Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Cleared to race, Rice eager to get behind the wheel

Wednesday, June 8, 2005 | 9:04 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.

Buddy Rice, the 2004 Indianapolis 500 winner who was unable to defend his title last month due to a practice crash, will return to the cockpit of his Rahal Letterman Racing Honda/Panoz this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway.

Rice suffered a minor concussion and torn neck ligament in a May 11 crash during practice for the Indy 500 and was not cleared by Indy Racing League doctors to qualify or race at Indy. Late last week, Rice was cleared to race in Saturday's IRL event at Texas Motor Speedway.

"I am ready to get back in a car," Rice said. "It has been a long few weeks."

Rice had to sit and watch Kenny Brack -- the man Rice replaced in the No. 15 Rahal Letterman Racing entry -- qualify and race the car last month at Indy.

"I have to admit it was pretty frustrating on race day not being able to defend my Indy title, but I understand the decision the doctors made was for my own good," Rice said. "The team did a fantastic job while I was sidelined. Rahal Letterman Racing had two cars finish in the top four at Indianapolis; that is a successful end to any month of May."

Brack suffered a mechanical malfunction midway through the Indy 500 and finished 26th, but Rahal Letterman drivers Vitor Meira (second) and Danica Patrick (fourth) battled for the race win.

Rice had climbed to 11th in the IRL standings after his third-place finish at Twin Ring Motegi in April, but missing Indy dropped him to 14th going into Saturday's Bombardier Learjet 500 in Texas.

"We are outside of the top 10 in points right now," Rice said. "It has been a tough start to the season, but my focus hasn't changed; I just want to go out and win races.

"Rahal Letterman Racing has been competitive at Texas in the past and I expect us to be right in the hunt for the victory on Saturday night. I love night racing and that big crowd at Texas should see some really great action."

DOUBLE DUTY: Jimmy Kite, who filled in for injured Paul Dana in the Indy 500, will do the same this weekend in Texas.

Dana suffered fractured vertebrae in a practice crash prior to the 500 and is missing his second consecutive race. Kite withdrew from the Indy 500 after 47 laps with handling issues on the No. 91 Hemelgarn Racing entry.

In addition to Saturday night's IRL race, Kite also will attempt to qualify for Friday night's NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at TMS in the No. 06 MRD Motorsports Chevrolet.

"It'll be an awful lot of work but it should be a lot of fun, too," Kite said. "Both the MRD and Ethanol Hemelgarn folks are excited about us trying this and the more I'm on a track, the happier I am.

"The schedule is pretty tight so I am going to be busy going from one garage to the other, jumping from the IndyCar to the Craftsman Truck and back in practice."

Kite has made two starts this season in the Truck Series and has posted finishes of 19th at Atlanta Motor Speedway and 18th at Gateway international Raceway.

JASKOL OUT: Las Vegan Matt Jaskol will not drive one of Richie Hearn's entries in this weekend's Star Mazda Series event on the undercard of the Formula One Canadian Grand Prix.

"The 70 car, which was going to be eighth on the grid, will just sit there, which is pretty disappointing," Hearn said. "We had Matt in the car, but he called at the last minute and won't be able to make it. So, we haven't had time to test anyone else."

Hearn will concentrate his effort on the team's other driver, Brian Thienes of Huntington Beach, Calif., in the 45-minute race.

Jaskol earned his first Formula BMW USA Championship victory last season at the Gilles Villeneuve Circuit in Montreal -- the site of this weekend's Canadian Grand Prix and Star Mazda Series support races.

OUTLAWS UPDATE: Sammy Swindell led all 30 laps Saturday night at Eldora Speedway and earned his second World of Outlaws main-event victory of the season.

Steve Kinser continues to lead the WoO standings and holds a 233-point lead over Craig Dollansky. Jason Meyers, Kraig Kinser and Danny Lasoski round out the top five in points.

The Outlaws will conclude the 2005 season Oct. 21-22 at the dirt track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.