Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Man on Indy pole got superspeedway start in LV

Wednesday, May 15, 2002 | 10:20 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.

Indianapolis 500 polesitter Bruno Junqueira has come a long way since that January morning last year when he tested his Target/Chip Ganassi Racing Champ car on the 1.5-mile oval at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

It was Junqueira's first time on a superspeedway after spending 14 years as a road racer. It also marked the first time he hit a concrete wall at 200 miles per hour when he spun and made contact with the wall between turns three and four.

The then 23-year-old Brazilian walked away from the crash without injury but with a new love for high-speed racing.

"This is the fastest I've (ever) gone," Junqueira said after topping 214 mph during the test. "It's really completely different than everything that I did in my 14 years of racing because here, it's much faster than the road courses."

Junqueira got more comfortable with oval racing as his rookie season progressed last year. He won the pole at Nazareth Speedway in his first oval race, finished fifth in his first Indy 500 and was a late contender for the win before finishing fourth at the season-ending CART race at California Speedway.

"I just love high-speed corners and ovals are where you can find the highest speeds -- in the corners," Junqueira said. "I think I adapted quite well on the ovals ... but I had to learn how to run the race, run in traffic with the oval rules, I had to learn how to be patient, how to make a good setup for the car.

"The next thing is just experience ... and I think during the last year I started to improve, I started to do better oval races, and this year I think I'm capable, with the experience that I have, to win some races and get good results. I still have a lot to learn because it's just my second year racing ovals ... but now I have reasonable experience to do well."

He already is off to a good start in 2002. Two weeks before capturing the Indy 500 pole with a four-lap qualifying average of 231.342 mph, Junqueira sat on the pole and won the Bridgestone Potenza 500 CART race at the 1.5-mile Twin Ring Motegi in Japan -- his first victory on an oval.

"The win at Motegi was really good because in Nazareth, I proved that I can be fast and be on the pole," he said. "At Fontana, especially, I proved that I can keep it up until -- I think until five laps to go I was leading the race and I had a good chance to win that race, I was close, and then I knew that maybe I could win.

"But I think in Motegi, I proved myself and I proved that, yes, I can win an oval race. I think the good thing for me, after Motegi I realized that what I learned last year was really worth it because I learned how to set up the car, how to be patient and how to race on ovals -- that's something completely different of a road race. I was really pleased with that."

Junqueira said his patience would be put to the test on May 26 when he takes the green flag for the 86th running of the Indianapolis 500.

"For sure, I'm going to try to win the race," he said. "I won at Motegi -- that was not a long race as Indy -- but I'll try to use the same strategy that I used at Motegi and I hope (it) will do well for me.

"It's good to start from the front because you're not going to have much traffic on the early laps but I know after some laps, you going to get to the (lapped cars) and then there's going to be traffic until the end of the race. One thing that I know, I'm not going to be leading all the 200 laps. But I don't have to worry or be too desperate if I lose the first place in one situation of the race, but I have to try to keep my car in a good shape and prepare my car for the end of the race, to be in a good position.

"I would prefer to be leading the race after the last pit stop, to be in a good position, then I can try to win the race."

Beechler, who drove in nine IRL races for Foyt last season, will drive a third Dallara/Chevrolet as a teammate to Airton Dare and Greg Ray. All three drivers will be attempt to qualify for the Indy 500 on Sunday -- the last opportunity to qualify for the race.

Mark Dismore, the Sam Schmidt Motorsports driver who suffered a concussion in an accident during practice May 9, has not been cleared to drive. Dr. Henry Bock, the IRL's director of medical services, said Dismore's status would be determined after an evaluation this week.