Tracy roars into Indy field

Monday, May 20, 2002 | 10:55 a.m.

Paul Tracy of Las Vegas qualified at 228.117 mph Sunday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and will compete in his first Indianapolis 500 since 1995.

Driving the Team Green 7-Eleven Dallara/Chevrolet, the 33-year-old driver expressed relief after finally making the 33-car field for Sunday's 86th running of the 500.

"We've had a big struggle the past few weeks, but we finally got the car right," Tracy said. "I haven't been here since 1995 so I'm happy to be in the show.

"We had a lot to learn, with new cars, new engines. We may have underestimated the competition the last couple days here. We finally got some good speed by ourselves and we finally figured these cars out, with help from some other people."

Tracy's fourth and final qualifying lap of 228.083 was his fastest Sunday.

Meanwhile, Las Vegas-area car owners Sam Schmidt and John Zimmerman figured heavily in the drama of the final day of qualifications for the 500.

"It's mixed emotions," Schmidt, a Henderson resident, said after seeing driver Mark Dismore qualify at 227.096 Sunday but realizing that rain prevented Jimmy Kite from making a qualifying attempt in a Schmidt-sponsored, PDM Racing-owned car.

Dismore will start his seventh 500 from 33rd (last) position. Richie Hearn of Henderson will start from the 22nd spot in a Sam Schmidt Motorsports car.

Kite, who replaced regular Sam Schmidt Motorsports driver Anthony Lazzaro, was the first car in the qualifying line when rain cut short the final qualifying day by more than two hours.

"I'm ecstatic to have two cars in the field but we thought Mark would be more solid," Schmidt said. "I know the PDM team is heartbroken because they really had the speed late in the afternoon. They could have gotten it in the field."

Earlier, Kite attempted to qualify but a faulty clutch forced the team to make repairs and place the car in the qualifying line again.

Billy Roe qualified the Zimmerman-owned Zali Racing car at 212.283 to become the 33rd car to be qualified for the race.

Ironically, the car was bumped twice from the field, once by the qualifying run of George Mack and then by Michael Andretti, whose car owner Barry Green withdrew their previously qualified car so a backup car could be qualified at 228.713.

"I thought we could pull it off, but we needed the rain to happen right after we qualified," Zimmerman said.

John de Vries of Las Vegas was replaced on Saturday by Scott Harrington in the Brayton Racing entry; Harrington did not qualify for the race.

Two-time Indy 500 winner Arie Luyendyk was the fast qualifier Sunday at 228.848 among nine drivers who filled the 33-car field.

Las Vegas-area drivers who qualified on May 11 include two-time 500 winner Al Unser Jr., starting 12th, and Jimmy Vasser, starting 19th.

The front row for the 86th running of the Indianapolis 500 consists of pole sitter Bruno Junqueira in the Target Chip Ganassi Racing G Force/Chevrolet at 231.342, in the middle will be Robbie Buhl in the Team Purex/Aventis/Dreyer & Reinbold Racing G Force at 231.033, and on the outside is Raul Boesel's Menards /Johns Manville Dallara/Chevrolet at 230.613.

Final practice, known as "Carburetion Day," is on Thursday.