Vegas Indy 300 notebook: Hearn has a ticket to ride — in the Indy 500

Monday, April 24, 2000 | 9:56 a.m.

Richie Hearn spent the past month looking for a job after losing his ride with Della Penna Motorsports in the CART FedEx Championship Series.

When he finally found one, it was better than he could have hoped for.

Hearn, a Henderson resident, has been hired by Pagan Racing to drive the team's Dallara/Oldsmobile in next month's Indianapolis 500.

"They kind of called me out of the blue," Hearn said. "They were the only team that called me and I'm really excited about the opportunity."

Hearn will focus solely on running the 84th Indianapolis 500 for Pagan Racing, and will not compete in any other Indy Racing events after the 500, he said.

"I want to do some other things, I want to run some (NASCAR) Busch Series races and a lot of other different stuff to kind of give me idea what I want to do down the line," Hearn said.

"I want to focus on winning the Indianapolis 500 right now and once the month of May is over, I'll see what happens."

Pagan Racing has competed at the Indianapolis 500 every year since 1993 and has never failed to qualify for the race. In seven starts, the team has posted two top-five finishes, including a second-place finish with Jeff Ward last year. Hearn competed in one other Indianapolis 500, finishing third with Della Penna Motorsports in 1996.

* BIG BOOST: Indy Racing League founder and president Tony George gave Al Unser Jr. a big hug after the 38-year-old driver earned his first IRL victory Saturday in the Vegas Indy 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

"Al's a proven champion, so it's good to have him back in victory lane," George said. "He's only 38, so he has a heck of a career left ... he's not finished by any means.

"(The win is) important for him and it's important for the league."

* LOFTY GOALS: Unser said that the Vegas Indy 300 was a critical race for him in terms of picking up momentum heading into the Indianapolis 500.

Now that he will go to Indy with a win under his belt, Unser outlined his goals for the 500.

"Right now the strategy is to go there and sit on the pole, lead every session, lead every day and win the race," Unser said.

"I like that strategy," team owner Rick Galles said.

* NEW LEADER: Robbie Buhl regained the lead in the IRNLS driver standings with his fifth-place finish Saturday.

Buhl led in points after winning the season opener in Orlando, Fla., then dropped to second following Buddy Lazier's win last month in Phoenix. Lazier finished 22nd Saturday when a broken fuel pump ended his day after 65 laps. Buhl holds a 10-point lead over Lazier, 108-98, after three races.