10 Yrs. of Memories....Pt. 2
Posted: Sat Nov 26, 2005 5:22 pm
2001:Homestead, Infiniti Grand Prix-Miami......As at the season opener, Sam Hornish, Jr., now with Panther Racing, would win the race, but, like a certain Indy 500 winner, the press focused on one of the drivers behind him. Having snuck up to the front from a back-grid start, Walker Racing's Sarah Fisher fought a tooth-and-nail dogfight with Hornish for the win(sorta' like Indy this year!) but came up less than 1 sec. short. To this day, it is still the highest finish for a woman in the modern-era of top-level AOWR. (Patrick's 2 4th's in 2005 are the highest since 2001; Katherine Legge's 3 Atlantic victories are the highest in any major open-wheel series.)
2001: Atlanta, ZMax 500K.......The highlight of the IRL's last visit to Hampton, Ga. wasn't seeing Greg Ray run away with the win, it was seeing an 11-car melee that took out some of the front-runners. In the words of Billy Boat...."all h--- broke loose". Enough said.
2001, Indianapolis, 85th Indy 500.....As the competitors returned to the Brickyard, they found several things had changed. New facilities to accommodate the Formula 1 USGP, a new "pagoda"(control tower), and some new faces. Okay, not new, but....the last time a Penske-owned car won at Indy, it was 1994 and the "split" was yet to occur. This year, the Captain returned with two veteran CART racers, Helio Castorneves and Gil de Ferran, and it was simply no contest; the pair ran away with the race; when Castroneves took the checkers, the top-6 spots were filled with non-IRL regulars; Eliseo Salazar, in 7th, was the highest series regular. Indeed. after Penske's pair, in 3rd sat Michael Andretti, while two of Chip Ganassi's boys, Jimmy Vasser and Bruno Junquiera, were 4th and 5th. NASCAR even had a foot in the door, as ole' Smoke himself, Tony Stewart, finished 6th in a Ganassi car. Sadly, it wasn't the IRL's finest hour.
2001: Kansas, Ameristar Casino 300....Ever since the Nissan Infiniti V8 was introduced to the IndyCar Series, it hadn't acquitted itself very well...until Eddie Cheever put one in Victory Lane. How'd he do it? By not shredding the engine, as other Infiniti-run cars had done that year.
2001: Texas(fall race), American Memorial 300.....By rights, this race could've have disappeared; originally scheduled for Sept. 16, 2001, it was postponed following 9/11, and, since Sam Hornish, Jr. had already clinched the points title, they could've cancelled the race that year. They didn't, and the three-way dragrace to the checkers btwn. Hornish, Scott Sharp and Robbie Buhl was worth the month's wait.
2002: Homestead, 20th Anniv. GP of Miami.....Going into the season opener, the pundits had a prediction, that Roger Penske's team would run away with the IRL crown from the series regulars. Guess aqain, as Hornish was repeat his win from 2001 and bring Castroneves and de Ferran "back to Earth", so to speak. The fight, it would seem, was on, and would be so for the entire year.
2002: Indianapolis, 86th Indy 500......Unlike 2001, Helio Castroneves had to earn his 2nd win at the Brickyard; in doing so, Spiderman became the first back-to-back winner there since Al Unser, Sr. did it in 1970-1971.
2002: Kansas, Ameristar Casino 300.....Sam Hornish, Jr. had the win in Kansas sewn up...until a late-race restart, when the cars piloted by Airton Dare and Gil de Ferran passed him and checked out; Hornish eventually caught up to and passed de Ferran, but Dare would win a hard-fought race for his team owner, A.J. Foyt, Jr.
2002: Michigan, Mich. Indy 400....Going into the race, it looked as though young South African Tomas Scheckter was driving for his career with Red Bull/Cheever Racing, and it showed, as the team qual. 1-2-3, with rookies Scheckter and Buddy Rice on row 1, and their team owner, Eddie Cheever, in 3rd. Scheckter would go on to win the race, with Rice in tow; however, it didn't help him, for the team sacked him prior to the series' round at Gateway.
2002: Texas(fall race), Chevy 500K.....From qualifying to the race finish, it was an action-packed weekend. Going into the round, it was clear...either Sam Hornish, Jr., would repeat as IRL champion, or Helio Castroneves would have his first series crown. Meanwhile, a young rookie named Vitor Meira would capture the pole for the race, while both front-runners qualified mid-pack for the race. By race's end, however, Panther Racing had bested Penske, as Hornish would hold off Castroneves to repeat as series champion.
2003: Motegi, Japan, Indy Japan 300.....Until now, all IRL races had been run stateside; this race would mark the series' first visit to the "Land of the Rising Sun". Already, the grid looked like a ex-CART reunion, as some familiar teams(Penske, Ganassi, Rahal-Letterman and Andretti-Green) were at the tip of the proverbial spear. Their on-track performance showed it too, as Toyota and Honda joined the fray and proceeded to leave Chevy on the side of the road. But some of the series regulars weren't yet ready to surrender. Case in point...Kelley Racing's Scott Sharp, who took his Toyota-powered livery to Victory Lane, besting the field.
2003: Richmond, Suntrust Indy Challenge....On a rain-soaked evening Target/Ganassi's resident Kiwi driver, Scott Dixon, led wire-to-wire in winning at RIR.(He led 206 laps; the original distance was slated at 250 laps). To this day, it is the only wire-to-wire victory in the IRL's history.
2003: Michigan, Firestone Indy 400.....Remember Danny Sullivan's "Spin and Win" at Indy. Alex Barron did; late in the race at MIS, he spun exiting turn 4, didn't hit anyone, and was able to keep the engine going, eventually edging out a newly resurgent Sam Hornish, Jr., whose team had been allowed to use a Cosworth-powered "Chevy" engine. Sam came awful close to winning, though, but Barron, drivng for Mo Nunn, took the honors that day in the Irish Hills.
2003: Texas(fall race), Chevy 500K.....If there is one wish a racer has, it is that, at the end of his or her career, that they can leave a winner. That was certainly Gil de Ferran's wish, and it was granted, as he would his last open-wheel race, albeit tinged with serious concern over fellow racer Kenny Brack, who was involved in probably the most violent crash in series history. Still, it was good to see him go out on top, as all good racers should.
And that concludes part 2......the 2004 and 2005 season memories will be up on the forum in late December. Enjoy!
2001: Atlanta, ZMax 500K.......The highlight of the IRL's last visit to Hampton, Ga. wasn't seeing Greg Ray run away with the win, it was seeing an 11-car melee that took out some of the front-runners. In the words of Billy Boat...."all h--- broke loose". Enough said.
2001, Indianapolis, 85th Indy 500.....As the competitors returned to the Brickyard, they found several things had changed. New facilities to accommodate the Formula 1 USGP, a new "pagoda"(control tower), and some new faces. Okay, not new, but....the last time a Penske-owned car won at Indy, it was 1994 and the "split" was yet to occur. This year, the Captain returned with two veteran CART racers, Helio Castorneves and Gil de Ferran, and it was simply no contest; the pair ran away with the race; when Castroneves took the checkers, the top-6 spots were filled with non-IRL regulars; Eliseo Salazar, in 7th, was the highest series regular. Indeed. after Penske's pair, in 3rd sat Michael Andretti, while two of Chip Ganassi's boys, Jimmy Vasser and Bruno Junquiera, were 4th and 5th. NASCAR even had a foot in the door, as ole' Smoke himself, Tony Stewart, finished 6th in a Ganassi car. Sadly, it wasn't the IRL's finest hour.
2001: Kansas, Ameristar Casino 300....Ever since the Nissan Infiniti V8 was introduced to the IndyCar Series, it hadn't acquitted itself very well...until Eddie Cheever put one in Victory Lane. How'd he do it? By not shredding the engine, as other Infiniti-run cars had done that year.
2001: Texas(fall race), American Memorial 300.....By rights, this race could've have disappeared; originally scheduled for Sept. 16, 2001, it was postponed following 9/11, and, since Sam Hornish, Jr. had already clinched the points title, they could've cancelled the race that year. They didn't, and the three-way dragrace to the checkers btwn. Hornish, Scott Sharp and Robbie Buhl was worth the month's wait.
2002: Homestead, 20th Anniv. GP of Miami.....Going into the season opener, the pundits had a prediction, that Roger Penske's team would run away with the IRL crown from the series regulars. Guess aqain, as Hornish was repeat his win from 2001 and bring Castroneves and de Ferran "back to Earth", so to speak. The fight, it would seem, was on, and would be so for the entire year.
2002: Indianapolis, 86th Indy 500......Unlike 2001, Helio Castroneves had to earn his 2nd win at the Brickyard; in doing so, Spiderman became the first back-to-back winner there since Al Unser, Sr. did it in 1970-1971.
2002: Kansas, Ameristar Casino 300.....Sam Hornish, Jr. had the win in Kansas sewn up...until a late-race restart, when the cars piloted by Airton Dare and Gil de Ferran passed him and checked out; Hornish eventually caught up to and passed de Ferran, but Dare would win a hard-fought race for his team owner, A.J. Foyt, Jr.
2002: Michigan, Mich. Indy 400....Going into the race, it looked as though young South African Tomas Scheckter was driving for his career with Red Bull/Cheever Racing, and it showed, as the team qual. 1-2-3, with rookies Scheckter and Buddy Rice on row 1, and their team owner, Eddie Cheever, in 3rd. Scheckter would go on to win the race, with Rice in tow; however, it didn't help him, for the team sacked him prior to the series' round at Gateway.
2002: Texas(fall race), Chevy 500K.....From qualifying to the race finish, it was an action-packed weekend. Going into the round, it was clear...either Sam Hornish, Jr., would repeat as IRL champion, or Helio Castroneves would have his first series crown. Meanwhile, a young rookie named Vitor Meira would capture the pole for the race, while both front-runners qualified mid-pack for the race. By race's end, however, Panther Racing had bested Penske, as Hornish would hold off Castroneves to repeat as series champion.
2003: Motegi, Japan, Indy Japan 300.....Until now, all IRL races had been run stateside; this race would mark the series' first visit to the "Land of the Rising Sun". Already, the grid looked like a ex-CART reunion, as some familiar teams(Penske, Ganassi, Rahal-Letterman and Andretti-Green) were at the tip of the proverbial spear. Their on-track performance showed it too, as Toyota and Honda joined the fray and proceeded to leave Chevy on the side of the road. But some of the series regulars weren't yet ready to surrender. Case in point...Kelley Racing's Scott Sharp, who took his Toyota-powered livery to Victory Lane, besting the field.
2003: Richmond, Suntrust Indy Challenge....On a rain-soaked evening Target/Ganassi's resident Kiwi driver, Scott Dixon, led wire-to-wire in winning at RIR.(He led 206 laps; the original distance was slated at 250 laps). To this day, it is the only wire-to-wire victory in the IRL's history.
2003: Michigan, Firestone Indy 400.....Remember Danny Sullivan's "Spin and Win" at Indy. Alex Barron did; late in the race at MIS, he spun exiting turn 4, didn't hit anyone, and was able to keep the engine going, eventually edging out a newly resurgent Sam Hornish, Jr., whose team had been allowed to use a Cosworth-powered "Chevy" engine. Sam came awful close to winning, though, but Barron, drivng for Mo Nunn, took the honors that day in the Irish Hills.
2003: Texas(fall race), Chevy 500K.....If there is one wish a racer has, it is that, at the end of his or her career, that they can leave a winner. That was certainly Gil de Ferran's wish, and it was granted, as he would his last open-wheel race, albeit tinged with serious concern over fellow racer Kenny Brack, who was involved in probably the most violent crash in series history. Still, it was good to see him go out on top, as all good racers should.
And that concludes part 2......the 2004 and 2005 season memories will be up on the forum in late December. Enjoy!