Late deals put drivers in Indy lineup

Steve Herman

Tuesday, May 23, 2000 | 2:52 a.m.

INDIANAPOLIS - Sometimes those last-minute, closed-door deals work out better than anyone might expect.

Raul Boesel, Lyn St. James and Steve Knapp all showed up without a car for the Indianapolis 500. All of them will be in the lineup on Sunday.

Jimmy Kite wrecked one car but qualified another his team bought from Ganassi Racing. He'll start the race on Sunday, too.

So will Billy Boat, who trashed one car, couldn't find enough speed in another and finally switched teams to qualify one of A.J. Foyt's backup.

"This place is getting tougher and tougher," said Boesel, who took over a Treadway Racing car originally entered with no driver listed. "There are good teams, good drivers and good equipment, very competitive."

Boesel, whose best finish in 11 previous starts at Indianapolis was third in 1989, qualified at 222.113 mph and will start the race on Sunday from the outside of the eighth row.

"I have been close to winning this race several times. It is history to me," he said. "You really need to be prepared. It doesn't matter where you start.

"My main concern from the back is the start, not to make any mistakes and not be in the wrong place at the wrong time," Boesel said.

St. James, the 1992 rookie of the year, missed the race the past two years and secured last-minute sponsorship that gave her a spot with Dick Simon Racing. She is the second-slowest qualifier, at 218.826, and will start from the middle of the last row.

"The last two years is something I would not want anyone to go through," she said. "I know what it's like to be on the board and to get bumped. I am elated."

Knapp, the 1998 rookie of the year, landed a ride with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing and qualified a new car that had never been driven until Sunday. Knapp hadn't driven since last July, when he injured his neck in a race at Atlanta.

"It's a lot of therapy getting back," said Knapp, who had a bone graft in his neck. It really hit home with my wife and son. They gave me their blessing to come back."

Knapp qualified on the outside of the ninth row, six rows behind teammate Robbie Buhl.

Kite will start on the inside of the ninth row, and Boat on the inside of the 11th row.

Like Knapp, Boat had never driven the car until Sunday.

"That car had never turned a wheel. It had never turned a lap," Boat said. "It was actually like a shakedown run. I really have to give a hand to the A.J. Foyt crew."

Boat originally was to drive for Team Pelfrey. After he crashed his car, someone suggested he talk to Foyt, his car owner the past three years.

"I came down to A.J.'s garage and said, 'Hey, what do you have going?"' Boat said. "It means a tremendous amount to me. A.J. and I have always had a great relationship. We didn't really part ways for any particular reason. We just weren't going anywhere."

Boat, then driving for Foyt, started from the pole in 1998 and finished third last year, behind then-teammate Kenny Brack and Jeff Ward. Brack joined former winner Bobby Rahal's CART team this season, while Ward, a former Indy rookie of the year, qualified on the outside of the second row.

The track is closed until race day on Sunday except for a final two-hour practice Thursday.