Columnist Jimmy Vasser: Expectations high for Brickyard

Jimmy Vasser

Monday, May 6, 2002 | 10:46 a.m.

Editor's note: Jimmy Vasser of Las Vegas is bidding to start his seventh Indianapolis 500. This is the first in a series of columns he will write for the Sun leading up to the race.

It's the month of May and it's the biggest race in the world -- the Indy 500. Obviously, you are excited and there's a lot of anticipation, but there's a lot of work to be done, too.

The smart guy probably thinks that he's more prepared going in right now. But you have to keep your eye on the ball and not get off track. I don't think that there's a guy on our Miller Lite team that doesn't have a little skip in his step or her step. We're all excited to be back at Indy.

I know that our team owners Bobby (Rahal, 1986 Indy 500 winner) and Dave (Letterman, Indy native and first-time Indy 500 owner) are extremely pumped up about coming back to Indy. Bobby hasn't been here in seven years and Dave has never owned a car in the Indy 500. You can imagine his excitement after coming to the Indy 500 each year as a kid.

This year's race is scheduled for May 26.

The important thing for the team and me is to keep ourselves on the ground and to keep focused on things that we need to do, which is the race.

I think with the work that the Rahal/Letterman team has done with running the race at California Speedway (on March 24 when we finished ninth) and a couple of tests at Indianapolis, I think we've got a pretty good idea where we're at and I think we've achieved all of the things that we wanted to achieve going into this month.

You can psych yourself out here through the month. You run so many laps and days here at Indianapolis that you try every combination with the chassis, the engine and the wings. And, to be honest, you can just out-think yourself here.

There is so much tradition and history at this place and every driver dreams of winning the Indy 500. The whole month can be draining on everybody's mind. It's not just for the driver; it's the crew and the entire team. By race day, you're just ready to get out of the place. But of course, you want to take that coveted Borg Warner Trophy home.

I have to tell you that I've run here at Indy six times and I have been fourth twice. That's really nice, but I'm after one place this time and that's first place.

I've led the race on several occasions and I want to lead that last lap this time. So we have just started the long trek to get to our goal. But if you can win the Indy 500, all of the hard work is worth it.

On Sunday, we took the Miller Lite cars -- both the backup and the primary -- out and put them through a couple of runs just to get the feel of the car and the track.

Emotions run high on the first day at the Speedway and it is good to get a few laps under your belt. It has been several weeks since we last tested here. Based on our experience at Fontana and from testing here previously, I think today we can begin building on what we have learned so far.