Goodyear wins first IRL pole; earns important championship points

Mike Harris

Saturday, Aug. 26, 2000 | 2:44 a.m.

SPARTA, Ky. - A recharged Scott Goodyear boosted his Indy Racing League championship chances Saturday, narrowly winning the pole for the inaugural Belterra Resorts Indy 300 at Kentucky Speedway.

Goodyear, who announced in June he would not return to Pennzoil Panther Racing in 2001 and might be through with racing altogether, was elated after his lap of 219.191 mph on the new 1.5-mile oval nipped Eliseo Salazar's 219.067 for his first IRL pole.

"Back when I made that announcement that I wasn't coming back, I wasn't enjoying it so much," Goodyear said. "But, after having some time off between races and getting what I'd call a bit of a recharge, I came here anxious to get in the car and get back on the track."

With his enthusiasm back, Goodyear decided to make the most of his last two races with the team.

"We came here doing something we haven't done in years - concentrating on qualifying," the 40-year-old Canadian driver said. "We've been using one car to set up for qualifying and one car for setting up for the race.

"We need points right now to have a shot at the championship."

The strategy worked to perfection. Goodyear earned three points for winning the pole, moving the third-place driver within 30 of series leader Buddy Lazier and seven of runner-up Eddie Cheever Jr.

Salazar, who missed the pole by just 0.014-seconds, got two points for taking the second spot in the 27-car field. That moved him out of a tie with former series champion Scott Sharp and into sole possession of fourth place in the tight championship battle.

The Chilean driver trails Goodyear by just three points.

Defending series champ Greg Ray, who isn't in the title hunt this year but leads the series in poles with four, was sent to the rear of the qualifying line after his car failed to meet minimum ground clearance rules the first time through inspection. He was also penalized one of his two qualifying laps and still wound up third at 219.031 - a mere 0.018-seconds slower than Goodyear.

"We just didn't pass tech the first time," said Ray, who is coming off his first win of the season. "But we really set up our car to be quick on the last lap."

Sarah Fisher, the 19-year-old rookie, earned her best career start with a fourth-place run at 217.672. Her previous best start was fifth July 15 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Lazier, who had been the fastest driver in practice, qualified seventh at 216.546, while Cheever was a disappointing 15th at 215.191.

"The race setup and qualifying are two different things," Lazier said. "I wish we had chosen a different gear for qualifying, but, at the same time, I'm very happy with what we got."

Cheever, who earlier this year gave the Infiniti engine its first IRL win, was less pleased.

"Of all the racetracks this year, Kentucky has been the most difficult for us," said Cheever, one of seven different winners in as many races this season. "We've done five days of testing here, but our package is not working as well here as it has at other tracks.

"But qualifying is one thing and the race is another. I'll take the rear wing off my car, put some mayonnaise on it and eat it if Goodyear and Salazar can do those times in the race tomorrow."

Most of the drivers agreed that passing on the racetrack, with several bumpy areas and a rather narrow racing groove, would be tougher than on some of the more heavily banked ovals.

"There will be passing," Salazar said, looking ahead to Sunday's 200-lap, 300-mile race. "But I don't think you should expect a race like Texas, where we run two abreast all day."