Hometown racer wins Vegas.com 500 in dramatic fashion

Sunday, Sept. 26, 1999 | 4:14 a.m.

Las Vegas resident Sam Schmidt passed Kenny Brack with two laps remaining and held on to win the Pep Boys Indy Racing League Vegas.com 500 Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

It was Schmidt's first victory in the IRL and vaulted the 35-year-old from 12th to third place in the series standings, 30 points behind Greg Ray, with one race remaining.

Ray had a chance to clinch the championship in Las Vegas, but dropped out the race just past the midway point and finished 21st.

Schmidt, who led 15 of the first 27 laps, fell to sixth place after stalling his Sprint PCS G-Force/Aurora in the pits on the first round of stops.

"I screwed up on the first pit stop and stalled the car," Schmidt said. "I didn't think we'd ever be able to come back. I knew we had the car to beat all day, it just took us a while to get back up there and contend for the victory."

Brack's second-place finish, combined with Scott Goodyear's 25th-place showing, allowed the defending IRL series champion to move into second place in the points standings, 13 points behind Ray.

Goodyear took himself out of the championship battle when he crashed his Pennzoil G-Force/Aurora hard into the turn-four wall on lap 48. Goodyear suffered only a bruised left knee in the accident.

Robbie Buhl, who started 21st, finished third, followed by Scott Sharp and Buzz Calkins.

Robby McGehee, Jaques Lazier, Stephan Gregoire, Tyce Carlson and Jeff Ward rounded out the top 10.

There were 11 lead changes among five drivers, with Brack leading 118 of the 208 laps. There were 11 caution periods for 70 laps.

Two drivers were injured in accidents during the race. Ronnie Johncox suffered a minor fracture of his left foot and Donnie Beechler was taken by ambulance to a local hospital complaining of neck and chest pains after hitting the turn-four wall on lap 124.