Buddy system has Lazier in IRL — for now

Friday, Jan. 10, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

As a professional race car driver, Buddy Lazier has used the high line as well as the low line to get to where he's going.

But when it comes to rival Indy car sanctioning bodies Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) and the Indy Racing League, Lazier seems to have found a unique groove -- the middle of the road.

Although he competed solely in the IRL in 1996 and won the Indianapolis 500 (the race that made the new series possible), Lazier refuses to take sides in the dispute that has polarized Indy car racing.

That's because his ultimate goal is to drive in both series.

"I don't know if it's possible and I don't know if anybody else is going to do it," said Lazier, who received a Horsepower Award during the American Auto Racing Writers and Broadcasters Association (AARWBA) banquet at Las Vegas Motor Speedway last weekend. "But I certainly want to try. If the opportunity is there in the future, I want to try again."

Lazier said were it not for the serious back injuries he suffered in a practice crash at Phoenix last spring, he might have achieved his goal in 1997. He said he was close to an agreement with two high-profile CART teams, but felt his injured back would not stand up to the duress of driving on a road course.

The CART series is contested on a mixture of oval, road and street circuits while IRL races are held strictly on ovals. Hence, Lazier plans to return for a full IRL campaign with car owner Ron Hemelgarn (although he has yet to sign a contract).

"There were a couple of different deals we were working on and one in particular that was exceptional," Lazier said of a CART assignment (one rumor had him running a limited schedule with Target/Chip Ganassi Racing as a teammate to 1996 series champion Jimmy Vasser and Alex Zanardi). "That (opportunity) made all the sense in the world.

"But really, when you look at it, I figure I've got at least 15 or 20 years of good racing ahead of me. Compromising that for one season doesn't make a lot of sense. I want to make a full recovery and look at it from there."

Lazier, 29, suggested that any driver taking sides in the CART/IRL dispute doesn't have his helmet on tight.

"I'm certainly not going to change the way things are," he said of the politics of the sport. "No individual is. But if you're a professional racing driver, you only have so long a career. It can be shortened by an accident, or you can have a long career and make a lot of money for your family. So yeah, you have to choose where you can make the most money and that's where you're going to go."

Right now, the big money is in CART, where marquee drivers such as Al Unser Jr. and Michael Andretti have guaranteed multimillion-dollar contracts. But Lazier said the money is getting better in the IRL and were it not for winning Indy, he still might be spinning his wheels with a lower echelon CART team.

Lazier spent six seasons with various under-financed CART teams before exploring the IRL opportunity. His best CART finish was a seventh in the 1992 Michigan 500.

"I think I could have been fast from the very beginning," said the son of 1981 CART rookie of the year Bob Lazier. "But there's only so many rides available that can win races. So either you don't do it or you do the best you can with what you have. For me, that meant about seven years in two- and three-year-old race cars.

"But there comes a point in your (career) when you say 'Now we've got to go win.' So it was definitely time for me to move to a program that could win."

Backmarkers

Las Vegas Motor Speedway says it finally has a date for its 1997 Indy Racing League event -- Oct. 11, under the lights. The IRL has confirmed the date (sort of), but offered no details regarding TV coverage, which has held up negotiations. For the record, Las Vegas still is listed as "TBA" on the IRL schedule. ... In another LVMS development, the on-again, off-again AMA Supercross event may be back on. Negotiations have resumed after LVMS received a better deal on the acres of dirt it will take to construct the course. ... ... UNLV grad/former backup quarterback Kenny Mayne will be in the host chair when ESPN2's RPM2Night expands from six to seven days a week with a Saturday night edition beginning Feb. 8. ... Rusty Wallace was the only driver over 188 mph (188.446) during NASCAR testing at Daytona International Speedway last weekend. ... Las Vegan Chris Trickle started from the poll and finished fifth in last weekend's NASCAR Featherlite Southwest Tour season opener at Tucson, Ariz. M.K. Kanke took a flag-to-flag victory in the televised event. ... The long-awaited Nissan Infinit Indy Racing League engine finally hit the track this week, as Mike Groff completed 13 shakedown laps at Walt Disney World Speedway. Groff's session was cut short by a leaky gearbox. ... Former Formula One and Indy-car rivals Emerson Fittipaldi and Derek Daly have joined forces in a new "gentleman's racing series." Daly's Las Vegas Motor Speedway-based Speedcentre will serve as training ground for the Venturi Cup Series, designed to offer "gentlemen" a cost-effective means of racing, with no personal or mechanical involvement beyond driving. Fittipaldi tested the purpose-built Venturi race car at LVMS last weekend. ... RC Cola will be the co-primary sponsor on the Kmart Kranefuss-Haas Racing No. 37 Winston Cup Ford to be driven by Jeremy Mayfield. ... Motorola will be the primary sponsor on Mark Blundell's PacWest Racing Group CART entry in 1997.

RON KANTOWSKI is a Las Vegas SUN sports writer. His motor sports column appears Fridays. He can be reached on the Internet at Ron@lvsun.com

BUDDY LAZIER, shown here gearing up for a practice run at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, refuses to choose sides in the CART/IRL dispute.

R. MARSH STARKS / STAFF