Schmidt takes Indy challenge in Texas

Tuesday, June 3, 1997 | 11:32 a.m.

It will be another week of firsts for the Indy Racing League at the new Texas Motor Speedway this week.

Saturday's True Value 500K (6:30 p.m. on ESPN2) will mark the first time Indy cars have raced at night as well as the first time they have run on high-banked turns (24 degrees) favored by NASCAR Winston Cup cars. Wednesday night's qualifying also will be a first -- in addition to three hot laps a timed pit stop will figure in the equation.

But unfortunately for Henderson's Sam Schmidt, it won't be the first time he goes into an IRL race not totally prepared.

"We've only got one motor -- same old crap," said Schmidt, who made it through the entire month of May at Indianapolis with just one engine, only to have it blow prior to the green flag on the second of three race days last week.

Schmidt said the engine that expired at Indy was rebuilt and being finished Monday. However, he said it takes a minimum of two engines to mount a serious effort at a demanding track such as TMS.

But at least he'll have one. Schmidt said his Blueprint Racing teammate Jim Guthrie, who blew his only remaining engine at Indy, had nothing as of Monday.

"It would be nice to run the proper amount of practice," Schmidt said about having to preserve his equipment. "It's more a matter of parts being available than anything else."

The IRL adopted new cars and engines this season, and suppliers of the normally aspirated Oldsmobile and Nissan V-8 engines simply haven't been able to keep up with the demand.

There were significant reliability problems during the IRL's first two races at Orlando, Fla., and Phoenix, although many of those seemed to be resolved at Indy, where 13 of the 35 starters still were running at the finish.

Schmidt, however, wasn't among them. He was so demoralized by not getting to run a single lap at speed that he didn't even stay around to watch the rain-delayed 500.

"It was a huge disappointment," he said. "The team worked really hard to overcome a lot of adversity ... and to run a really quick qualifying time. I thought we had a good car and as good a chance as anybody to stay on the lead lap. To not even take the green flag ... "

Schmidt didn't need to finish the sentence.

"It can only get better from here," he said.

Schmidt, who drove the Blueprint/HOPE Prepaid Fuel Card Dallara-Aurora to a 10th-place finish in his only previous IRL race, at Phoenix, is one of two local drivers entered at Texas. Davey Hamilton, a member of the Las Vegas Motor Speedway operations team, will be trying to improve on his sixth-place finish at Indy in the A.J. Foyt PowerTeam Racing G Force.