Racing itch returns as Luyendyk gears up for another Indy 500

Wednesday, March 14, 2001 | 10:24 a.m.

Arie Luyendyk can remember that precise moment when he decided to end his retirement and return to racing in the Indianapolis 500.

Luyendyk had billed the 1999 Indy 500 as "Arie's Final 500" and retired to the announcing booth with ABC Sports. He was commentating on last year's 500 when it hit him.

"Last year, when I was in the announcing booth for ABC, I really enjoyed the announcing job," the two-time Indy 500 winner said during a break in testing Tuesday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. "I didn't feel out of place at most of the other races but at Indy I felt out place; I felt like I should be in the car rather than in the booth.

"Actually, that was the defining day when I said to myself 'I'm going to race at Indy again.' "

That may have been the defining moment for Luyendyk, but he admitted to having similar feelings during his Indy run in 1999, when his "Final 500" came to an unceremonious end following an accident 117 laps into the 200-lap race.

"As I was running in May in 1999, the thought crossed my mind several times that I probably was a little premature in calling it my last 500," Luyendyk said. "I probably should have kept it at where I was retiring from full-time racing and just running Indy -- that's what I probably should have announced."

Luyendyk's plan to run last year's Indy 500 was put on hold when close friend and former Treadway Racing teammate Sam Schmidt of Henderson was paralyzed from the chest down during a testing accident in January 2000. Luyendyk admitted that Schmidt's accident hit him hard.

"I think the timing for (running Indy last year) was really bad with Sam's accident. What happened to Sam really shocked me, my wife and my family. I figured it would be better to not run in 2000 considering what happened to Sam ... I guess out of respect to my immediate family.

"The tragedy that happened to Sam had a big effect on everybody so I just put the idea of running then aside."

But his love of racing -- and his love of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway during the month of May -- proved to be too great a lure for Luyendyk.

"There's always these thoughts going through your mind and you're saying, 'I like doing this and it's really cool,' " he said."The real reasons for me running again at Indy is just the fact that I love running there, I've had good success there, I like that whole event and the electricity that's in the air on race day -- it's something that can't be copied anywhere.

"I decided rather than thinking about it always and rather than saying I would like to do it, I decided that I had better just do it."

Luyendyk spent the past three days at LVMS, testing for his May return to Indianapolis, where he holds two victories (1999 and 1997), three poles and holds the track record.

"Right now, we're just here to get the cobwebs out of me," Luyendyk joked during a break in testing his Treadway Racing G Force/Oldsmobile.

It didn't take the 47-year-old Dutchman long to get back into the swing of things: He ran a fast lap of 206.5 mph Tuesday morning -- just 2 mph off Mark Dismore's qualifying mark for last year's Indy Racing League event at LVMS.

Aside from Indy, Las Vegas Motor Speedway has been one of Luyendyk's favorite tracks on the IRL circuit. He sat on the pole for the inaugural race in 1996 (his pole speed of 226.491 mph still is the track record) and won his final IRL race here in 1998.

Although the IRL isn't racing at LVMS this season, Luyendyk said the 1.5-mile superspeedway would give the Treadway Racing team a good idea of how to set up the car for this year's Indy 500.

Preparing for only one race, as opposed to the IRL's full 13-race schedule, will allow Luyendyk to spend more time with his family in Phoenix.

"For me, I've been doing this for so long that I don't really want to go through what it takes to be a full-time driver again," Luyendyk said. "You really have to dedicate all your time to it and a lot of things have to be pushed aside for it and I'm not really willing to do that anymore (but) I am willing to do it for one race.

"After Indy, I guess I can let my hair hang down again and kind of go on with my life."