Henderson’s Schmidt sixth fastest at Indy

Tuesday, May 18, 1999 | 10:30 a.m.

Henderson resident Sam Schmidt was among the top 10 fastest drivers Monday while Las Vegas resident Davey Hamilton kept looking for speed during the third day of practice for the 83rd Indianapolis 500 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Schmidt was sixth fastest among the 39 drivers on the track Monday with a lap of 220.448 mph in the Unistar Auto Insurance/G-Force/Oldsmobile Aurora V8.

Pleased with his lap in gusty conditions, Schmidt said, "Our expectations are pretty high. We went 220 in a pretty stiff wind. ... We found out the setup we had will not work on race day. Our program is to go out at 11 a.m. every day with a full load of fuel and run it down."

Hamilton was more frustrated by windy conditions Monday and could only muster a fast lap of 216.82 mph in the Galles Racing Spinal Conquest Dallara/Oldsmobile Aurora V8.

"This turned out to be a nothing day," said Hamilton. "I got sideways twice at 204 mph because of the heat and wind gusts. The crew tried changing some things but we didn't really learn anything about the cars today."

For the third consecutive day, Greg Ray turned in the fastest lap at 224.843 mph and was followed by rookie John Hollansworth Jr. at 221.669 mph and defending Indy Racing League champion Kenny Brack at 221.282 mph.