Guerrero takes wheel of Foyt-Brack car
ESPN.com news services
INDIANAPOLIS -- At one time, Roberto Guerrero was
destined for greatness at the Indianapolis 500. He finished
second as a rookie to Rick Mears in 1984, was third the
following year, fourth in 1986 and was leading the race by
nearly a lap in 1987.
Guerrero stalled the car on his final pit stop and by the time
it refired, Al Unser was leading and went on to win the
Indianapolis 500 for the fourth time.
Later that season, Guerrero was testing at the Indianapolis
Motor Speedway when he slammed hard into the second turn wall.
The driver from Colombia was in a coma for 21 days.
He recovered and returned to racing but was never the same. He
achieved some success, winning the pole for the 1992
Indianapolis 500 only to spin out and crash on the backstretch
on the pace lap.
Since then, Guerrero has been a tragic figure in auto racing,
but he refused to give up. He arrived at the Indianapolis Motor
Speedway earlier this week without a ride but struck a deal with
owner A.J. Foyt late Thursday night to drive the third entry for
that team.
Guerrero is a veteran of 15 Indianapolis 500s. He took to the
track late Friday in Foyt's car, which is co-entered by Kenny
Brack, the defending champion who cannot compete this year
because he is a member of Team Rahal in CART.
Guerrero's fast lap was 219.227 miles per hour in a G
Force/Oldsmobile Aurora.
"It was awesome," he said. "I was a little itchy to get back in
the car, but after a couple of laps it felt really comfortable,
like I had been here practicing for three weeks. That is a
credit to the setup of the car. From the fifth lap on, I was
wide-open. A.J. wouldn't trim it out more because he wanted me
to just get some laps today. I'm on cloud nine."
Foyt will be assisted by Jeff Sinden and Joe Kennedy, who had
hoped to field a car for rookie Guy Smith of England but the
financing for the team did not materialize.
"Roberto has always been quick here and he has a lot of laps
here, so when I found out he was looking for a ride, I decided
to put him in my third car," Foyt said. "I've hired Jeff and
Joe to run the car. We've worked together the past couple of
years, it seems, and they have done a good job for me. They
bring in some of their own people so it doesn't stress my
regular crew who can focus on Eliseo Salazar and Jeff Ward."
Guerrero started 25th and finished 25th last year for Price Cobb
Racing.
Ouch, that hurts!
Mark Dismore, one of the favorites to earn a starting position in the first three rows, crashed in the first turn with
five minutes left in Friday's practice session.
"We were making great progress and then we made a little
mistake," said the 43-year-old driver from Greenfield, Ind.
"We went out on cold tires, in a hurry, and just got a little
anxious. The other car is just as good, so we'll work with it
in the morning and run it in the race.
"This happened to us last year, and we still ended up in the
second row."
The crash has sent his crew back to the garage to prepare the
backup car for Saturday's practice session, which begins at 9:30
a.m. ET.
"Mark is OK, but I'm sure he's disappointed about the car," said
team owner Tom Kelley. "We'll have another car ready to go for
Saturday with Mark and I'm sure Mark will have just as good a
shot at the pole in the other car as he would in this car.
"Mark is probably more worried about what he did to the car than
anything else. Mark has done a great job for us. We will go on
and give Mark a shot at the pole tomorrow."
Kelley Racing has spent a great deal of time in both the primary
and backup cars for drivers Scott Sharp and Dismore.
"The cars are identical," Kelley said. "We can have the other
cars virtually identical. We had a discussion this week that it
really doesn't matter which car we will qualify. We have been
very fortunate, but we will fix it and move on." ...
Only room for one Cheever
Eddie Cheever has decided not to put younger brother Ross into a car for the Indianapolis
500. The team will focus on Eddie Cheever's run at a second Indy
500 victory. He won this race two years ago.
"Unfortunately, we didn't find the necessary resources to field
a first-class effort for Ross," the elder Cheever said. "This
is the Indianapolis 500, it's serious business. My crash on
opening day put us a bit behind, and there is too much at stake
for all of us not to go into this fully prepared.
"Ross has done an excellent job testing for Team Cheever and
Infiniti, and he has contributed a great deal to the success of
our engine development program. Ross is a racer. I know he'll
get over this disappointment."
The younger Cheever's best lap was 216.784 mph on
Monday in the team's 1999 Dallara.
"I learned a lot through my experience testing for Team Cheever
and Infiniti, and I am very grateful for the opportunity," Ross
Cheever said. "Now it's time for me to make my own way and go
racing. I'm disappointed that it won't be with Team Cheever,
but I know that there are other opportunities out there that I
will now be able to pursue more aggressively."
Remember me? Davy Jones gets ride
Davy Jones, who suffered a serious head injury and broken neck in a crash at Walt Disney World Speedway
in 1997 and has not raced since, was named driver for Team Coulson Racing. Jones will try to qualify a 1999 G
Force/Oldsmobile.
"I am extremely pleased to have Davy on our team," said Corey Coulson, team owner. "His performance in the 1996 Indianapolis
500 was outstanding and we want to give Davy another chance in the Indy Racing League."
Jones finished second to Buddy Lazier in 1996, the first year of
the CART-IRL split.
Jones must pass a refresher test that consists of 10 laps at 210 mph or faster before he is allowed to make a
qualifying attempt, said Brian Barnhart, Indy Racing League director of operations.
