Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Schmidt scrambles to prep two cars for Pikes Peak

Wednesday, June 12, 2002 | 9:38 a.m.

Brian Hilderbrand covers motor sports for the Las Vegas Sun. His motor sports notebook appears Friday. He can be reached at bh@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4089.

If it's June and the Indy Racing League is headed to Pikes Peak International Raceway, Sam Schmidt must be in scramble mode.

At this time last year, Schmidt was scrambling to find a replacement driver for Davey Hamilton, who suffered severe injuries to his feet and legs in a crash a week earlier at Texas Motor Speedway. Schmidt finally settled on fellow Henderson resident Richie Hearn as Hamilton's replacement three days before the race.

Schmidt again finds himself in a hectic situation this week as he prepares to field two cars for Sunday's Radisson Indy 225 -- and again Hearn figures in the mix.

"I'm a glutton for punishment," Schmidt said about the prospect of trying to sift through the logistics of getting two cars ready for Sunday's race. "This is almost as much of a scramble as last year. It's going to be a busy weekend, that's for sure."

Schmidt said his intention is to field the No. 99 car for Anthony Lazzaro and the No. 20 car for Hearn. Hearn replaced Lazzaro last weekend at Texas and drove the car to a ninth-place finish.

Schmidt said he had an agreement to run Lazzaro for the entire season but Grill2GO, which sponsored Hearn last month in the Indianapolis 500, requested that Hearn drive the car at Texas, which left Lazzaro on the sidelines last weekend.

"Anthony is anxious to get back in the car and show that Indy was a fluke," Schmidt said, referring to Lazzaro's failure to qualify for the 500. "We made a commitment to him at the beginning of the year to run him all year and I'm trying to make good on that."

Compounding Schmidt's frustration this week is the fact that Grill2GO has not yet confirmed it would sponsor Hearn's car this weekend.

"They've been very pleased with the coverage they've received but (additional race sponsorship) is not in their budget cycle," Schmidt said. "We're trying to twist their arm as hard as we can but I'd say the chances are about 50-50 right now."

Boesel filled in for the injured Jaques Lazier in the Team Menard entry at Indy and last weekend at Texas.

Dismore has made 53 career IRL starts and has one win, six top-five finishes and four poles.

CART reportedly is considering a plan where Ford's Cosworth Racing unit will produce turbocharged race engines, Gerald Forsythe, a team owner in CART and the company's largest shareholder, told the news service.

Forsythe supported the Cosworth plan last year and resigned from CART's board of directors after it was defeated.

Under the Cosworth proposal, its new engine would be based on the 2.65-liter turbocharged engines that are now used in the CART series.

Castroneves, the two-time Indy 500 winner, leads Marlboro Team Penske teammate Gil de Ferran by 44 points in the championship. Defending IRL champion Sam Hornish Jr. is in third place, 56 points behind Castroneves.

Other drivers nominated in the category are Jeff Gordon and Kevin Harvick (NASCAR), Michael Schumacher (Formula One) and John Force (NHRA).

Lasoski holds a 23-point lead over Kinser after 28 races while Mark Kinser is in third, 156 points behind Lasoski. The series is in Topeka, Kansas, Friday and Saturday.