comfortable with
saying that because that's only another tenth (of a second) or so."
(About passing): "It's hard on a one-mile oval to0 get clean
spots. From watching these guys run their lines, you see them running
everywhere. I think it's so smooth you'll see a really great race on a
one-mile oval."
ARIE LUYENDYK: "We came out for the session with a good setup. I
didn't think the crash had anything to do with the setup, though. The
car was behaving great. We had some push. Then all of a sudden we went
from understeer to oversteer. I'm not sure why it swapped. It happened
very quickly and we're just not sure why. I'm lucky how I hit because
it didn't cause too much damage to the car. We're just going to wait
and see why it happened."
JIM GUTHRIE: "At a new track like this, you have to be patient. We're
just making a lot of little changes on the Jacuzzi car and working our
way up. I think we'll be there this afternoon. You just have to take
it one step at a time." (About the track): "The rtack feels
great. There's a few little bumps in Turn 2, but I think once we get
up to speed they won't be a problem."
KENNY BRACK: "The car felt very good. We're running flat-out. To find
more speed, we need to reduce friction. I think the team has done an
outstanding job of getting the car ready. I think we're definitely in
the ball game."
John Paul Jr., was in the PDM Racing pits this morning. "I'm doing
fine," he said. "The doctor said you can't rush Mother Nature. I
wanted to drive. I'm here to support the team. It looks like a
beautiful facility. I'm waiting for them to make an all-circle track,
no straightaways. I got the cast off two days ago. My family is a lot
happier. Things are going good."
TelX Sports will have a Samsonite 200 race highlights uplink 9-9:15
p.m. (EST) on SBS 6, transponder 9, audio 6.2 6.8.
A Treadway Racing representative said at 1 p.m. today that the team
would attempt to repair the #5 Treadway Racing-WavePhore Sprint PCS
entry and would not run either the backup or the primary car in
today's second session.
Inaugural Samsonite 200
Pikes Peak International Raceway
IRL - Morning Practice Session
June 27, 1997
:------Session-----: :--Event Combined--: Date
R Car Driver C/E/T Laps Time Speed Laps Time Speed Best
1 2 Stewart, Tony G/A/F 51 20.768 173.344 51 20.768 173.344 6/27
2 4 Brack, Kenny G/A/G 57 20.852 172.645 57 20.852 172.645 6/27
3 33 Kite, Jimmy D/A/G 80 20.916 172.117 80 20.916 172.117 6/27
4 5 Luyendyk, Arie G/A/F 77 20.943 171.895 77 20.943 171.895 6/27
5 6 Goodyear, Scott G/A/F 101 20.943 171.895 101 20.943 171.895 6/27
6 51 Cheever Jr, Eddie G/A/G 82 20.948 171.854 82 20.948 171.854 6/27
7 14 Hamilton, Davey G/A/G 37 21.068 170.875 37 21.068 170.875 6/27
8 21 Guerrero, Roberto D/A/G 55 21.169 170.060 55 21.169 170.060 6/27
9 1 Sharp, Scott G/A/G 40 21.204 169.779 40 21.204 169.779 6/27
10 18 Boat, Billy D/A/G 78 21.212 169.715 78 21.212 169.715 6/27
11 7T Salazar, Eliseo D/A/G 89 21.219 169.659 89 21.219 169.659 6/27
12 17 Giaffone, Affonso D/A/G 68 21.236 169.523 68 21.236 169.523 6/27
13 12 Calkins, Buzz G/A/G 67 21.237 169.515 67 21.237 169.515 6/27
14 91 Lazier, Buddy D/A/F 29 21.301 169.006 29 21.301 169.006 6/27
15 27 Guthrie, Jim D/A/F 59 21.471 167.668 59 21.471 167.668 6/27
16 28 Dismore, Mark D/A/G 26 21.478 167.613 26 21.478 167.613 6/27
17 97 Ray, Greg D/A/F 44 21.774 165.335 44 21.774 165.335 6/27
18 22 Sospiri, Vincenzo D/A/G 75 21.867 164.632 75 21.867 164.632 6/27
19 10 Unser, Johnny G/I/F 37 21.914 164.279 37 21.914 164.279 6/27
20 30 Groff, Robbie G/A/G 27 22.021 163.480 27 22.021 163.480 6/27
21 70 Greco, Marco G/A/G 55 22.042 163.325 55 22.042 163.325 6/27
22 40 Miller, Jack D/I/F 54 22.633 159.060 54 22.633 159.060 6/27
23 77 Gregoire, Stephan G/A/G 32 22.874 157.384 32 22.874 157.384 6/27
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Total Laps: 1320 1320
