IRL VisionAire 500 Practice Report (7/24/97)

24 July 1997

DAY 3 -- JULY 24

At 10:29 a.m. today, the first Riley & Scott Mark V chassis, model
IRL97, serial number 001, rolled off the transporter in the CMS garage
area. The car is numbered 28 and was delivered to Kelley Racing for
driver Mark Dismore. The "MK V" designation means it's the fifth major
race car design project for the Riley & Scott firm. Bill Riley, chief
design engineer for the project, said he hopes to have Dismore and
John Paul Jr. of PDM Racing in the new cars for the Aug. 17 Pennzoil
200 at New Hampshire International Speedway.

"We really got going when the Kelleys jumped on board," Riley
said. "We kind of took our time because of the IRL constructor
rules. We'll talk this weekend with Kelley and PDM but we plan to
start testing right away."

The car features larger more rounded sidepods than the
existing Dallara and G Force cars and a different rear cowling
design. Dismore sat in the completed car for the first time this
morning.

"I sat in it in the shop but that was just the tub," Dismore
said. "This is the first time I've seen it all together. I'm really
looking forward to this, the whole situation, being able to work with
Bob Riley and Mark Scott. We can win races. We WILL win races as long
as we get a little bit of testing.

"This car to me looks a lot slicker, like it'll go through the
air easier. There are things about it that G Force and Dallara will
take a look at...maybe we shouldn't have brought this thing out till
New Hampshire.

"Bob Riley spent a lot of time in the wind tunnel with the car
and I know we'll get good downforce. The cockpit...your feet are a
little further back and he's done that for safety reasons. The width
-- it feels to me down around your hips, you have more room."

Riley & Scott have deposits for nine of the cars. PDM is
scheduled to get car 002, Metro Racing Systems and driver Stan Wattles
get car 003, Nienhouse Motorsports and driver Mike Shank get car 004,
Kelley gets car 005, Intercar Motorsports and driver Gary Peterson get
car 006 and cars 007-009 go to an unannounced team. ***

TelX Sports will feed a satellite uplink 11-11:15 a.m. EST
Friday with practice and qualifying highlights and interviews. The
coordinates are SBS 6, transponder 14.

***
NASCAR GOODY'S DASH QUALIFYING NOTES:

#05 Doug Thompson was first qualifier at 39.710 seconds, 135.980 miles an hour.
#18 Dave Heitzhaus, the third qualifier, posted a lap of 37.031/145.824, fastest of qualifying.
#21 Christian Elder, the fourth qualifier, posted a lap of 35.447/152.340, fastest of qualifying.
#65 Will Hobgood turned a lap at 35.825/150.732, second fastest.
#72 Charlie Powell turned a lap at 35.757/151.019, second fastest.
#28 Mike Swaim turned successive laps of 34.883/154.803 and 34.826/155.056, fastest of qualifying.
#54 Brian Sockwell turned a lap at 35.324/152.870, second fastest.
#28 SWAIM WINS THE POLE.

CHRISTIAN ELDER: "We have a real good car. We'll be a little
faster for the race. We had a little problem yesterday. We just didn't
have much practice to work on it. The track feels real smooth all the
way around."

LARRY CAUDILL: "We've won three times here in Charlotte. It's
tough to be here and not have one of the fastest cars. We're just not
in the class we need to be in. I think we're just down in motor and
body. That's as good as it's gonna get. I've won the last two races
here. I hate to see someone take that away from me."

CHARLIE POWELL: "We've won one time and we're first in the
rookie points this year. This is our first time here at Charlotte. I
love it. We just wanted to get it in good. I was flat out all the
way. It was 'hold-on time.' We got a lot better race car than we do
qualifying. We just do the best we can do."

A.J. FRANK: "It's great being here. It's the best feeling a
track has ever given me in my life. This is my first big race and only
my second time in a Dash car. It's my first time on a superspeedway."

DARRYL MURRAY: "It was off a little from what it was this
morning at practice. The car's a little tight. If we can get that out
of it, we might have a shot. That's the way it goes."

MIKE SWAIM: "My run was real good. We picked up four or five
tenths (of a second) from practice. We had it wide open all the way
around. We have great shocks and a great motor, which we were able to
run flat-out. With the restrictor plate, you can do that. I was able
to get in a good, smooth lap. (about running Charlotte previously):
"I ran here with ARCA. I finished eighth and fifth. Hopefully, we'll
run again here in October." (about the track): "It's a lot of
fun. It's great to run where the Winston boys do. It prepares you for
the future."

RICKY BRYANT: "It feels good to have qualified. We struggled
all day just to get in those two laps. I'm a rookie and this is my
first time at Charlotte. It looks like we'll start in the top 10, so
that's good. It looks like it'll be a good race if I can get a good
setup and stay of trouble.".

BRIAN SOCKWELL: "The best lap I've ever had. The car's where
it needs to be. I was happy with that. We didn't really have time to
do anything to qualify. If we can race close to that, we'll be okay. I
ran that motor in Daytona and Bristol (where he won). I've been
running it all year. It's my lucky motor." (NOTE: Sockwell is leading
the points in Charlotte's Summer Shootout Series.)

WILL HOBGOOD: "We're satisfied. We were a little off today. We
ran good...just not quite good enough for the pole. The setup is good,
so we're ready for the race and excited to run here at Charlotte."
***
Indy Racing League veteran Eliseo Salazar will make his debut
in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Thursday, July 31 in the Cummins
200 at Indianapolis Raceway Park at the wheel of the #77 Ortho Lawn
and Garden entry fielded by Doran Enterprises.

Salazar is a friend of truck owner Kevin Doran, having driven
for Doran's MOMO Ferrari team in the IMSA (now SportsCar) series in
1994.

"I'll be doing Indianapolis, then two road courses at Watkins
Glen and Sears Point, then two more ovals at Phoenix and Las Vegas and
the priority for now is simply to qualify for IRP," Salazar
said. "They send about 10 trucks home, so this being my first race,
half a mile oval...I just want to make the field and not look silly."

***

Chapel service is scheduled for 3 p.m. Saturday in the Indy
Racing League technical inspection area with chaplain Mark Wingler and
special music provided by Heath Nestor.

***

IRL PRACTICE NOTES:

Fastest practice lap to date: #2 Tony Stewart, 214.814 miles an hour
on Tuesday. #31 Ray in garage, changing engines.

3:45 p.m. -- Temperature was 96 degrees and track temperature was 130 degrees, according to Firestone tire engineers.
3:59 p.m. -- GREEN
#1 Boat first out, followed by #14 Hamilton.
4:02 p.m. -- #14 Hamilton turned a lap at 193.548 miles an hour, fastest of
session.
#2 Stewart turned a lap at 209.872, fastest of session.
#91 Lazier turned a lap at 210.592, fastest of session.
4:03 p.m. -- #2 Stewart turned a lap at 211.698, fastest of session.
4:04 p.m. -- #2 Stewart turned a lap at 214.626, fastest of session.
4:08 p.m. -- YELLOW, debris.
Top 3: #2 Stewart, 214.626; #91 Lazier, 211.499; #33 Kite 210.100.
4:15 p.m. -- GREEN.
4:18 p.m. -- #1 Boat turned a lap at 211.408, third fastest of session.
#5 Luyendyk turned a lap at 210.691, fourth fastest of session.
#1 Boat turned a lap at 212.289, second fastest of week.
4:20 p.m. -- YELLOW, debris (shock cover from #27 Guthrie).
4:26 p.m. -- GREEN.
4:27 p.m. -- #2 Stewart turned a lap at 216.311, fastest of the week.
4:28 p.m. -- #91 Lazier turned a lap at 211.856, third fastest of week.
4:30 p.m. -- #1 Boat turned a lap at 212.791, second fastest of week.
Temperature was 92 degrees, track temperature was 120, according to Firestone tire engineers.
4:31 p.m. -- #1 Boat turned a lap at 213.211, second fastest of week.
4:34 p.m. -- #2 Stewart turned a lap at 216.920, fastest of week.
4:38 p.m. -- YELLOW, debris.
4:45 p.m. -- GREEN.
4:47 p.m. -- #91 Lazier turned a lap at 212.181, third fastest of week.
#14 Hamilton turned a lap at 211.939, fourth fastest of week.
4:49 p.m. -- YELLOW, #4 Brack pulled on to Turns 1 and 2 of the Legends
track, front straightaway.
4:58 p.m. -- GREEN.
#5 Luyendyk turned a lap at 212.406, third fastest of week.
4:59 p.m. -- #5 Luyendyk turned a lap at 213.523, second fastest of week.
5 p.m. -- Temperature was 91 degrees and track temperature was 115 degrees,
according to Firestone tire engineers.
5:01 p.m. -- #2T Stewart turned a lap at 213.439, third fastest of week, in his backup car.
5:09 p.m. -- #2T Stewart turned a lap at 213.819, second fastest of week, in his backup car.
5:26 p.m. -- YELLOW/CHECKERED, car reported spraying.

There were five yellows for 29 minutes.

TONY STEWART: (about the Menard cars being 1-2): "It just
shows you how good we prepare these things." (any left for tonight?):
"We'll see."

BILLY BOAT: "Overall, the car is better and we're happy. The
car goes where you want to put it." (about his "coach" A.J. Foyt):
"We're trying to work on a higher line."

BUDDY LAZIER: "I'm flat-out. We don't know where to get the
speed. What can you say but flat-out? It's always frustrating when
you're going as fast as you can go but you're not fast enough."

***

Veteran NASCAR mechanic and gas man Danny "Chocolate" Myers
will be working on his off weekend. Myers will serve as the fuel man
on the No. 17 IRL car driven by Affonso Giaffone.

"I don't mind working on my off weekend because this is really
exciting," Myers said. "This isn't like hleping out with a Busch
car. I've always watched Indy car races and wanted to try fueling one
of these cars. Now I get my chance."

Interestingly, Myers said the team contacted him.

"My son, Joie III, heard it was Chocolate's life-long dream to
fuel an Indy car. We contacted him and started talking" said team
owner Joie Chitwood, Jr. "He's got so much experience that we're not
worried about him adapting to our cars. In fact, we're hoping he's
going to show us some of Richard Childress' secrets and we can gain in
the pits."

***

Waddell Wilson, a NASCAR mechanic for more than 30 years and
currently general manager for Darrell Waltrip Motorsports, was
strolling the pit area. "I came over to see A.J. (Foyt). We worked
together back when he drove for Holman-Moody. It's been awhile since
I've seen him and I wanted to say hello while he was in the
neighborhood."

***