Two local drivers endure difficult weekend

Monday, March 29, 1999 | 9:51 a.m.

PHOENIX -- A rough weekend for both Southern Nevada residents competing in the Indy Racing League ended with mixed results for Sam Schmidt and Davey Hamilton.

Schmidt, who burned up his primary car during practice Saturday and had to switch to his backup car to qualify, drove his Sprint PCS G-Force/Aurora to a ninth-place finish in Sunday's MCI WorldCom 200 at Phoenix International Raceway after starting 20th.

"It's great to finish in the top 10 because that'll move us into the top 20 in points, which is really where we need to be going into Charlotte," Schmidt said.

"But it's disappointing because we had a top-five car. We had a tire (losing air) and we were forced to pit out of sequence."

Schmidt, of Henderson, had charged from 20th to sixth by lap 81 before the tire problem forced him to pit under green. Schmidt went two laps down while changing tires and was never able to recover them on the one-mile oval.

Hamilton's engine problems Saturday gave way to handling woes on Sunday and the Las Vegas resident was forced to park his Dallara/Aurora after 31 laps. He finished last among the 27 cars that started the race.

"The motor wouldn't run all weekend and we just never had a chance to work on the chassis," Hamilton said. "We finally got the motor right but then we had handling problems.

"It kills me to park the car, but we decided instead of being in everyone's way, we'd just call it a day."

Hamilton, however, was able to look on the bright side despite slipping from eighth to 17th in the points standings.

"We just got this team together a couple weeks ago and this could still turn into a great team," Hamilton said. "This (race) is our test session, basically.

"We've got to go test and get this thing figured out. It's tough and we've still got a lot of work ahead of us."

* NO REST: Hamilton left Phoenix International Raceway following qualifying Saturday and won the Western States Super Modified Racing Association's 30-lap main event at Irwindale (Calif.) Speedway Saturday night.

Hamilton returned to Phoenix in time for Sunday's morning's final IRL practice session.

* NEW LEADER: Scott Goodyear took over the lead in the IRL point standings following his win in Sunday's MCI WorldCom 200 at PIR.

Goodyear, who finished second in the season opener in Orlando, Fla., has 93 points and has moved into first place. Jeff Ward, who took second Sunday, is second with 75 points.

Eddie Cheever, who won the season opener, finished 17th Sunday and dropped to third in the championship standings.

Schmidt is tied with Tyce Carlson for 20th.

* OUCH: Reigning IRL champion Kenny Brack suffered his second straight DNF (did not finish) Sunday at PIR after crashing with Steve Knapp on lap 47.

Brack also was involved in an accident midway through the season opener at Walt Disney World Speedway in Orlando, Fla.