IRL VisionAire 500 Report -- July 26
26 July 1997
DAY 5 -- JULY 26
RACE DAY
Track temperature was 133 degrees at 3:15 p.m., according to Goodyear
tire engineers.
***
In pre-race ceremonies for the VisionAire 500:
Grand Marshal is Keith Duesenberg.
Honorary Starter is Jim Rice, VisionAire chairman, CEO and president.
Presentation of the colors is by A.L. Brown High School Navy JROTC.
Invocation is by Mark Wingler, Motor Racing Outreach.
National Anthem is by Neil Zarelli.
Starting command will be given by Bruton Smith.
***
Sheryl Smith of Union Grove, N.C. is Grand prize winner of the
Carolina Oldsmobile Dealer Marketing Group's "Aurora Sweepstakes" held
in conjunction with the VisionAire 500. Darwin Clark, Oldsmobile
general manager, and Steve Lamb, president of the Carolina Oldsmobile
Marketing Group, will present the keys to a 1997 Aurora to Ms. Smith
during pre-race ceremonies. Eighty Oldsmobile dealers in the
mid-Atlantic region participated in the promotion. Other prize
winners in "The Great Aurora Raceday Giveaway" sweepstakes received
terrace box seats to see the first IRL event at Charlotte.
***
Stan Wattles got a look at the new Riley & Scott chassis for
the first time today. He's scheduled to take delivery of an R&S MK V
IRL car on Aug. 18.
"I'm extremely impressed with what they've done," Wattles
said. "From what I've seen, it's a superior chassis. It's a neat and
tight package. From a mechanical standpoint, it seems like it's
extremely user-friendly."
Wattles said that after delivery of the car, his Metro Racing
Systems team will go right into testing.
"We'll go straight to Texas and do two days there, bring the
car back to Florida and go through it, then be ready for the Vegas
test," he said. "We may have some more tests, but we're really
shooting for being at the Vegas race (Oct. 11)."
***
J.D. Kemp and Kevin McGee steered Duke University to the
National Collegiate Association of Racing (NCAR) exhibition victory in
Legends Cars today, based on points of the two heats. Also
participating were the Universities of South Carolina, North Carolina
at Charlotte and Tennessee and North Carolina State.
The competition featured requirements that all crew members
and drivers must be engineering majors at schools which have an
accredited degree in engineering.
Another collegiate exhibition is scheduled at the UAW-GM
Quality 500 in October and five collegiate events are scheduled in
1998.
***
POST-U.S. FORMULA FORD 2000 RACE NOTES, QUOTES:
Andrea DeLorenzi won the second of the two U.S. Formula Ford
2000 races of the week, with Ryan Hampton second and Jeff Shafer
third.
JEFF SHAFER: "I got a really good start and a bunch of them
got tangled up at the chicane. I got a real good run out of the
chicane and passed several cars going down the backstretch. There were
enough yellow flags, that I was able to hang with the leaders. But
eight laps from the end, I broke a header. I pulled up beside Ryan on
that last yellow and let him know that I wouldn't be able to pass him,
all I could do was stay in his draft. I don't know what happened
behind me, but they got tangled up in the chicane in the last lap and
I was able to hang on to finish third."
RYAN HAMPTON: "It was definitely busy out there. We took some
downforce out of the car. It was a rocketship down the straightaways,
but I couldn't brake as well. I could pass Andrea on the
straightaways, but he would get me back under braking. I laid back and
tried to get a run on Andrea on the last lap, but I couldn't catch
him. I gave it a try. My hat is off to Andrea. He drove a great race."
ANDREA DeLORENZI: "I'm sorry for my English. This is my first
time in the United States. I think is a beautiful place for the
people. The racing was very spectacular and competitive. In Europe,
once someone gets in front the race is usually over. Here there is a
lot of passing and the last lap is very important." ***
VISIONAIRE 500 RACE RUNNING:
Track temperature was 107 degrees at 7 p.m., according to
Goodyear tire engineers.
Pit road speed: 80 miles an hour.
8:15 p.m. -- Temperature was 86 degrees, track temperature was
99 degrees, according to Firestone tire engineers.
8:17 p.m. -- Command to start engines.
8:19 p.m. -- Field away.
Lap 1: #2 Stewart leads into Turn 1.
#14 Hamilton passes #5 Luyendyk for second, Turn 3.
Lap 3: #91 Lazier passes #1 Boat for fourth, Turn 3.
Lap 4: #2 Stewart leads #14 Hamilton by .5 of a second.
Lap 6: #91 Lazier passes outside #5 Luyendyk for third, Turn 2.
Lap 7: #40 Miller to pits, stopped at pit entrance.
Lap 8: #1 Boat passes #5 Luyendyk for fifth.
#2 Stewart leads #14 Hamilton by 1.3 seconds.
Lap 13: #2 Stewart leads #14 Hamilton by 3.7 seconds.
Lap 14: #40 Miller back on track, seven laps down, crew fixed electrical
problem.
Lap 15: #91 Lazier takes second in three-wide pass in trioval.
Lap 17: #2 Stewart leads #91 Lazier by 3.0 seconds.
Lap 21: #40 Miller returns to pits, crew takes engine cover off.
Lap 22: #2 Stewart leads #91 Lazier by 3.7 seconds.
Lap 24: #2 Stewart leads #91 Lazier by 4.3 seconds.
Lap 25: Leaders -- #2 Stewart, #91 Lazier, #14 Hamilton, #1 Boat, #28 Dismore.
Lap 26: 15 cars on lead lap.
Lap 28: #2 Stewart leads #91 Lazier by .6 of a second.
Lap 31: #2 Stewart leads #91 Lazier by 1.7 seconds.
Lap 33: #31 Ray, in seventh, slowed on course, to pits.
#2 Stewart leads #91 Lazier by 3.2 seconds.
Lap 35: 9 cars on lead lap.
Lap 36: #40 Miller returned to track, 25 laps down, crew changed electrical box.
Lap 38: #2 Stewart leads #91 Lazier by 6.3 seconds.
Lap 40: #40 Miller returned to pits.
Leaders -- #2 Stewart, #91 Lazier, #1 Boat, #14 Hamilton, #21 Guerrero.
Lap 41: #28 Dismore, previously in fourth, to pits, four tires, fuel.
Lap 42: #17 Giaffone to pits.
Lap 44: #2 Stewart leads #91 Lazier by 15.2 seconds.
Lap 45: #91 Lazier, in second, to pits, four tires, fuel.
#1 Boat to pits, four tires, fuel.
Lap 47: #2 Stewart to pits, four tires, fuel.
#14 Hamilton to pits, four tires, fuel.
Lap 48: #6 Goodyear leads lap while #2 Stewart was in pits.
Lap 49: #2 Stewart takes lead, #28 Dismore second.
Lap 50: #2 Stewart leads #28 Dismore by 12.5 seconds, #91 Lazier third,
followed by #5 Luyendyk, #21 Guerrero.
Lap 52: #5 Luyendyk to pits, unscheduled, loses lap to leader, four tires,
fuel, crew tried to correct push.
Lap 56: #5 Luyendyk returns to pit road, does not stop.
Lap 57: #91 Lazier passes #28 Dismore for second.
Lap 61: #2 Stewart leads #91 Lazier by 10.8 seconds.
Lap 63: #2 Stewart turned the lap at 205.230 miles an hour.
#5 Luyendyk returns to pits, crew working under front cover,
right rear, handling problem.
Lap 65: 7 cars on lead lap.
Lap 66: Leaders -- #2 Stewart, #91 Lazier, #28 Dismore, #21 Guerrero, #33
Kite, #6 Goodyear, #1 Boat.
Lap 68: #2 Stewart leads #91 Lazier by 15.3 seconds.
Lap 72: YELLOW, debris in Turn 2.
Lap 74: #1 Boat, #33 Kite, #28 Dismore to pits.
Lap 75: #2 Stewart, leader, to pits, four tires, fuel.
#22 Sospiri to pits, driver out of car, crew reports car lost oil pressure.
Lap 76: #91 Lazier leads, followed by #1 Boat, #28 Dismore, #33 Kite, #2
Stewart.
Lap 77: GREEN.
Lap 78: #2 Stewart passes #33 Kite for fourth, #2 Stewart reportedly has
lost radio communication.
Lap 81: #91 Lazier leads #1 Boat by 2.1 seconds.
Lap 82: #5 Luyendyk returns to pits, driver out of car.
LUYENDYK: "Something happened to the handling. About five or six laps
into the race, it just went away. We made several pit stops to try to
fix it but we couldn't figure out what was wrong with it."
Lap 83: 6 cars on lead lap.
Lap 86: #2 Stewart passes #33 Kite for fourth.
Lap 87: #1 Boat ran lap, in second, at 211.873.
#91 Lazier leads #1 Boat by 3.1 seconds.
Lap 91: #27 Guthrie to pits.
Lap 93: #91 Lazier, in lead, to pits, four tires, fuel.
#1 Boat takes lead.
MILLER: "I am so very frustrated right now. I had a really good
start. I was staying right with the pack. The car was hanging right in
there. Then, all of a sudden, it just quit. We changed all the
electrical parts, but that wasn't the solution. They say, 'that's
racing,' but I'm behind that phrase now. We were really optimistic
about tonight and now we're sitting in the garage."
Lap 98: SECOND YELLOW, #28 Dismore smoking, stopped on inside of Turn 2.
Leaders -- #1 Boat, #33 Kite, #21 Guerrero, #2 Stewart, #17
Giaffone (+1).
Lap 100: #1 Boat, #33 Kite, #2 Stewart to pits.
SOSPIRI: "I think it was an electrical problem. The race was going
well. The car was real loose on the first set of tires but we got the
handling back with the second set. Then, all of a sudden, something
electrical went wrong and we're finished."
Lap 101: #21 Guerrero, who didn't pit, takes lead.
RAY: (crew said broken cam sensor trigger put him out) "The car was
handling real nice. We went from 17th to seventh in 25 laps. We were
looking forward to seeing the yellow and orange car and giving him a
real run for his money. But Lady Luck struck us down."
Lap 104: Leaders -- #21 Guerrero, #1 Boat, #33 Kite, #2 Stewart, #4 Brack.
Lap 107: GREEN.
#21 Guerrero passed #4 Brack on restart, putting #4 Brack a lap down.
Lap 108: #91 Lazier giving chase to #21 Guerrero to try to get lap back.
Lap 109: #2 Stewart to pits, unscheduled, goes two laps down, four tires,
fuel, handling problem.
Lap 110: #10 M. Groff to pits, engine cover off.
Lap 112: Leaders -- #21 Guerrero, #1 Boat, #33 Kite, #91 Lazier (+1), #4
Brack (+1).
DISMORE: "It burnt a piston or broke a rod. It made a bunch of noise
so it's definitely something in the bottom end. We had a push but it
wasn't bad and the car was running great. If we had some more time to
work on the push, we could've been really fast for the end."
Lap 117: #21 Guerrero leads #1 Boat by 6.6 seconds.
Lap 120: #91 Lazier gets back on lead lap, as he and leader #21 Guerrero
"high-lowed" #99 Schmidt on backstretch.
Lap 124: #99 Schmidt to pits, small fire in back.
Lap 126: #21 Guerrero leads #1 Boat by 2.0 seconds.
#2 Stewart in ninth, two laps down.
Lap 127: #1 Boat to lead, previous leader #21 Guerrero, #30 R. Groff to pits.
Lap 130: #1 Boat leads #33 Kite by .5 of a second, #91 Lazier third, all on
lead lap.
#21 Guerrero dropped to seventh, one lap down, on pit stop.
Lap 133: #10 M. Groff returned to track, crew replaced clamp on tailpipe
that was broken.
Lap 139: #1 Boat leads #33 Kite by .2 of a second.
Lap 140: #33 Kite goes underneath #1 Boat down front straight to lead his
first IRL lap.
SCHMIDT: "It was really disappointing. We were looking forward to it
being a good race. It wasn't handling very good. In Turn 3, it started
shuddering and lost oil pressure."
Lap 144: THIRD YELLOW, #14 Hamilton, #21 Guerrero (in sixth and seventh
position, one lap down), tangled in Turn 2, #7 Salazar later involved. #14
Hamilton, #21 Guerrero out, #7 Salazar continued to pits to repair nose cone.
Lap 146: #1 Boat in lead, and #91 Lazier to pits. #33 Kite remained on track.
Lap 147: #33 Kite to lead.
Lap 150: Leaders -- #33 Kite, #1 Boat, #91 Lazier, #6 Goodyear (+1), #17
Giaffone (+1).
Lap 151: #33 Kite to pits, four tires, fuel. Stop by #33 Kite put #6
Goodyear, #17 Giaffone back on lead lap.
Lap 154: #17 Giaffone, #7 Salazar to pits, fuel only. #6 Goodyear to pits.
#6 Goodyear stayed on lead lap, #17 Giaffone goes one lap down.
Lap 155: GREEN.
Lap 156: #1 Boat leads #91 Lazier by .1 of a second in traffic.
Lap 160: #1 Boat leads, #91 Lazier by .2 of a second, #33 Kite by 6.8 seconds.
Lap 164: FOURTH YELLOW, #33 Kite, running third and trailing leader by 11.6
seconds, hit outside wall in trioval.
Lap 166: #1 Boat, #91 Lazier, in first and second, to pits. #91 Lazier beat
#1 Boat out of pits.
Lap 167: #91 Lazier leads lap, followed by #1 Boat, #6 Goodyear , #17
Giaffone on lead lap.
DANNY "CHOCOLATE" MYERS (fueler for #17 Giaffone): There's no
comparison except it's racing. These guys were absolutely
wonderful. It's been pleasant working with Joie Chitwood and all the
IRL guys. It isn't any harder or easier, it's still racing and it's
great racing and I'm enjoying it."
Lap 171: GREEN.
Lap 173: #91 Lazier leads #1 Boat by 1.0 second.
Lap 176: #91 Lazier leads #1 Boat by .1 of a second.
Lap 178: #91 Lazier leads #1 Boat by .7 of a second as they try to lap #6
Goodyear.
Lap 181: #91 Lazier on grass in trioval trying to lap #6 Goodyear.
Lap 184: #91 Lazier leads #1 Boat by .6 of a second. Lazier turned lap at
208.889.
Lap 189: #91 Lazier leads #1 Boat by 1.6 seconds.
Lap 192: #91 Lazier leads #1 Boat by 1.8 seconds.
Lap 194: #30 R. Groff to pits, engine off.
Lap 196: #1 Boat takes lead past #91 Lazier into Turn 3, in three-wide under
#18 Paul Jr.
Lap 197: #91 Lazier passed #1 Boat at start-finish line to retake lead.
Lap 200: #91 Lazier puts #6 Goodyear one lap down at start-finish line.
Lap 201: #91 Lazier leads #1 Boat by 1.6 seconds.
Lap 202: #91 Lazier ran lap at 209.343.
Lap 204: #91 Lazier turned lap at 210.806.
Lap 208: #91 Buddy Lazier wins inaugural VisionAire 500 by 3.3 seconds over
#1 Billy Boat. It was Lazier's second IRL victory, coming after his win in
the 1996 Indianapolis 500. #6 Scott Goodyear third, #17 Affonso Giaffone
fourth, #4 Kenny Brack fifth.
POST-RACE NOTES, QUOTES:
--Tony Stewart extended his streaks of consecutive first laps led to
six and consecutive races led to six. He has now led in 10 of the 11
IRL races to date. It was Stewart's sixth straight top-10 finish.
--Billy Boat tied his previous best IRL finish of second in Texas and
gained his third top-10 finish in four IRL starts.
--Scott Goodyear has now recorded his fifth top-10 finish in six IRL
starts with his third place.
--Affonso Giaffone got his best career finish of fourth. His previous
best IRL finish was ninth at Pikes Peak.
--Kenny Brack got his best career finish of fifth as well as his first
running at the finish. His best previous IRL finish was 11th at
Phoenix in March.
--There were 13 lead changes in the VisionAire 500.
--Roberto Guerrero's 21 laps led were his first since leading 47 laps
of the 1996 Indianapolis 500.
--Davey Hamilton's accident ended his streak of eight straight races
running at the finish.
JIMMY KITE: "It wasn't a big hit. It just eased up and we don't know
if I had a cut tire or something just happened. We'll have to look at
it. I just lost the front end and the car didn't make the turn when it
was supposed to. I knew it was our race, given all the things that
are happening. The car was so fast, it would go anywhere and do
anything I asked it to. It was just a very good car. Unlike Colorado,
when we didn't run enough laps to be able to say, we proved it
today. You could say we were the fastest out there." (NOTE: Team
Scandia computers showed that Kite would have been three laps short on
fuel if he had continued and would have been required to make a
"splash-and-go.")
ROBBIE GROFF: "A broken CV joint put us out. We were good during the
first stint, then we were off on the second. Then we were good
again. We had an OK night and would have had a top-10 finish."
JOHN PAUL JR.: "It was a little tough being the moving chicane but we
kept getting better and better. I got run up real high several times
and got stuff all over my tires. We went three-abreast into (Turn) 1
once and I thought I was going to hit the wall. Physically, I'm all
right. I had some pain in my heels because of the bumps through the
turns but the doctor told me to expect that and it didn't hinder my
performance. I think we had the car too stiff over the bumps and were
losing traction and that's why we didn't have the speed we needed. But
with this being my first race back, I'm pleased and we brought the car
home in one piece. I don't know what happened on the last lap. It just
shut off."
ROBERTO GUERRERO: "Well, I got alongside Davey Hamilton. He told me in
the ambulance that he didn't see me. His car wasn't working very
well. We touched and that was it. It's a shame. We have the Pennzoil
car running in the front. Now, it's a matter of just finishing. I know
we'll finish the next one. We're going to win that one. I'm excited
about it."
DAVEY HAMILTON: "Roberto and I got together. It was just close racing,
I guess. He was a little quicker than me. I went into Turn 1 kind of
high. There just wasn't enough room. It's a heartbreaker. We ran out
of fuel before the first pit stop. We had to fight all night to get
our lap back. This is the second DNF for our team. It's a
heartbreaker, leading the points. We have two races left, we got a
great team. I know we can do it. We just need to fix all those little
problems. The good thing is that I'm okay."
MIKE GROFF: "Long day for the knee and the leg. It's good to
finish. This is all new for us, this package. The team did a great
job. I think what we'll do is test before Loudon." (about his first
IRL race under the lights): "Interesting..the first time I've run an
Indy car at night. There is a couple of things that I can work
on. It's definitely different. I didn't know what to expect." (about
the car): "We're just behind the 8-ball. That's the biggest
problem. The biggest thing for us to work with the car a little bit."
(about his leg): I think I rushed it a little bit. Hindsight's always
20-20, although I'm glad I ran."
EDDIE CHEEVER JR.: "It was a hard race. I dropped back in the
beginning, then the car started coming back to me. We had some bad
luck on a couple of pit stops. The car was just a little bit slow at
the end of the front straightaway. The car handled very well. It's an
awesome place to race. Loudon is a good place for us."
ELISEO SALAZAR: "We got up to ninth very quickly. It was a long night
for us. It was like a 24 Hours of LeMAns race. The engine wasn't
working properly, then we hit Guerrero and Hamilton. That pretty much
ended our day. The car was bouncing bigtime after the accident."
DICK SIMON (Salazar's engineer): "Disappointed. We passed five cars
right off the bat. The rear roll bar got stuck. That slowed us down a
little bit. He actually ran some good laps after the accident, even
though he lost a shock in the front."
MIKE BELDEN (gasman for Jeff Gordon's Winston Cup car and fueler
tonight for #31 Greg Ray): "The biggest difference are just the open
wheels and the stock cars but it's the same when you want to win as
bad as they do. I was very impressed with their patience and
professionalism."
JIM GUTHRIE: "Finishing this one is like a victory. My back was
hurting after the first pit stop. My shoulders had fallen asleep by
the second pit stop and my hands have been asleep for I don't know how
long. I told my crew that it only hurt when I breathed so I tried not
to breathe."
AFFONSO GIAFFONE: "I'm really happy to be able to finish. We have a
new crew for this one. I'm leaving to test tomorrow for the first time
in Loudon."
STEPHAN GREGOIRE: "We had a big problem because the car was too
low. We set it up too low so it was touching the track all the time
and heating up the car. But I did finish."
KENNY BRACK: "I ran pretty well. We had understeer over the bumps and
the shock absorber adjustment was wrong and we didn't have time to fix
that in the pits."
MARCO GRECO: "I felt the car was pretty good. We had understeer. The
last lap, I was in front of Gregoire and was making ground when I got
a guy a little in Turn 1. I'm happy...I think we're progressing with
the team. This is the second time we finished this year. I'm looking
forward to the next race."
--The fastest lap of the race was by Billy Boat on Lap 9 at 213.506
miles an hour.
--The fastest leading lap was by Buddy Lazier on Lap 82 at 212.089.
BILLY BOAT: "When I first passed him (Lazier), it was in traffic. I
thought I might be able to hold him off but we picked up a push at the
end. After that, I really didn't have much for him." (about having
trouble passing his teammate Hamilton): "You have to use a little
extra caution when you're passing your teammate. You can imagine
A.J. wouldn't be too happy if we took each other out." (about pit
strategy): "A.J.'s been doing this long enough to know that when you
get a yellow, you've got to take advantage of it. I think we only made
one green-flag pit stop all night. We used good pit strategy and the
yellows worked in our favor." (on the crowd): I think we had a
fantastic turnout. Riding around in the Camaros before the race, all
the fans were very enthusiastic. They've got some great race fans here
and I think we put on a pretty good show for them. Tonight's show was
what open wheel IRL racing is all about."
SCOTT GOODYEAR: "As the laps wound down, we got better and better. In
the beginning, we had to battle a car that wasn't user-friendly. The
guys adjusted on it on every pit stop and got the car working pretty
good. Most of the tracks we run on are not too highly banked. And
when you come here with 24 degrees, you feel like you're on a ferris
wheel." (about getting lapped): "I wasn't going fast enough. At the
end , the car was probably good enough to get my lap back but even if
the yellow had come out, we would've had a long way to go. We also had
to conserve fuel over the final laps." (about the fans): "I noticed
one family in Turn 4 that was jumping up and down each time I went by,
so I think they were pretty excited. From a racing point of view, I
think this was the raciest event we've had. In today's racing, every
lap is a sprint lap and you have to go as hard as you can. And that's
what makes it so exciting."
NOTE: Bruton Smith was scheduled to give the starting command for the
VisionAire 500 but didn't. Scott Briggs of Apex, N.C., gave the
command instead.
***
TONY GEORGE (IRL founder): "Certainly several people out on the race
track made an impression on a lot of people's minds. Where exactly
they'll fit in in the annals of history in Charlotte. I think they
should be commended for the effort they did put on. We hope to be back
and I think they all want to come back. Some of 'em have some
unfinished business. They ran hard all night and weren't there at the
end. I'm sure they appreciate the opportunity to be here and they want
to become names in the hearts and minds of the fans in North
Carolina. I think the race fans came out to see what this was all
about and I think they got a good show. That's about as good as we can
do right now. We had close racing, had a couple of racing incidents
but it's very tough to come out and run as close as you run out here
-- it takes a lot of concentration, a lot of focus, a lot of
commitment -- with these open-wheeled cars and I'm just very proud of
the job they did and I hope the fans can appreciate that. We certainly
think this was a success and I hope Humpy and Bruton feel the same
way. I think it's a good foundation, a good base to build on."
BUDDY LAZIER: (about going into the grass): "It's not something you
want to do. It's so important to keep the momentum running. I didn't
have any choice. I didn't like it and it definitely jumped sideways
coming off there once bigtime. To me, it's just an incredible win
because my lady and I and my whole family are huge Winston Cup
fans. We always have been. To be watching races here for as long as I
can remember and then being able to come here and run in an open-wheel
format is awesome and then to be able to win, it's just
unbelieveable." (about missing Victory Lane): "I didn't know where it
was, to be honest with you. I've seen it on TV. With fireworks going
off...I know what it looks like but I didn't know where it was. That's
always the hard part, finding Victory Lane." (about the drama of
Indy-style racing): "The new format of car and motor this year really
lends itself to this close racing. We've had seven races, seven
different winners. It's tight, tight racing and you've gotta fight for
every inch. So that makes for a good show." (about the win): "We're
going to enjoy it as long as we can. We are heading up and getting
ready for next race too. Indianapolis was awesome and you party and
it's just an incredible thing because it's a dream come true to win
that one. And this is another dream come true for me. This is a real
special win for me. I really had to fight hard. I used up all the
adjustments I had inside my race car and fighting for every
inch. That's the kind that you really savor because you know you got
everything out of what you had. The crew did a spectacular job and got
me just in the right place where I needed to be for track position. We
didn't take any tires at the end, we just took fuel. We barely made
it. And that's a real sweet win when you win it by a hair."
RON HEMELGARN: "I think the race was fantastic. I think the crowd was
very, very good for our first race here. I was really worried that
Indy cars coming into NASCAR country, what was going to happen, but I
think the crowd was fantastic. I know we had 'em excited at the
end. They were all standing on their feet. To me, it means a lot. Next
week, we go to Indianapolis for the Brickyard 400. My sponsors and I
are part of Lake Speed's car. But to come here and win this race and
show the people of the South what Indy car racing is all about, it's
just wonderful.
TONY STEWART (NOTE: Stewart received therapy on his neck and shoulders
both before and after the race): "We lost our radio toward the end of
the first run. I had no communication with our pits. We had to do it
all with hand signals. It was a matter of survival out there. It was
kind of a helpless feeling. The crew did the best they could. At that
point, you're just hgolding on to do the best you can. There was no
spotter to tell you who was inside or outside of you. I was just
hanging on for dear life. To have the luck we did during the race and
still come out with the point lead, we're pretty happy."
Attendance for the VisionAire 500 was 73,039, the speedway announced.
