Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Carpentier finds IRL more intense than Champ series

Wednesday, March 16, 2005 | 9:49 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.

After one race, Patrick Carpentier said his move from the Champ Car World Series to the rival Indy Racing League has been everything he anticipated -- and more.

Carpentier, a Las Vegas resident, qualified 19th for the season-opening Toyota Indy 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway but piloted his Red Bull Cheever Racing Toyota to a seventh-place finish in his IRL debut.

"It was definitely more exciting than what I thought it was (going to be)," Carpentier said. "I knew it was close racing and we're really close to one another, but I never thought it would take that much focus to run side by side like that, but it's pretty exciting, actually

"I'll tell you that I had a really good time. I really enjoyed the race and there were a few close calls, but I guess there always are at every event."

Carpentier, who earned five victories during his eight-year Champ Car career, said the side-by-side racing that is the hallmark of the IRL took more of a physical and emotional toll on him than he had expected.

"Normally, at the end of a race, I stay out until two o'clock in the morning because I'm still excited and stuff like that," Carpentier said. "But with this one, it demanded so much energy and so much focus that by the time 10 o'clock arrived, I was drained out and tired.

"My wife said after the race that I looked very different, very alert, when I came out of the car compared to before. But you have no choice; you have to be extremely alert and be aware of what's going on around you all the time."

The IRL is in Arizona this weekend for Saturday's XM Satellite Radio Indy 200 at Phoenix International Raceway.

PATRICK CLEARED: Danica Patrick, who suffered a concussion in a multi-car accident during the IRL season opener, has been cleared by league doctors to drive in Saturday's race at Phoenix International Raceway.

Patrick, who drives for Rahal Letterman Racing, was in 10th place when Kosuke Matsuura spun in front of Tomas Scheckter and triggered an eight-car pileup. Patrick made contact with Ed Carpenter while trying to avoid the wreck and made hard contact with the track's SAFER barrier.

MILESTONE RACE: Scott Sharp, the lone remaining active driver from the inaugural IRL season, is scheduled to make his 100th career start Saturday at PIR.

Sharp is the only driver to have competed in every season since the IRL's inception in 1996, has started 99 of a possible 104 races and holds the IRL record with 91 consecutive starts.

"It is hard to believe that it will be 100 races this Saturday," Sharp said. "Literally, it feels like half of that. At the same time, it has been really exciting to see the growth that the IRL has experienced and the level of competition it has reached."