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Sunday, July 1
Fans take to IRL in Richmond
By Jack Arute
ESPN.com
RICHMOND, Va. -- Saturday night the capital of the confederacy witnessed a Northern invasion
that left fans at the Richmond International Raceway clamoring for
more.
The Indy Northern Light Series made its first appearance in the
Commonwealth and its first appearance on a track shorter than a mile in
length. At the end of 250 circuits, Buddy Lazier parlayed back-to-back wins
over the last two weeks to narrow the gap on current point leader Sam
Hornish. But the real story was how the IRL adapted to their ultimate "short"
track and how fans from NASCAR's heartland took to the open wheelers.
|  | | Sarah Fisher, left, and Jaques Lazier led the field out of the gate in the inaugural IRL race at Richmond. |
"I've never seen anything like it" said one fan as he exited the packed
grandstands. "I'm a big NASCAR follower, but I'll be watching these guys on
TV as often as I can!"
Hot, humid weather did little to dampen the excitement. Track officials were
forced to open additional grandstands to accommodate the large crowd that
showed up.They cheered passes and cheered crashes, but it was evident that
these were new fans to the sport of Indy cars.
From the outset, it was apparent that Buddy Lazier was the man to beat. After
a heart-stopping jump at the drop of the green flag, the Vail, Colo.,
native simply dominated until his final pit stop on lap 188.
"When I came
in, we were sweating so much that my visor was fogged up. I just missed my
pit stall," said Lazier. "It's just one of those racetracks that takes
everything out of you. We gave it everything we had all night long."
All of the IRL gave it everything they had. From the career-best qualifying
performances of polesitter Jaques Lazier and outside pole winner Sarah
Fisher, to the failed pass of Eddie Cheever, Jr. on then leader Eliseo
Salazar, the Sun Trust Indy Challenge left its mark on Richmond.
Track officials indicated that the turnout was the largest for any
non-Winston Cup race held at the ¾-mile oval. Local media coverage centered
on the difference between Indy Cars and the more familiar full fendered
mounts of NASCAR's Winston Cup. In depth print features whetted the appetite
Of the Richmond faithful and despite an 8 p.m. scheduled green flag, fans
began pouring into the old fairgrounds facility well before noontime.
Nine cautions for a total of 87 laps did little to disrupt the action. In fact,
from the reaction of fans the cautions -- including the last one when Salazar and Cheever crashed -- were greeted with enthusiastic cheers.
"I love it when guys go for it" said a fan decked out in a Jeff Gordon t-shirt. "This ain't like NASCAR," he drawled. "These guys do it for keeps."
A little before the start of the race, IRL officials announced their 2002
schedule which expands from 13 races on this year's schedule to 14, including
a return engagement in Richmond on Saturday night, June 29th.
Third-place finisher Al Unser, Jr. summed it up best, "It takes a lot out of you, but I can't wait to get back."  Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories
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