Friday, Aug. 31, 2001 | 9:06 a.m.
Brian Hilderbrand covers motor sports for the Sun. Reach him at [email protected] or 259-4089.
The revolving door at Sam Schmidt Motorsports continues to spin.
One week after running Alex Barron in the No. 99 Dallara/Oldsmobile, Schmidt announced this week that fellow Henderson resident Richie Hearn would drive the car in Sunday's Indy Racing League event at Chicagoland Speedway. It will mark the second time this season that Hearn has driven for Schmidt.
Hearn, 30, drove for Schmidt at Pikes Peak International Raceway in June, after regular driver Davey Hamilton suffered severe foot and leg injuries in a crash a week earlier at Texas Motor Speedway. Hearn qualified 15th and finished ninth in the race.
Schmidt then hired Jaques Lazier to drive for the remainder of the season, but Lazier quit the team two weeks ago to drive for Team Menard. Schmidt hired Alex Barron to drive the car last Sunday at Gateway International Raceway.
Hearn, who earlier this month signed as a test driver for Bradley Motorsports, will only drive this weekend for Schmidt; Anthony Lazzaro, who competed last Sunday in a second car fielded by Schmidt, will drive the No. 99 car in the IRL season finale at Texas Motor Speedway.
"There aren't many teams that have had five drivers in a single year," Schmidt said. "It has been an interesting year but as we round out the season, I am happy to have both Richie and Anthony in the seat."
Schmidt said Hearn's recent test for Bradley at Chicagoland Speedway was a factor in his decision to put the former CART driver in the car this weekend.
"Richie did a great job for us in Pikes Peak," Schmidt said. "Given his testing opportunity in Chicago, I wanted to give him the chance to demonstrate his capabilities as a winning driver."
Hearn has one IRL victory to his credit. He won the inaugural IRL race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 1996 while driving for Della Penna Motorsports.
"I am obviously excited to have this opportunity," Hearn said. "The testing that I was able to do with Bradley Motorsports will help me out a lot. The last time I raced on a 1.5-mile track was the first time I won in Las Vegas.
"I'm really looking forward to running up front with Sam and his guys and getting the solid finish like we had in Pikes Peak. Since I have no other plans at this time, getting the good finish will be important as we head into next season."
Jim Hunter, a NASCAR vice president, told CNNSI.com on Wednesday that it was "not realistic" that the sanctioning body would give its approval of the device in time for it to be used this season. Hunter said if NASCAR were to approve the energy-absorbing bumper, it likely would have to be a requirement on all cars.
"It is part of the car," Hunter said. "So, I think you'd have to have it on every car. It's a weight; it's an addition to the car."
Lew, president of Las Vegas-based Lew Composites, reportedly has invested more than $2.5 million in the project. He told the Sun earlier this month that he hoped interested Winston Cup teams could start using the device in September.
Hunter said NASCAR received the testing data on the "Humpy Bumper" Tuesday, following a public crash test in Concord, N.C., and would forward the data to its safety experts for evaluation.
"The track is really smooth -- in fact, one of the smoothest that I have ever been on," Busch said. "It feels like a combination of my hometown track, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and the other new track on the circuit, Chicagoland Speedway, but out of all three, Kansas is the most racy. This track also seemed to be fairly forgiving, and for us rookies that's always a plus.
"The track is pretty much like glass and I'm just really looking forward to racing there in September."
The Winston Cup Series will make its inaugural visit to Kansas Speedway on Sept. 30.
Conquest Racing, which has competed in the Dayton Indy Lights series for the past five years, will field a Dallara/Oldsmobile for 28-year-old Frenchman Laurent Redon, a former Formula One test driver.
Racing Professionals will field a G Force/Oldsmobile for 27-year-old American Jon Herb, who also owns the team.
The Southern California Super Eliminator Association will make its second visit of the season to The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Saturday night. Gates open at 4 p.m. ...
The seldom-used half-mile dirt track at LVMS will host the CarQuest Western Dirt Late Model Tour season finale on Sept. 29. The California Lightning Sprints will share the bill with the Late Models.
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