Fountain – Driver Jaques Lazier was introduced before Sunday’s Indy 225 at Pikes Peak International Raceway, but not the way he preferred.
Lazier, who crashed Saturday before qualifying, stood beside his father, Bob Lazier, when Bob was presented a certificate of entry into the Colorado Motorsports Hall of Fame. Jaques Lazier then skipped the driver introductions because his team withdrew.
Attempts to repair Lazier’s car ceased Saturday night, and not because using a backup car was an option. Lazier said his Chip Ganassi Racing crew didn’t think a repaired car would be competitive, and the three-car team’s lone remaining backup car was being saved for this weekend’s race in Sonoma, Calif., the final leg of three consecutive weekend races.
“That’s the problem when you race back-to-back-to-back, and obviously some of the crashes they’ve had this year, they’re playing catch-up, and I fully understand that,” Lazier said. “It’s a bad situation for our team, our sponsors and everyone else. We had a real good car for the race, but I just tried to get a little too much out of it before qualifying.”
Ganassi drivers have had a difficult year avoiding accidents. Rookie Ryan Briscoe drew Sunday’s only caution with a single-car crash, and 2003 series champion Scott Dixon battled handling problems throughout the race and said, “We need to forget this and move on.”
Lazier replaced Darren Manning this month after Manning crashed out of two races in a four-race span.
Looking for checkered flag
Although questions surround rookie Danica Patrick about when she will get her first win, her Rahal Letterman teammate Vitor Meira has had that question dangle over his head for a while.
Called the most talented driver never to have won, Meira, who started racing in the IRL at the end of the 2002 season, has had a breakout season this year, though he has yet to take a checkered flag.
Twice this season, the Brazilian native has finished as the runner-up. Last season he had two second-place finishes, including a race at Kansas where he crossed just 0.0051 seconds behind teammate Buddy Rice. The margin was the second-closest in IndyCar Series history.
“It is what it is,” Meira said. “I’m not going to say it’s not frustrating. I want to win. I want to win really bad. All you can do is put yourself on the spot to win and let it come to you. To race harder than I am, it’s a waste because I’ll be crashing all the time. I can’t race harder than I’ve been.”
Support circuits
Jeff Simmons and Steve Portenga joined IRL winner Dan Wheldon in Victory Lane.
Simmons captured the caution-free Infiniti Pro Series race in the morning, and Portenga won the NASCAR West Series event in the afternoon.
Simmons started second in his 11-car field and led 99 of 100 laps. Portenga started fourth and led 24 laps in a 20-car field that included former IRL driver Sarah Fisher.
Fisher finished ninth, 11 seconds behind Portenga.
Footnotes
Littleton’s Michael Corbin is an executive with Perkin Elmer, which tests the methanol levels in every IRL entry. Corbin, who attended the race with his son, University of Denver hockey player J.D. Corbin, said the tests could detect a drop of water or any other substance that isn’t supposed to be in the fuel tank. … ESPN2 will televise the Pro Series race Thursday beginning at 1 p.m.
