Dismore stuffs Schmidt’s car into first-turn wall at Indy

Friday, May 10, 2002 | 9:15 a.m.

Car owner Sam Schmidt of Henderson experienced disappointment on the fifth day of practice at Indianapolis Motor Speedway as driver Mark Dismore suffered a concussion Thursday in a crash while preparing for the 86th running of the Indianapolis 500.

Dismore climbed from the badly damaged car and a medical evaluation revealed he suffered a concussion. His fast lap of the day was 226.280 mph in the Grill 2 Go Dallara/Chevrolet owned by Schmidt.

Dismore was transported to Methodist Hospital where he was to be observed overnight. Due to the concussion, Dismore will not be able to qualify this weekend for the Indy 500, according to Dr. Henry Bock, Indy Racing League director of medical services.

"Our main concern is for Mark," Schmidt said shortly after the accident. "We've got a backup car ready to go, so we were extremely well prepared from that standpoint. There's no problem with equipment, we'd just like to have Mark in the car."

Anthony Lazzaro, Schmidt's other driver attempting to qualify for the 500, continued to search for speed on Wednesday. His fastest lap of 222.603 was 33rd fastest of the day.

Among drivers from Las Vegas, Paul Tracy recorded the fastest lap of 225.513 in the Team Green 7-Eleven Dallara/Chevrolet, 19th fastest among the 40 driver-car combinations on the 2.5-mile oval.

"We went out there with everybody," Tracy said. "The car was too nervous in traffic. I wasn't able to utilize my new tires. I think we're in the middle -- not real comfortable."

Jimmy Vasser of Las Vegas continued to struggle with a fast lap of 225.163 in a backup Miller Lite/Rahal Letterman Racing Dallara/Chevrolet -- 24th fastest of the session -- and 224.742 in the team's primary car.

"We're starting to get more trimmed out with each car and squeeze a few more miles per hour out, " Vasser explained.

Rookie Indy 500 driver John de Vries of Las Vegas recorded his fastest lap of the week at 218.298 in the debut of Brayton Racing's primary Dallara/Chevrolet.

The top three speeds of the day were turned in by Tony Kanaan of Brazil at 229.503, 1999 Indy 500 winner Kenny Brack at 229.025 and defending race winner Helio Castroneves at 228.736.