| | INDIANAPOLIS -- Casey Mears, the nephew of four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Rick Mears, passed the mandatory rookie driving test Wednesday.
Guy Smith of England also completed the four-phase test, bringing to eight the number of rookies eligible to qualify for the May 28 race. Defending CART champion Juan Montoya, a first-time driver at Indianapolis, was exempted from the rookie test.
Casey Mears, 22, who drove the Indy Lights series the past three
years, is the son of former Indy driver Roger Mears, Rick's
brother.
Three other rookies -- Doug Didero, Andy Hillenburg and Russ
Gamester -- finished three of the four phases and will be allowed to
complete the test after practice begins May 13.
Other drivers who passed the test earlier in the week were Sam Hornish Jr., Ross Cheever (brother of Eddie Cheever Jr.), Airton Dare, Memo Gidley, Shigeaki Hattori and Sarah Fisher.
Greg Ray, the defending Indy Racing League series champion, was
the fastest during Wednesday's open testing with a lap of 222.833
mph. Scott Sharp was next at 222.343, followed by rookie Jason
Leffler at 220.189 and 1998 winner Eddie Cheever at 220.162.
"The feel in the car is quite different here than it was in 1998 and '99," said Ray, the 1999 Indy Racing Northern Light Series champion. "It's a new chassis so our set-ups don't cross over. As I get happy and get in that comfort zone with the car -- kind of that warm and fuzzy feeling there -- we can get down to business on making the car go faster.
"I just look at it in the fact we're trying real hard. We set our goals. I don't look at it as being a favorite. The top priority is trying to win the race."
Last year Ray narrowly lost the pole to Arie Luyendyk. Luyendyk, who drove for Treadway Racing and retired from open wheel racing after the Indy 500, qualified at a four-lap average of 225.179, while Ray had to settle for second starting position at 225.073.
Pole Day for the 2000 Indianapolis 500 is May 20.
Scott Sharp and Eddie Cheever Jr. put their names in the running as well, with late day runs around the hallowed 2.5-mile Speedway of 222.343 and 222.162, respectively, placing them second and third on the speed chart for the test. Cheever is the only driver using the Nissan Infiniti and is trying to provide the engine manufacturer with both its first pole and race victory in the Northern Light Series.
Jason Leffler was fourth fastest at 221.125 in a Treadway Racing backup car, while Mark Dismore, Sharp's Kelley Racing teammate, was fifth at 218.558. Leffler, who won the pole for the NASCAR Busch race at Texas Motor Speedway last weekend, completed a refresher test at the speedway Tuesday. He had not turned laps at the Speedway since October 1998.
"I've just always liked coming here to Indianapolis," Leffler said. "It's a big advantage coming here with Treadway, because of all the team's experience, especially here at Indy. The car was stable all day."
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