Barron

	Scheckter

INDIANAPOLIS -- Alex Barron and Tomas Scheckter were selected co-rookies of the year for the 86th Indianapolis 500.

They were honored Monday night at the Victory Celebration awards banquet.

Barron, who briefly took the lead 400 miles into the race and finished fourth, staggered jokingly when it was announced he won a total of $412,115 in prize money.

"To run the Indianapolis 500, it's really just been an unbelievable opportunity,'' Barron said. "I'm looking forward to running the rest of the season. I just hope I get this opportunity next year.''

Scheckter, who has yet to complete a race this season, appeared on the way to an unlikely victory in Sunday's race. He dominated until his car suddenly slid up the track and slammed into the new energy-absorbing wall barrier on the 173rd of 200 laps.

He finished 26th and earned $294,815.

"I was running strong the whole race. It was unfortunate what happened, but we'll be back next year,'' Scheckter said.

His team owner and teammate, Eddie Cheever Jr., seemed more disappointed with Scheckter's crash than his own fifth-place finish.

"I think when Tomas manages to get all the pieces together, which I hope will be quickly, he will be unstoppable,'' Cheever said.

Arie Luyendyk, a two-time winner who finished 14th Sunday, received the Scott Brayton Memorial Award in honor of the driver who was killed during practice in 1996 after winning the pole.

The award is given to the driver who best exemplifies Brayton's character and spirit.

"Scott was a good friend, a good teammate. After his accident, that was probably the hardest day in my life to go back on the race track that day,'' Luyendyk said. "This is probably the nicest day of my life today.''

The award was presented by last year's recipient, Davey Hamilton, who is recovering from serious leg and foot injuries from a racing accident last June at Texas Motor Speedway.

Hamilton, who received a standing ovation, said he expects to be driving again in the next couple of months.

Honorary awards also were presented at the banquet to actor Jim Nabors and Tom Carnegie, the longtime voice of the Indianapolis 500.

Nabors has sung "Back Home Again in Indiana'' before the race for more than 30 years. He responded to the award as his famed character Gomer Pyle, with a legendary "Gollleee!''