The No. 9 starting spot Buddy Lazier earned Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway was the Vail driver’s best since 1996, when he won the Indianapolis 500 from the fifth position.
Lazier, who will make his 13th start at the Brickyard in the 89th running of the Indy 500 on May 29, had a 4-lap average speed of 226.353 mph. He was the fastest driver with a Chevrolet engine and paced Panther Racing’s three-car effort.
Teammates Tomas Enge and Tomas Scheckter are Nos. 10 and 11 on the starting grid, respectively.
“I have a rocket,” Lazier told reporters after qualifying. “This easily is the best race car I’ve had here in a long time. … It’s so much fun to have a fast car here.”
Lazier, 37, hasn’t started an IRL race this year, and he competed in just one event – the Indy 500 – in 2004. The 2000 IRL champion hasn’t had a full-time ride since parting ways with Hemelgarn Racing late in the 2003 season.
In last year’s Indy 500, he drove for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing. He started 28th and finished 23rd.
Lazier’s younger brother, Jaques Lazier, has been in a similar situation. He lacks a full-time ride, but is trying to qualify for Indy with first-year Playa DEL Racing.
Jaques Lazier’s speed of 220.03 mph was eventually bumped out of the top 22. Jaques Lazier, 34, looking for his third Indy start, will vie for one of the final 11 positions Saturday.
Other Colorado connections at Indy include Champ Car drivers Sebastien Bourdais and Bruno Junqueira, who have combined to win all three Grand Prix of Denver races. Centennial-based businessman Bob Sutton, CEO of Centrix Financial, sponsors the Newman/Haas Racing teammates.
Junqueira, who won the 2002 and 2003 Champ Car races around the Pepsi Center, stands 12th on the grid. Bourdais, who won last year’s Grand Prix of Denver after spinning on the first lap, will start 15th.
“The Centrix team ran four very consistent laps and got the most out of the car that we could,” Junqueira said in a release. “I was flat (on the accelerator) all the way around. We concentrated on setting the car up for the race and didn’t run a qualifying setup until today.
“Maybe we were 2 (mph) slower than we could have been if we kept working, but we did what we could do.”
Footnote
Pikes Peak International Raceway begins its 10th season this weekend with the AMA superbike race. Sunday’s feature will be the fifth in the 10-race superbike season. For tickets or information, call 1-888-306-7223.
Mike Chambers can be reached at 303-820-5453 or mchambers@denverpost.com.
