Next stop: Indy

Friday, April 21, 2000 | 10:51 a.m.

A shiny new trophy and approximately $150,000 in prize money aren't the only things at stake Saturday in the fifth running of the Indy Racing Northern Light Series Vegas Indy 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

The 208-lap race will serve as an important tuneup for the next stop on the Indy Racing circuit: The 84th running of the Indianapolis 500 on May 28.

After opening the season with races on mile ovals in Orlando, Fla., and Phoenix, Saturday's race will mark the first superspeedway event of 2000 and will give teams an indication of where they stand heading into the Indy 500.

"The nice thing about this race before Indy is this is the track that is the closest track to Indy," defending IRL champion Greg Ray said. "We run a speedway configuration here and this is the least-banked mile and a half track we go to, so you get some of the same similarities, same feeling (as Indy).

"This is a very good sparring session getting ready for Indy. For all the teams and drivers, it's a very good exercise to get ready for Indy."

And, as two-time Indy 500 winner Al Unser Jr. knows, it is important to carry some momentum into the Brickyard in the month of May.

"This race is right before the Indy 500 so we need to do well here," said Unser, who is making his first Indy Racing start at LVMS after spending the past 17 years in the rival CART series.

"It is very important to have a win under your belt when you go to Indy and we would like nothing more than to win (Saturday). We need to do well here because it's really important for me to go (to Indy) and do well."

Saturday's Vegas Indy 300 will get the green flag at 12:30 p.m. and will be televised live by ABC Sports. The race will be followed by a concert by rock group Smash Mouth and a 100-lap NASCAR Winston West Series race.

Unser is one of three Indy 500 winners in the field for Saturday's race, joining 1998 winner Eddie Cheever Jr. and 1996 winner Buddy Lazier; Unser won the Indy 500 in 1992 and 1994.

Unser, Ray and Cheever are quick to point out, however, that the Vegas Indy 300 is more than a test for the Indianapolis 500.

"This race carries the same amount of points that Indy carries so from a championship standpoint, it's just as important as Indy," Ray said. "This series is very, very competitive and the depth of the field will lend itself to a very exciting race."

Cheever went one step further.

"The Las Vegas circuit is a great facility which always produces some gut-wrenching, exciting racing," Cheever said. "This will be the first one and a half-mile oval that we race on with the new 3.5-liter engines.

"With the new engines, it's very important to keep your momentum up when you are passing someone. If you take your foot off the throttle, it's very hard to reaccelerate, so developing a rhythm is essential. A driver must judge his passes very carefully. Las Vegas will definitely be a challenging race."

Lazier comes to Las Vegas with the lead in the championship points standings after finishing second in the season opener and winning the most recent race at Phoenix.

Robbie Buhl, who won at Orlando and finished seventh at Phoenix, trails Lazier by 12 points in the championship.

The race also will mark the Las Vegas debut of 19-year-old Sarah Fisher, the only female to compete on a regular basis in the Indy Racing series.

Veteran driver Eliseo Salazar, in his 26th year as a professional racer, is the only former race champion entered in Saturday's event. Salazar's 1997 win in Las Vegas stands as his only victory in the Indy Racing series.

Defending race winner Sam Schmidt, a Henderson resident, was left paralyzed as the result of a testing accident in January; 1998 winner Arie Luyendyk has retired and inaugural race winner Richie Hearn, who moved to CART after the 1996 season, is currently out of racing.

* CARLSON FASTEST: Kelley Racing driver Scott Sharp posted the fastest lap during Thursday's practice sessions, turning a lap at 207.023 mph during the morning session. Bradley Racing's Buzz Calkins was second fastest at 206.068 and Sharp's teammate, Mark Dismore, was third at 206.013. Al Unser Jr. was eighth fastest at 205.558. ... Sam Schmidt won the pole for last year's race with a lap of 209.465 mph, but with a 4-liter engine. Indy Racing cars switched to 3.5-liter engines this season.