Mark Dismore lost his ride in the Indy Racing League at the end of the 2001 season. Greg Ray, who lost his ride to Jaques Lazier as the '01 campaign hit September, takes Dismore's seat at Kelley Racing and Dismore waits.

	Mark Dismore won the pole for the Casino Magic 500 in July, but there wasn't enough magic to keep him with Kelley Racing.

"I keep telling myself, 'don't get desperate,'" said the Greenfield, Ind. veteran.

Dismore has competed in the IRL since its inception in 1996. Before that, he was an occasional Indy car shoe, often taking rides shunned by others. After an ultra successful karting career, Dismore tried to break into the elite open wheel ranks only to find others with deeper financial pockets getting the nod.

In 1991, he marshaled his finances and showed up at the Indianapolis 500 with an outdated car and a dedicated group of friends and acquaintances obsessed with proving the owners who so many times had said, "thanks, Mark, we'll get back to you," that they had been mistaken about his talents.

Astonishingly, Dismore's impromptu team was quick enough to solidly qualify for the race. Then, the day before qualifications, Dismore pushed the envelope too far.

"I should have known better," he recalled. "I wanted to show everyone that I belonged at Indy and in the last practice I went out and crashed."

In reality, he almost killed himself. His car broke loose in Turn 4 and hurtled toward the entrance to pit road. It hit the abutment and disintegrated, showering crews stationed at the North end of the pits in carbon fiber and parts. His mortgaged engine slid more than 100 yards down the pits and Dismore, still strapped inside the tub, followed.

"I tried to do it the wrong way and darned near killed myself," Dismore said.

Months of recuperation and more months of intense physical therapy threatened Mark Dismore's Indy car dreams but by the time Tony George announced the formation of the Indy Racing League, Dismore was back and ready for a second go.

When automotive magnate Tom Kelley and his dad decided to form a team they chose Dismore as their first driver. The struggled the first season because they went against the grain and opted for a Riley & Scott Chassis instead of the more prevalent G-Force and Dallara makes that most others chose.

By 1999, Dismore had conquered the Indy car world. He piloted his Kelley Racing car into Victory Lane in the season finale at Texas Motor Speedway, scoring his first career win and Kelley's second.

But 2001 was a disastrous season for the veteran. He found himself in complete control of this year's Indy 500 when a fork in his gearbox failed. In another race, he was running near the front when during a routine pit stop, a crew member responsible for spraying water on the fuel inlet missed his mark and covered Dismore's rear tire instead. Exiting the pits, Dismore did a 180 and dropped from contention. He and teammate Scott Sharp were running away from the field at Kentucky when a piece of bodywork came loose, cutting a tire and sent him into the wall.

"I have been blessed in life," Dismore said recently. "It's just that when I get in a race car, it seems as if my luck is left behind."

So Dismore sits this holiday season and waits. He keeps busy running Comet Karts and assisting his son "Little Mark" with his racing career. He tends to his pet llamas and keeps the sprawling lawn that surrounds his home in trim.

All the while he reminds himself of that day in 1996 when he tried to force an issue. When he went out to prove to others that he belonged and almost died because of it.