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Wednesday, May 9
This year's field competitive as ever
Associated Press
INDIANAPOLIS -- Almost 20 years ago, they were the young lions of auto racing.
Al Unser Jr. and Michael Andretti, sons of former Indianapolis 500 winners, came to Indy within a year of each other and, like their fathers, became two of the dominant drivers of their era.
|  | | Michael Andretti puts on his helmet as he prepares to practice at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. |
Now approaching 40, with too many opportunities already lost by the CART boycott of Indianapolis, they're in the older racing generation. Each is trying to squeeze a victory from what may be the most competitive field in the six-year history of the Indy Racing League.
"We always have a lot of guys that run fast early. It's the guys who have been around who really have it right for the end of the race," Andretti said. "I'm hoping my experience is going to help and that will make the difference."
Andretti, close many times, still has never won at Indianapolis. Unser, a two-time winner, joined the IRL and returned to Indy last year.
Arie Luyendyk, also a two-time winner, is coming out of a year's retirement at age 47. Other racing seniors include 44-year-old Mark Dismore, who Tuesday had the fastest lap so far in practice at 224.823 mph. Luyendyk was next at 223.986.
But the top younger drivers include Sam Hornish Jr., the series points leader with victories in two of the three IRL races. At 21, he became the youngest driver to win a major open-wheel event, but that record lasted only until last week, when 20-year-old Scott Dixon won a CART race at Nazareth, Pa.
Now Sarah Fisher, who was a 19-year-old rookie at Indy last year and finished second to Hornish at Homestead, Fla., has five chances -- through the IRL race at Kansas City on July 8 -- to take youngest-winner honors from Dixon.
"I think it just shows you where this sport is going," said Andretti, back at Indianapolis for the first time since 1995, the year before the IRL-CART split. "It's just like all the other sports. ... They're taking them right out of high school."
Andretti was 21 when he made his Indy 500 debut in 1984, finishing fifth and sharing the rookie of the year award with Roberto Guerrero. Andretti's father, Mario, was rookie of the year in 1965, four years before he won the race.
Unser's family pedigree is even longer.
His father, Al Unser Sr., won Indy four times and his uncle, Bobby, was a three-time winner. Al Jr. was an Indy rookie in 1983, when he and Al Sr. became the first father-son combination in the same race.
Little Al, as he is still known, won at Indy in 1992 and 1994, failed to qualify in 1995 and missed the race from 1996-99 because of the CART boycott. He left CART for the IRL's Galles Racing last year and returned to Indy with a 29th-place finish.
His strategy now?
"Just go out and do the same thing we've always done, try to get the most out of the car every day and go from there," he said.
"We're always looking to be the fastest, and that's what we're going to work towards for qualifying," Unser said. "We want to ensure ourselves a spot in this year's field, and with the field getting tighter and tighter it's going to be more difficult to do that. So we'll be practicing to come up with some good speeds."
Dismore's speed Tuesday beat out Greg Ray's opening-day lap of 224.301 mph as the fastest in practice.
"We've got a shot at everything, from the front row to winning the race," Dismore said.
"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," he 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, Luyendyk, Jeff Ward, Buddy Lazier and Eddie Cheever all over 223.
The only crash involved rookie Casey Mears, nephew of four-time Indy winner Rick Mears, who 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. He was released from the hospital Tuesday night. Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories
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