IRL: Pep Boys IRL Weekly Notes
11 March 1998
INDIANAPOLIS- Notes and quotes from the Pep Boys Indy Racing League:Kite takes stock in Atlanta: Rising Pep Boys IRL star Jimmy Kite finished 19th in his stock-car racing debut, the rain-shortened Johnson Controls/EasyCare Auto Service 300, an ARCA event March 6 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Kite drove a Ford owned by Team Scandia, which also fields his Royal Purple Dallara/Aurora/Goodyear in the Pep Boys IRL. Kite qualified 16th in the 40-car field and moved to ninth after a pit stop. But he fell back after a caution period, eventually finishing one lap down to winner Kirk Shelmerdine. The race was ended after just 77 laps due to rain.
"We got enough laps out there running that I just slowly worked up to speed and started feeling comfortable," Kite said. "There at the end I was ready to go racing.
"I was starting to go fast and ready to start passing cars. It was unfortunate about the rain but just par for the course with the kind of day we had."
The race gave Kite some first-hand insight on the differences between driving a 3,500-pound stock car and a 1,620-pound IRL car. That knowledge might come in handy Aug. 29, when the Pep Boys IRL makes its debut on the fast, 1.54-mile quad-oval at Atlanta.
"It is totally different...those cars are so big," Kite said of stock cars.
"The Indy-style cars have so much downforce and stick so close to the ground. They don't wiggle and they don't roll.
"But then you get into a NASCAR, they're big and heavy and don't have the downforce. They roll a lot, they're real sluggish and slide around a lot. Other than both being race cars and turning both of them left, they're totally different."
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Guerrero's best time on the 1-mile oval at PIR was in the 20.8- to 20.9-second range during testing March 2-4, team spokesman Mike King said. Guerrero and the Pagan Racing team didn't participate in the "Test in the West" on Feb 25-26 at PIR.
Only four drivers - Scott Sharp, Tony Stewart, Billy Boat and Arie Luyendyk - broke into the 20-second range during the "Test in the West," conducted in performance-enhancing, 60-degree temperatures. Guerrero's best time in the team's Dallara/Aurora/Goodyear took place when the mercury hovered in the mid-70's, King said.
That strong performance helped to erase the memory of a tough season debut for Guerrero. He led the Indy 200 on Jan. 24 at Walt Disney World Speedway near Orlando when he crashed while trying to avoid a spin by a slower car.
"We had an excellent car that day, perhaps the car to beat," Guerrero said. "But that's history. Now we have to concentrate on Phoenix, and once again the Pagan team has given me a very good race car. I'm really pumped."
Weather woes: The strange weather patterns that have spread throughout the United States this winter have wreaked havoc on Goodyear and Firestone's tire tests this week.
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Firestone's test at Texas Motor Speedway near Fort Worth, scheduled for March 9-11, was canceled due to temperatures in the mid-30's.
Chipping in: Pagan Racing's sponsor search recently received an unexpected boost from two loyal fans.
Carol and Ray Barrett, from Springfield, Mo., sent a note of support and a check for $50 to Pagan, which continues to search for a primary sponsor for its Dallara/Aurora/Goodyear driven by Roberto Guerrero.
"I just couldn't believe it," team owner Allan Pagan said. "I've never had anything like this happen in all of the years I've been involved in racing. To know that these folks care that much about our team leaves me speechless. If we win at Phoenix, I'll dedicate the race to them."
Join the tour: The Pep Boys Indy Racing League will conduct its first media tour April 15-16 in Indianapolis during the Rookie Orientation Program and veterans' test at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Members of the media will be informed and entertained through a variety of tours, seminars and interview opportunities in the Indianapolis area. The group will visit the shops of top IRL teams Panther Racing, Team Menard, Treadway Racing and Riley & Scott, and also visit the shops of USAC standout Foxco Racing and Herb Porter's Speedway Engines. Team drivers and other personnel will be available for interviews at all stops.
Seminars will take place with Indianapolis Motor Speedway President Tony George, Indy Racing League Executive Director Leo Mehl, Indianapolis Mayor Stephen Goldsmith, Pep Boys CEO Mitchell Leibovitz, USAC President John Capels and other executives.
The media tour won't be all business. A reception with IRL rookies and veterans is scheduled for April 15, and tours of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum will be available. And in what could be a very interesting evening, IRL drivers will race media members at 7:15 p.m. April 16 at Stefan Johansson's Karting Center in Indianapolis.
Media interested in participating in the tour must reserve a spot by March 13. Call Eric Powell or Nancy Doan at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, (317) 484-6780, to reserve a spot or receive more information. Discounted motel rooms are available.
Next event: Dura-Lube 200, March 22, Phoenix International Raceway. Tickets are available by calling PIR at (602) 252-2227.
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