Indy rained out? No problem for Schmidt

Thursday, May 18, 2006 | 8:51 a.m.

Sam Schmidt admittedly had a hard time wiping the ear-to-ear grin off his face last weekend.

As rain canceled the first two days of qualifying for the 90th Indianapolis 500, Schmidt found himself on the receiving end of some good-natured needling from Indy Racing League officials.

"Some of the series officials were blaming me for my rain dance because we pretty much got rain from Thursday on," Schmidt, a Henderson resident, said. "Our plan all along was to start practice (this Wednesday), so the rain didn't hurt us at all."

While the rain may have been a nuisance to many of the teams preparing for the May 28 race, the delay and subsequent change in qualifying procedures played right into Schmidt's hand.

Originally, the first 22 starting positions for the 500 were to be determined last Saturday and Sunday. Schmidt, who was not going to make a qualifying attempt with driver Airton Dare until this weekend, had no chance of qualifying better than 23rd. Now that all 33 positions will be set Saturday, Sam Schmidt Motorsports has a chance to better its Indy 500-best starting position of 20th, set last year with driver Richie Hearn.

"We're going to take a conservative approach and put a lot of downforce in the car and just kind of build up to speed slowly and hope to peak on Saturday," Schmidt said. "Richie really didn't have a problem running 220-plus last year and I think that would hopefully put us in the top 20 in the field.

"I don't think we realistically have a chance of qualifying in the top 10, but we would hope to qualify in the top 20, hopefully catch a few breaks in the first 100 laps (of the race) and get in the top 12 and race there the rest of the day; that's kind of the strategy."

Schmidt, who competed in three Indianapolis 500s as a driver, is entering a car in the race for the sixth year. His best finish as a team owner is sixth in 2002 with Hearn in the cockpit, although his team has won the past two Indy Pro Series races on the famed 2.5-mile track.

NASCAR Nextel Cup owner/driver Robby Gordon will attempt to defend his overall and class victories in next month's 38th annual Tecate SCORE Baja 500 desert race. The Baja 500 will be held the same weekend (June 2-4) as the NASCAR race in Dover, Del.

Last year, Gordon ran a flawless race in Baja and captured both the SCORE Trophy Truck and overall four-wheel titles with a time of 9 hours, 10 minutes, 32 seconds, and an average speed of 45.66 mph. Immediately after crossing the finish line in Ensenada, Mexico, on a Saturday afternoon, Gordon flew to Dover, where he finished 29th in the Nextel Cup race the following day.

Also noted

Consecutive NASCAR Nextel Cup Series victories at Lowe's Motor Speedway for Jimmie Johnson. No driver ever has won five in a row at the Charlotte, N.C. track.

400

The record number of race vehicles entered in next month's Baja 500 desert race.