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Tuesday, May 8
Ray looking for another pole
Associated Press
INDIANAPOLIS -- Greg Ray has looked so good so soon, he's already considered a solid bet to win his second straight pole position for the Indianapolis 500.
But don't tell that to Mark Dismore.
|  | | Ray is already considered a favorite to take the Indy 500 pole. |
"We've got a shot at everything, from the front row to winning the race," said Dismore, who edged Ray for the top speed so far in practice with a lap of 224.823 mph Tuesday.
"I hope the car holds up like it has the last three days and we just go forward from here," said Dismore, whose best finish in five previous starts at Indy was 11th last year.
"This is going to be a tough one to win," the 44-year-old driver from Greenfield, Ind., said. "There are 15 that can legitimately win the race. That's got to be an all-time high. Whoever wins can hold his head high, because this is going to be one of the toughest ones ever."
Twenty-one cars topped 220 mph in the fastest practice session so far, with Dismore, Arie Luyendyk, Jeff Ward, Buddy Lazier and Eddie Cheever all over 223.
"I hate to speculate, but it's going to surprise a lot of people what it's going to take to start on the pole," Dismore said.
Saturday is the first of three days of qualifications for the race May 27.
Ray, the 1999 Indy Racing League champion who is coming off a victory at Atlanta Motor Speedway, has turned consistently fast laps -- even in his backup car and a spare Team Menard entry. He took only 12 laps in one car and 22 in another on Tuesday, however, with a top speed of 222.467 mph.
"I don't think anybody's going to beat Ray for the pole," said Michael Andretti, back at Indy for the first time since the year before the IRL-CART split in 1996. "I just want to qualify in the top 10."
Ray's best was 224.301 mph on Sunday, the opening day of practice.
Luyendyk, who spun out late in Tuesday's practice to avoid a crash by rookie Casey Mears, had a quick lap of 223.986.
Mears, nephew of four-time Indy winner Rick Mears, had just completed a lap at 216.573 mph when he made a half-spin coming out of Turn 1 and struck the wall with the rear of the car. Luyendyk, following Mears on the track, spun to avoid the debris but did not make contact with Mears or the wall.
Mears was quickly out of the car but was complaining of back pain and was taken to Methodist Hospital for observation.
Speedway officials said additional X-rays of Mears' back were to be taken as a precaution, but he was expected to released from the hospital later Tuesday.
Ray started from the pole and led 26 laps at Indianapolis last year. But he also was the first out, finishing 33rd after a crash on the 68th lap. The victory at Atlanta on April 28 moved him from 23rd to ninth in the IRL standings.
"We've been competitive all year long. We've been one of the front-runners in qualifying and the race," he said. "But we needed Atlanta to get right, to get that momentum."
After his fast lap at just under 223 on Monday, the IRL put his car through a technical inspection, just to make sure everything was legal.
It was.
"Anybody that ever accuses you of bending the gray area of the rules at the end of the day, that's the ultimate compliment," Ray
said. "If they're accusing you, then they're not working hard enough. You can push the boundaries of a motor, but if you push it
too far, you'll blow it up."
Still, he wants to do everything he can to get another pole, and not just for the extra $100,000-$150,000 in cash and accessory
prizes.
"Starting on the pole is always good," Ray said. "You get clean air and set the pace. Even if a guy is a half-mile an hour faster than you, he still may not be able to pass you."
Another advantage he might have this year, Ray said, is that he has no teammate to divide the crew's attention.
"I'm pretty excited because we're fully committed to running just one car," he said. "All the focus is going to be on a one-car effort.
"We'll do a lot more mileage. Last year, before qualifying, I did 200 miles total over 5½ days, and that's the fewest miles I'd ever done."
Ray's teammate at Indy last year was Robby Gordon, driving this year for A.J. Foyt.
Gordon was leading the race in 1999, but had to come in for fuel on the next-to-last lap and finished fourth. Last year, he finished sixth in his only IRL start, and drove the first five races in NASCAR's Winston Cup series this year before being fired by Morgan-McClure Motorsports.
"I'm pretty happy," Gordon said of his early practice at Indianapolis. "I haven't driven an Indy car in a year, so to come out and finish in the top 10 (seventh) on the first day, that's pretty good." Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories
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