Late accident paves road to Goodyear’s first IRL victory

Monday, March 29, 1999 | 9:49 a.m.

PHOENIX -- There were no pyrotechnics exploding over Phoenix International Raceway following Scott Goodyear's first Indy Racing League victory.

Instead, the fireworks erupted near the end of Sunday's MCI WorldCom 200 as Eddie Cheever and Buddy Lazier were battling for the lead and Goodyear, in third place, had the best seat in the house.

Cheever and Lazier crashed in turn three on lap 149 after the two made contact while Lazier was attempting to wrest the lead from Cheever. The two former Indy 500 winners' misfortune handed the lead to Goodyear, who held it for the remainder of the 200-lap event and posted a 4.738-second margin of victory over Jeff Ward.

"I wanted to be far enough back all throughout that event because you've got one guy out there (Cheever) who uses all the road, plus a little bit more, and he was being chased," Goodyear said.

"I thought, 'hey, this might just be like the Fourth of July, so we'll sit back and watch a little bit.' "

The win was a breakthrough of sorts for Goodyear, who is in his second year driving for Pennzoil Panther Racing. The team is owned, in part, by NFL quarterback Jim Harbaugh. It was the first win for the two-year-old Panther Racing and first for Goodyear in 21 IRL starts. He had won twice in CART before switching open-wheel series in 1996.

As far as Goodyear was concerned, the victory was long overdue.

"We gave a couple (wins) away last year," Goodyear said. "There were probably a couple of wins that we could have had last year. It's something you can talk about but it doesn't mean anything until you actually go across the line.

"I think we have matured as a team ... and there are a lot of little things that are just starting to make the difference, which is exactly what we need to do."

It also doesn't hurt when the two drivers who appear to have the fastest rides are driving as if their cars have fenders on them.

TV replays of the Cheever-Lazier tangle showed that Cheever made contact with the car driven by Scott Harrington, who had to back out of the throttle because of slower traffic, forcing Cheever up the track and into Lazier.

"I feel bad for hitting Cheever, but a slower car parked it in the groove and I got hit myself," Harrington, who finished fifth, said. "Then I hit Cheever and it was a chain-reaction thing.

"I've never been hit so many times in a race in my life."

Cheever was less diplomatic: "It's just something that happens when you're competing (but) it all can be avoided if the slower (drivers) look in their mirrors. They ruined both of our races."

The incident brought out one of eight caution periods in the race -- seven as the result of accidents. No drivers, however, were injured and only 14 of the 27 cars that started the race were running at the finish.

There were six lead changes among five drivers, with Goodyear leading 134 laps.

It proved to be a breakthrough race not only for Goodyear, but also for runner-up Ward and third-place finisher Robbie Buhl.

Ward was making his first start with Pagan Racing after switching teams following the first race of the season. Buhl is in his first season with an upstart team after spending the past two seasons with the well-funded Team Menard.

"Originally, I was going to talk with (team owner) Allan Pagan after Indy, but then my situation changed (with ISM) and fell apart," Ward said.

"Things happened quickly and we decided we needed to be (racing in Phoenix) to get some points. No points does not look good when you're trying to attract a sponsor."

Buhl, one of only three cars in the field running the Nissan Infiniti engine, was thrilled with his podium finish.

"This is very satisfying," Buhl said. "This is my first association with Infiniti ... and I think they've made a ton of progress just from Orlando to here.

"Hopefully, this finish here will give us all the more confidence, give Infiniti all the more confidence and give us momentum going into the (Indianapolis Motor) Speedway."

The 83rd Indianapolis 500 will be run on May 30, but the IRL next will visit Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte, N.C., on May 1.