LOOKING IN ON: MOTOR SPORTS

Thursday, May 17, 2007 | 7:09 a.m.

Number of drivers who have four Indy 500 victories (A.J. Foyt, Al Unser Sr. and Rick Mears).

Tentative Indy 500 starting position for Buddy Lazier, who is driving for team owner Sam Schmidt of Henderson.

"No, not really. My family really doesn't get along with each other that well."

Two-time Indy 500 winner Al Unser Jr., when asked whether he ever considered starting a racing team with his family.

He has yet to qualify for this month's Indianapolis 500, but Al Unser Jr. likes the way the numbers are lining up for what figures to be his 19th career 500 start.

Unser, 45, is teaming up with another legendary racing name as he attempts to qualify a car for team owner A.J. Foyt in the May 27 race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

"I'm just tickled to death to be able to drive his (No.) 50 car for his 50th anniversary, and I'm the 50th driver he's ever had," Unser, a Henderson resident, said. "All the 50s are lining up."

Foyt, a four-time Indy 500 winner who is celebrating the 50th anniversary of his first start at Indy, offered Unser the ride at a time, seemingly, when Unser needed it most.

Unser was arrested in January in Henderson following an alcohol-related accident on the Las Vegas Beltway. Unser, who fled the scene, was charged with driving under the influence, misdemeanor hit and run, failure to render aid in an accident and failure to report an accident. He faces a July 11 trial.

Although Unser was bumped from the Indy 500 field during second-day qualifying Sunday, he said being at the Brickyard has been reinvigorating. He has made only one IndyCar start - in last year's 500 - since he retired from racing full time in June 2004.

"We love what we're doing, and when we're not doing it, we miss it extremely," he said. "It's great to be back in Indy. When you qualify for Indy, it's a special thing. When you do good, you can't wait to get back. And when you do bad, you can't wait to go back. "

Although he will start the 91st Indy 500 in the latter third of the field if he qualifies Saturday or Sunday, Unser said he won't be fazed when it comes time to take the green flag.

"Like my dad said, two, three, four cars in front of you, where you start ain't going to make any difference," he said. "I've got a ton of people in front of me already."

The first 22 starting positions in the 33-car field have been set through the first two days of qualifying. The remaining 11 positions will be filled Saturday and the traditional "Bump Day" is on Sunday.

Baja is booming

Officials already have received a whopping 455 entries for the 39th Annual Tecate SCORE Baja 500 desert race, set for June 1-3 in Ensenada, Mexico.

Brian Collins of Las Vegas and Larry Ragland of Cave Creek, Ariz., winners of the overall four-wheel vehicle and featured SCORE Trophy Truck titles last year, will attempt to defend their victory in the No. 12 Collins Motorsports Chevy Silverado.

Also among the expected 475 entries will be NASCAR star Robby Gordon, who will attempt to compete in both the Baja 500 and the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series race June 3 in Dover, Del.

The car and truck classes will take the green flag at approximately 10 a.m. June 2, and competitors will have 18 hours to complete the 420-mile course. Last year, Collins and Ragland covered a 424-mile course in 9 hours, 36 minutes, 49 seconds.

Local flavor

Patrick Long of Las Vegas and co-driver Jorg Bergmeister are seventh in points after four rounds of the Grand Am Rolex Sports Car Series. The duo will be behind the wheel of the No. 23 Ruby Tuesday Championship Racing Team Porsche Crawford Daytona Prototype this weekend in the Grand Am event at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, Calif. ...

Las Vegas native Alex Haase is 10th in NASCAR West Series points going into Friday's Minnesota 150 at Elko (Minn.) Speedway. The 150-lap race will be the first of two points-paying events that will feature drivers from both the West Series and the NASCAR Busch East Series. ...

Jace Meier, another Las Vegas native, finished fourth in last weekend's Auto Club Late Models main event at Irwindale Speedway and climbed to fourth in Late Models points at the Southern California track.