Local drivers Schmidt, Hamilton shine at Indy

Monday, May 18, 1998 | 10:57 a.m.

Sam Schmidt of Henderson continued his surprising month at Indianapolis Motor Speedway by qualifying on the outside of the second row for next Sunday's Indy 500.

Schmidt will be joined in the field for the 82nd running of auto racing's premier event by Las Vegan Davey Hamilton, who qualified for his third Indy 500 and will start in the middle of the third row.

"We're real happy," Schmidt said after averaging 219.982 mph over four laps Saturday and posting the sixth-fastest average qualifying speed. "There was probably a little more in the car but we've just been working on our race setup all week and didn't really have any time to get any more out of it.

"We were pretty confident in the car now and we kind of knew exactly where it was in relationship to everybody else. We had determined before I even went out that if my first lap was over 219, we were just going to take it and run because I knew the average was going to be close to 220. I knew as hot as it looked for the rest of the day ... we would wind up either being sixth, seventh or eighth."

Schmidt, owner and driver of the Best Western Gold Crown Dallara/Aurora, was the fifth driver to attempt to qualify on Saturday and briefly sat on the pole. At one point, Schmidt and Hamilton had the fifth- and sixth-fastest times. But late qualifying runs by Scott Sharp and Greg Ray bumped Hamilton into the third row.

Schmidt was the first driver to qualify for the 1998 Indy 500 with a lap in excess of 220 mph and the first to better 1997 pole winner Arie Luyendyk's four-lap average of 218.263.

"All week we've been basically in the top 10 every time we've ran and inevitably two or three people in that top 10 have problems on qualifying day or they choose the wrong time of day," Schmidt said. "That's exactly what happened: we had a top-10 time but Arie had a problem and a couple of other people had a problem so before you know it, we're sixth."

While several teams opted to wait for cooler temperatures later in the afternoon, Schmidt said his team elected to qualify Saturday morning.

"At that point, we knew it was going to be a hot day (so we were) either going to go out when there's not a whole lot of pressure and get it over with or you put a lot of pressure on yourself at the end of the day," he said.

"We didn't want to stand around all day and watch everybody else so we just did it. We're real happy ... if you can't go for the pole, the second row is great. The view up there is a heck of a lot better than it is in back."

Last year, in his first Indianapolis 500, Schmidt qualified 23rd in the 33-car field while driving for Blueprint Racing. His car developed engine problems after a parade-lap accident in which he was not involved and he took his car to the garage without completing a green-flag lap.

"What a difference a year makes," Schmidt said. "I wish I had another shot at rookie of the year."

One of the biggest differences this year, Schmidt said, is that Indy 500 veteran Gary Bettenhausen has worked with him as a team advisor. Schmidt said Bettenhausen's input has been invaluable.

"He has basically allowed us to complete the package," Schmidt said. "We had a good package with the car and (team manager) Larry Nash and our communication had been improving so just having another person to bounce ideas off of is just a big advantage.

"We drove around the track in a rental car quite a bit the first day we worked together and he showed me a lot of things, a lot of the idiosyncrasies of the track and it was very good for us, real good. Gary Bettenhausen has done everything but drive this car."

Hamilton, a two-year resident of of Las Vegas, qualified for his third Indianapolis 500 Saturday with a surprising four-lap average speed of 219.749 mph. His speed in the Nienhouse Motorsports G Force/Oldsmobile Aurora V8 was faster than he had practiced during the week.

"I like to step it up when I qualify," Hamilton said, after reeling off two laps in excess of 220 miles an hour. "I was surprised with 220, but I knew if I gassed it some more, I would wind up in a crash. I was safe, not sorry."

Hamilton's first two laps were 220.027 and 220.372 miles an hour before he tailed off to 219-plus.

"I got into Turn 1 too hard on that third lap, lifted (throttle) late and developed a momentary push. Then on the final lap, I lifted in the fourth turn because I turned into it too early," Hamilton said.