Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Yasukawa relishes chance to race for Team Rahal

Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2004 | 9:15 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.

Team Rahal will field a car for second-year driver Roger Yasukawa in two Indy Racing League IndyCar Series races -- including the Indianapolis 500 -- this season, team owner Bobby Rahal announced Tuesday.

As a rookie, Yasukawa, from West Hollywood, Calif., posted eight top-10 finishes in 16 starts with Super Aguri Fernandez Racing and finished second in the Rookie of the Year battle. His best finishes were a pair of seventh-place efforts, at Kansas Speedway and California Speedway, and he took 10th in his inaugural Indy 500 start.

Yasukawa will drive a second Team Rahal G Force/Honda in the April 17 race at Twin Ring Motegi, Japan, and the May 30 Indianapolis 500.

"Being able to run the Indy Japan and Indy 500 with Team Rahal is a fantastic opportunity for me and I really want to thank Honda for helping me put the deal together," Yasukawa said. "Last year was a learning year for me. Now this year I must challenge to win races.

"Team Rahal and Honda will have a strong package for me. I was very impressed with the team after my first visit last week. Obviously, Team Rahal has a first-class operation and I am hoping to learn a lot from Bobby's (Rahal) experience as a former Indy 500 winner."

Yasukawa will team with fellow American Buddy Rice, who is filling in for injured Team Rahal driver Kenny Brack, at Twin Ring Motegi. Brack, who is recovering from injuries he suffered in a crash in the IRL season finale at Texas Motor Speedway in October, has tentatively set this year's Indy 500 for his return to racing.

"Adding Roger to our lineup for Motegi and Indy is a tremendous asset for Team Rahal," Rahal said. "Roger showed plenty of potential last year in his rookie season in the IRL and his working with Buddy and Kenny will help him and our team overall for two of the most important races for us this year.

"Kenny previously won at Motegi and Indy and he has a great knowledge of those tracks that can assist both Roger and Buddy. Roger brings a strong professionalism and enthusiasm to our organization. His working with Honda adds to our preparation for those events."

Team Rahal plans to announce sponsorship of Yasukawa's car at a later date.

"It's almost kind of like you're still an outsider," said Hornish, who has yet to run a race with his new team after spending three years with Panther Racing. "You're kind of in between because you're not really talking to your old team and you're not really sure how everybody takes things."

Such as the first time he crashed one of the team's cars in testing.

"It's a little bit unnerving once in a while because you don't know what to say. When I crashed the car, I didn't know what to think. I hate crashing cars, but it's one of those things where (you say) geez, I wish I would have asked them 'what's your take on crashing racecars? I know it's always bad, but would you rather have the driver sometimes push a little bit too hard than always leaving a lot on the table to work with?'

"That (crashing) was the most nervous feeling so far -- and hopefully I won't go through that too many times."

Edwards qualified on the pole for the 30-minute race and led the 13-car field from flag to flag for his first auto racing victory. Edwards backed up his Saturday performance with another victory Sunday in downpour conditions.

Edwards, who graduated from the karting ranks, posted his two victories against some of the best drivers in the series, including two former Formula Dodge race winners series points leader Marco Andretti -- Michael Andretti's 16-year-old son.

According to series officials, Edwards is the youngest driver ever to compete in the 28-year history of the Skip Barber Race Series.