Ray, Brack figure to battle for IRL title

Thursday, Jan. 14, 1999 | 6:42 a.m.

By DICK BRINSTER

AP Sports Writer

The A.J. Foyt wannabes stood and shared their modest goals, with one glaring exception.

"Hello, my name is Greg Ray, and I want to get my license and win the Indianapolis 500," a young Texan said on his first day at the SCCA driving school.

"They laughed at me," Ray remembered.

The reaction of the other students - most of whom had considerable racing experience - was appropriate considering Ray's background in the sport. He had none.

But eight years later, with two sports car championships on his resume, Ray is in position to become a star. The car he will drive this year in the Indy Racing League won the 1997 championship with Tony Stewart behind the wheel.

"Our realistic goal for '99 is to win no less than four races," Ray said. "I'll be disappointed if we don't. We have all the elements to win the championship and to win the Indy 500."

To do so, he will have to beat defending series champion Kenny Brack, whose car is owned by Foyt, a four-time Indy 500 winner and Ray's former employer.

"He's one of the smartest guys I've ever met," Ray said of Foyt. "It's going to be fun to beat him."

Brack, whose success last year has made him a celebrity in his native Sweden, said Ray and Foyt teammate Billy Boat will be very tough to beat.

Despite a background of success in European formula cars and his surprising IRL championship, Brack isn't certain what makes a winner.

"I don't really know how to succeed," he said. " But I do everything in my power not to fail."

Like Ray, Brack thinks competition and victory outweigh the monetary rewards of the sport. He had an opportunity to leave the IRL after last season, but never seriously considered it.

"Sure, I could have had another ride," he said, declining to identify who offered it. "And then I could have been somebody's backmarker."

Instead, the 32-year-old Brack figures to battle Ray, Boat, Scott Sharp and Scott Goodyear at the front.

Ray will drive for John Menard, whose charges that Foyt was receiving favorable treatment from the IRL sparked a feud last year that provided a little publicity for a circuit badly in need of some.

That could change if Ray has a big year - particularly if he wins Indy. He is handsome, articulate and easygoing - Jeff Gordon without fenders.

And like the NASCAR star, Ray isn't afraid to say what's on his mind. At times he risks creating a perception of cockiness.

"But it isn't about ego," said the 32-year-old father of two, who also manages his family's marine interests in Plano, Texas. "I don't really think about it that way.

"I'm involved in racing because I love the speed, and at the end of the day when you win a race the birds are singing in the sky. It's a feeling you can't get anywhere else."

Robby Unser has known it, but until last year mostly celebrated the triumphs of his father, uncle and cousin. Among them, the Unsers have nine Indy 500 victories and a long list of awards.

The latest was the 30-year-old Unser's rookie of the year title in the IRL. Winning the Indy 500 - the fourth of 11 IRL races - might mean more to him than any driver in the series.

"To me, Indianapolis Motor Speedway is a church," said Unser, who is temporarily sidelined while additional sponsorship is secured. "It's not a racetrack. It's holy ground. It gives me life. It's my place of spiritual growth."

He made his IRL debut last year in the Indy 500, finishing fifth. He certainly could move up this year, especially because his car owner, Eddie Cheever, won the race last year.

The Pep Boys IRL, founded by Indianapolis Motor Speedway president Tony George, is starting its fourth season since the open-wheel split with CART. The green flag will fly Jan. 24 at Walt Disney World Speedway in Buena Vista, Fla.

Aside from Indy, the IRL has suffered from a lack of identity, an issue it's addressing this year.

After handling most off-track matters in-house, the IRL has hired two agencies to boost its image and attendance. Although the Indy 500 has the largest live audience of any one-day event in the world and inroads have been made in racing hotbeds such as Atlanta and Charlotte, the IRL has not drawn well at several venues.

"We expect to step up significantly our sales, marketing and public-relations effort in 1999 to increase the awareness of the league, our teams, our sponsors and our drivers," George said.

In addition to the season-opening TransWorld Diversified Services 200 and the Indy 500 on May 24, the IRL will return to all its venues of a year ago except Loudon, N.H. That race was replaced on the schedule by a second event in Fountain, Colo.