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Saturday, June 30
Richmond experiment ready to go
Associated Press

RICHMOND, Va. -- Only half the field for the SunTrust Indy Challenge was on the track at any one time Thursday and Friday, so Saturday afternoon's final practice was the first time the field ran together.

Even beforehand, many drivers seemed as curious to see how it would go as the fans, who are accustomed to the bumping and banging of NASCAR.


	Unser Jr.

"Everybody's just going to have good patience out there and get to the end of it," Al Unser Jr. said. "I think the smaller the track, the more patience you have to have. If everybody uses their head out there, I think it'll be a great event. ... It's going to be a deal of surviving."

That was the plan for all 20 drivers, but pole-sitter Jaques Lazier became the first casualty of the night on the 14th lap when he was racing three-wide into Turn 3 and wound up hitting the wall on Turn 4.

"I was taking it easy. I came up on some lapped traffic, came up on the outside and got hit from behind and spun," Lazier said.

When it was over, eight cars had crashed out of the race.

Eddie Cheever Jr. expected about 10 cars to be running at the end, which would mean that more than half the field of 21 had been knocked out by driver error, fatigue or mechanical problems in the 250-lap event.

"We're on the knife's edge the whole way around," he said.

Cheever crashed during practice on Friday, one of six drivers to crash the first two days, but said he was looking forward to the series' first race on the three-quarter-mile track, the shortest in IRL history.

"The Winston Cup races that I always watch are Daytona and Richmond, and Richmond is the exact opposite of Daytona. Anything goes," he said.

"I love being down here. I think we should go to more races like this. It puts the emphasis on the driver and how much you're willing to risk."

There were no crashes during Saturday's practice, but a lot of loose rubber was on the track after a NASCAR Featherlite Modified race on Friday night and a USAC Coors Light Silver Bullet Series event Saturday.

"It was like skating out there," Cheever said.

Because of that, the IRL added an unscheduled 10-minute session for the IRL after the USAC race and encouraged drivers to put old tires on their cars hoping they would lift some loose rubber off the surface.

Fishing for speed
Cheever qualified third for the SunTrust Indy Challenge, matching his best start of the season. But the veteran said the driver just ahead of him, Sarah Fisher, would cause him problems.

"This is the first race that my daughter has come to and she's 12 years old," Cheever joked Friday. "I'm going to have to hear her all night tonight saying how a girl out-qualified me. I'm in for a long evening."

Cheever did say that he was happy to see Fisher doing well.

"It's really exciting to see Sarah up there in the front. It shows how much talent she has. She's going to be one tough cookie," he said.

Fisher's starting spot was the best for a woman in IRL history.

Evernham's visit
Ray Evernham, the point man for Dodge's return to NASCAR after 16 years and the owner of two Winston Cup teams, was on hand for the USAC race to spot for his driver in the series, Tyler Walker.

"This series has proven itself to be a pool of talent," he said of the USAC series, which has helped produce racers like Winston Cup stars Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon and Unser Jr. and Billy Boat from the IRL.

Walker had bad luck in Saturday's Dominic's of New York 100, spinning out while leading with five laps to go and winding up 21st out of 30 cars.

Aaron Fike won the race, beating Russ Gamester by 1.0322 seconds.

Evernham, meantime, said he's still adjusting to life as a boss.

"I have 125 people at two places now," he said. "It's a learning experience. When you're working on a race car, you know right away if you're doing the right thing. Dealing with people, it takes longer."

Pit stops

Alan Webb of Reston, Va., who last month broke Jim Ryun's 36-year-old record for the mile by a high school runner, waved the green flag to start the race.

Buddy Lazier, whose younger brother Jaques started on the pole, was the fastest in the final practice at 157.472 mph.

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