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Sunday, June 10
Sharp redeems himself at Texas
Associated Press
FORT WORTH, Texas -- Scott Sharp isn't completely cured.
| |  | | | Sharp |
That crash in the first turn of the first lap of the
Indianapolis 500 still weighs heavy on his mind. But a second
straight victory at the Casino Magic 500, where a crash also
figured into his outcome, helps the healing process.
"It's still a big hole, but this definitely helps," said
Sharp, who was the pole-sitter at Indianapolis. "I was so
heartbroken at Indianapolis. This is a small bit of redemption and
filled up the hole a bit."
Sharp barely avoided a crash on the 196th of 200 laps Saturday
night that knocked Greg Ray and Eddie Cheever out of the race and
ended an exciting three-car duel for the lead. Sharp finished under
caution at Texas Motor Speedway for his sixth career victory.
Ray, who was leading, was clipped as he tried to pass the lapped
car of Robby McGehee. Both cars spun, taking Cheever out with them
in a spectacular crash as Sharp squeezed through unscathed and then
settled in behind the pace car.
"Indy was a hard pill to swallow. I'm a spiritual person, but I
couldn't understand why that had to happen, and I still don't,"
Sharp said. "But I told myself things would work out when the time
was right. Somehow, we were able to miss that last incident and get
this win."
With the wreckage visible in his mirrors, Sharp pulled away and
went on to become the winngest driver in the Indy Racing League.
The 33-year-old Sharp broke a tie with Ray for career victories.
Cheever and Ray walked away from the wreck that ended an
incredible 40-plus laps of the kind of close, fast racing that is
becoming common at Texas. McGehee broke his left leg.
Ray and Sharp were running 1-2 when a caution came out for
debris on the track on lap 157. Sharp beat Ray out of the pit, and
the two battled side-by-side, nose-to-tail for several laps as
Cheever worked back into contention.
Cheever caught back up at the front with about 35 laps to go. He
had dropped from the lead to 12th and a lap down after a handling
problem with his car midway through the race suddenly dropped him
out of a leading sprint with Ray.
After staying on the tail of Ray and Sharp for several laps,
Cheever made a daring move underneath the two on lap 174. But he
couldn't pass them even as he reached speeds of 218.697 mph -- 3 mph
more than the pole speed for the race -- during that stretch. He was
still third when a caution set up the final 12 laps.
Cheever passed Ray on the restart at the beginning of lap 189. A
lap later, as Cheever tried to work around the outside of Sharp,
Ray dived to the inside for a three-wide pass and the lead until he
crashed.
"It was exciting race, but the accident was the final result of
everybody just not driving defensively," Cheever said. "I didn't
like the way the driving was at the front, and if it doesn't change
I think we are going to really end up hurting somebody.
"You can't be ducking and weaving and shoving people around.
It's irresponsible lunacy," Cheever said.
Ray started 20th, his worst start since the final race of the
1997 season, but worked his way into the lead by the 76th lap. He
led a race-high 86 laps, but finished 11th after the wreck. Cheever
was 12th with 64 laps led.
Sharp won with an average speed of 150.873 mph, 19 mph slower
than last June when he beat McGehee by just .059 seconds in the
closest finish in IRL history. But unlike that race, which had 31
official lead changes and no yellow flags because of accidents,
there were six cautions for 42 laps on Saturday night.
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