Race day will be time to focus on strategy

Friday, May 28, 1999 | 10:44 a.m.

Editor's note: Sam Schmidt of Las Vegas will start seventh in Sunday's 83rd running of the Indianapolis 500 in the Unistar Auto Insurance G Force for Treadway Racing. This is another in a series of columns he is writing for the Sun in conjunction with the race.

INDIANAPOLIS -- For many, it's time to go into "race mode." But I don't do anything really special as the hours count down to the race. I try to get a fair amount of sleep. Actually, the morning of the race, I try to keep myself pretty busy. I'm not into any type of mental meditation or anything like that.

If I have dead time, I just start thinking about the race and there's no way to predict what 32 other guys are going to do. There's not anything you can do about it when the green flag drops except drive it.

I have friends from California and the Midwest coming in for the race. My parents, Marv and Judy Schmidt, just moved to Las Vegas two weeks ago and they're here. There'll be a pretty large contingent getting together to watch it on TV from Central Christian Church in Las Vegas. My cousins who live there will be part of the church group.

The race?

It's safe to say that Greg Ray and Robby Gordon will be the "rabbits." If my teammate, Arie Luyendyk, leads the first lap from the pole, he'll be very tough to pass. Should Ray get the jump, though, he'll definitely be the rabbit.

I plan to take it easy. I think we've got a great race car so I'm going to feel it out. If I have the opportunity to make a clean pass, I will. Otherwise, we'll attempt to run a race pace that's competitive with whoever's leading the race.

We're basically going to try to develop the car over the course of the race so we're in a position to go for the win at the end. But you have to stay out of trouble on the track, not make mistakes in the pits and pray you don't have mechanical difficulties. And if you're still on the lead lap, you have a shot to win it.

We were fastest in practice on Carburetion Day.

I just heard that I was 60-1 at the Las Vegas sports books.

That's a pretty good bet.