rpm.espn.com: May 6 Indy notebook

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Sunday, May 6

May 6 Indy notebook
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INDIANAPOLIS -- The only driver to finish ahead of Buddy Lazier in last year's Indianapolis 500 was Juan Montoya, who led 167 of 200 laps and scored the biggest victory of his career.

Lazier is back as the defending Indy Racing League champion and is hoping to record his second Indianapolis 500 win. Lazier won the 1996 Indy 500 just two months after suffering a broken back in a crash at Phoenix International Raceway.

"We have struggled a little bit in 2001 even though we've been competitive and we have had a podium finish," Lazier said, referring to a third-place finish at Phoenix. "My manager and engineer called today a learning day. I think it really was. We learned some important things today, some setup intricacies and maybe some things we've been struggling with.

"It was a very positive day for us. The race car felt really good on fast laps and my motor was pulling hard."

Lazier had the third-fastest lap in Sunday's opening day of practice for the 85th Indianapolis 500 at 220.221 miles per hour in a Dallara/Oldsmobile Aurora.

Leave it to Cheever
Another driver hoping to win his second Indianapolis 500 is Eddie Cheever, who captured the race in 1998. Cheever had the second-fastest lap on Sunday at 220.968 mph in a Dallara/Infiniti Indy 35A.

"I only ran for a couple of hours early in the afternoon, but so far, so good," Cheever said. "We're using the same Infiniti engine that we had for the test here in mid-April and the car is fast on the straightaway. It's not as good as we want in the corners. We tried some things on the car that didn't really work. The back end is moving around too much and it was pretty windy.

"Of the three days we've run here this year, we haven't had one day with great conditions. Today it was windy and dusty, and everyone is still just getting settled in. You try really hard to not peak too early in the first week before you qualify and there are a lot of things we are trying to learn. We have a good game plan and today was a positive day for the team."

Green flag!
A new flagstand has been erected at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which looks like the top deck of a World War II battleship. The stand is designed to be easily taken down when the Formula One World Championship arrives for the United States Grand Prix in September.

The platform is 20 feet, 6 inches above the track. The overall height is 30 feet above the surface. It's made of heavy structural steel shapes used in buildings specifically designed to minimize what spectators have to look through to see the track.

"What parts you could see, we wanted it to be unique," said Kevin Forbes, Indianapolis Motor Speedway engineer.

The stand is made of galvanized steel, aluminum flooring and galvanized steel cables. It took three weeks to fabricate, one day to erect. It weighs approximately 10,000 pounds and was made by Jack K. Elrod, designed by IMS Engineering.

The old stand was the same height at the platform and the overall height was a bit higher.

Approaching the top 10
Al Unser Jr., who is trying to win his third Indianapolis 500, was 13th-quickest on Sunday with a lap of 216.639 mph in a G Force/Aurora.

"Today was a good opening day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway," Unser said. "We ran later in the day and did what we needed to do, which was work on getting comfortable with the car. I feel good with our direction and the team is in good spirits and working hard.

"It was also great to get out and spend some time with the folks from the Special Olympics today. That is an event I have been doing since I was a rookie and I think it is a very important event during the month of May that I truly enjoy participating in. Those kids gave it everything they had in the events they competed in, and that is a great thing to see anytime. It always feels good to be back here and I am looking forward to the next few weeks."

Return of the Dutchman
Arie Luyendyk is back at the Indianapolis 500 for the first time since retiring following the 1999 race. He spent last year's race as a color commentator for ABC Sports.

Luyendyk was seventh-fastest on Sunday at 219.481 mph in a G Force/Aurora.

"I'm excited to be back in Indy," Luyendyk said. "Today it took some time to get up to speed in the car because of windy conditions. I just wanted to take my time and get comfortable with the car. I do not think that it is important to be at the top of the speed charts on the first day, but it was nice not to be too far off the pace for the day.

"We ended up calling it an early day. We didn't feel like we could learn any more about the car once again because of the windy conditions."

Save the pig
The 21st Annual Save Arnold Barbecue, a competition and benefit for Special Olympics of Indiana, took place Sunday afternoon in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway infield. More than a dozen drivers in the Indianapolis 500 participated as coaches.

The Save Arnold event has raised more than $1.5 million for Special Olympics in Indiana in the last 20 years. In 2000, Indianapolis Motor Speedway chairman of the board Mari Hulman George presented a $50,000 check to the Special Olympics.

Sudden Sam
Another charitable event was held Sunday night as the Sam Schmidt Paralysis Benefit at Morton's of Chicago was held in downtown Indianapolis. Schmidt is an IRL team owner for driver Davey Hamilton and a former driver who was paralyzed in a crash at Walt Disney World Speedway on January 6, 2000.

Drivers and other Indianapolis 500 dignitaries participated in the fund-raiser.

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