IRL: Steve Knapp Battles The Monster Mile
20 July 1998
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Knapp's weekend started out well enough. The 1998 Indy 500 Bank One Rookie of the Year, in his first race since his impressive 3rd place finish at the Speedway for ISM Racing, hooked up with the experienced team of Chuck Buckman and Paul Diatlovich, co-owners at PDM Racing. Despite a lack of testing and the difficult burden of operating with limited funding the talented PDM duo and their skilled crew had Knapp up to speed quickly.
"It's great" said Knapp after Friday's practice. "When Chuck called me up and asked if I wanted to drive their 'hot rod' at the Monster Mile I said 'yes sir!' I've known these guys a long time and they do more with less than any team I know."
"I admit I was a little intimidated when I first got here" Knapp continued. "But as soon as I got out there, with the car the PDM guy's gave me, I had so much confidence I was flat out by the end of the first session. It's really deceiving, yesterday was the first time I've ever felt intimidated by looking at a track, but once you're out there it's just another track -- you just put your foot flat on the floor and go. Actually it's kind of interesting, with all the banking you don't really look ahead as much as up and to the left when you're in the corners. We were flat-out at the end of the day Friday [with a best lap of 178.456 mph] but still a little behind the fast guys and like most having a hard time with the bumps. Mitch Davis, my ISM Racing crew chief from Indy, had tested here with Jeff Ward and came over and helped us out with fine tuning our setups -- now the car's almost perfect, I can drive it anywhere and it rides the bumps with no problem."
In only his second career Indy car start Knapp, rewarding PDM with it's best qualifying effort to date, placed his #18 PDM Racing G-Force/Aurora/Goodyear on the inside of Row 3 with a speed of 181.525 mph. Knapp's strong qualifying effort earned him "story of the day" distinction as he continues to earn the respect of the officials, fans, owners and media alike, with his calm, cool and confident "stand on the gas" style .
Knapp's battle with the Mile got off to a cautious but safe start with four cars getting by in the first lap as Knapp worked up to speed and stayed out of trouble. An early race miscue in the pits caused Knapp to go down several laps during the resultant green flag pit stop, but Knapp and the team persevered and fought their way back. Taking advantage of a mid-race caution Knapp stayed out making up a lap. As the green flew on the restart Knapp got a strong jump on Tony Stewart leading Stewart and Scott Sharp across the line. Sharp quickly passed Stewart and with Knapp leading the way, Knapp and Sharp pulled away from Stewart and the field. Knapp held, and even at times slightly extended, his lead on Sharp until the next caution, gaining back one of the laps lost earlier. The team's effective and aggressive pit strategy had Knapp's fuel window positioned to regain another lap on the next caution.
After working back into the top ten the Monster Mile won the battle with Knapp on lap 146. As Knapp raced through turns 1 and 2 the back of the car suddenly came around and Knapp went from driver to passenger. A hard impact (75g) into the turn two wall finished Knapp's strong run, knocking him unconscious for a little over a minute. Knapp was flown by helicopter to Kent General hospital for precautionary x-rays and a CAT scan. Released shortly thereafter with nothing but a few bumps and bruises and a slight concussion, Knapp's battle with the Mile over -- for this year.
"Man that was a big hit" remarked Knapp back at the track after the race. "I was running well and all of a sudden the back end just snapped around. Although I'm told I was talking with the safety crew I don't remember much after that until in the helicopter ride to the hospital. That I'm back here and okay after that kind of an impact is a huge testament to the safety of these new IRL cars. A giant thank you to Dr. Bock and the IRL safety crew as well."
Knapp's observations and comments about the track and the race;
"Up until my crash, today was a blast! PDM gave me a fantastic car, I could drive it anywhere. Our car was so good over the bumps that I could have gone 500 miles out there today. I had a good start but wanted to be careful into turn 1 on the first lap and lifted a little -- four guys went right by me. I got school boy'd by those guys, next time I'll be flat-out. We had a car today that could've won this race -- if not for the crash I think we would've easily had at least another top three finish.
Early on we had a minor problem in the pits, but we just kept working, I'd gained a lap back and was running with the leaders all afternoon. Although PDM is a small team on a tight budget, we proved today we can run with the 'big dogs'. Chuck [Buckman], Paul [Diatlovich] and the whole team did a super job for me today. We've got a great package; fantastic Goodyear tires, my Speedway Aurora motor was flawless all weekend and I've got to thank the guys at G-Force for all their support and assistance (and a safe chassis) and my friends at ISM Racing as well.
What we did with ISM Racing at the Speedway helped start opening doors for us. Racing is a results oriented business and I think our performance here this weekend shows we're for real. Hopefully it will open a few more doors. The Indy Racing League is the right product at the right time. The fans are seeing spectacular, wheel to wheel, racing. American drivers are getting more chances than ever to reach the highest levels of the sport. More people in more markets across the country are being introduced to open wheel racing than ever before. Corporate America is just beginning to realize the value we offer here and starting to come online. Radisson Hotels and A T & T have seen the value and become event sponsors at Colorado. Others are sure to see the benefits and come aboard soon. I'm proud and excited to be part of this effort.
This track, the Monster Mile, is obviously a tough challenge but that's what racing's all about. The Dover Down's people did a great job on this event -- they spent a ton of money on the facility and on promotion. The fans came out and were really fantastic. I'm looking forward to coming back here again next year."
In the case of a driver concussion, however slight, the IRL, under the expert guidance and direction of Dr. Bock, generally requires a minimum 7 day waiting period before resuming driving duties. Knapp will sit out the next race at Charlotte and plans to return to Indy Racing League action at the Radisson 200 at Pikes Peak International Raceway August 16, 1998.
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