PRINT THIS PAGE | E-MAIL THIS PAGE

Friday, June 13, 1997

Protests leave USAC still trying to sort out disputed Texas race

By KEN KUSMER / Associated Press Writer

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - The U.S. Auto Club tried Thursday to explain to Indy Racing League teams the controversial scoring and finish of the True Value 500K, and by most accounts they succeeded.

But that didn't stop A.J. Foyt Enterprises and Team Menard from filing official protests.

Revised results dropped Foyt drivers Billy Boat and Davey Hamilton to second and third and made Arie Luyendyk the winner of Saturday night's race at Texas Motor Speedway.

Menard representatives protested that the scoring audit should place its driver, Tony Stewart, in second place instead of fifth, said USAC chief steward Keith Ward. Stewart crashed after his engine blew on the next-to-last lap.

USAC, the sanctioning body for the race, met with seven IRL teams whose drivers' top 10 finishes were shuffled after it was learned an electronic scoring system had intermittent outages and did not record every lap that every driver drove.

Luyendyk, for example, drove two more laps than the scheduled 208. It was his insistence that he finished first that led to his Victory Circle complaint that he was the true winner, prompting Foyt to smack the driver across the head and shove him to the ground.

USAC is still reviewing the conduct of Foyt and Luyendyk after the race and is expected to decide on any penalties Friday or early next week, Ward said.

Ward said he also hoped to finish reviews of the protests by Friday. He expressed hope that USAC, by admitting its scoring mistakes and correcting them, would emerge from the controversy with the respect of teams and fans.

"They're give us a fair shake on this and realize, sure, we erred, we made a mistake. We've addressed it. Let's pick up the pieces and move on," Ward said.

The next IRL race is June 29 at Pikes Peak International Raceway in Fountain, Colo. Ward promised the electronic scoring system would be operating properly by then.

However, he's still not sure what caused the failure in the system, in which antennas along the track pick up electronic signals from transmitters on the cars.

"It's going to take us a while to go through all that and determine exactly what the best move for us is. We certainly will fix it and be ready to go at the next event," Ward said.

Team managers who spoke to reporters after the meeting said they were satisfied with USAC's explanations.

"We were disappointed, but we understand," said Luke Wethington, manager of Team Scandia, whose drivers, Eliseo Salazar and Vincenzo Sospiri, finished seventh and ninth after being dropped two places in the revised standings.

"There were mistakes made, and it was just one of those things that happen," Wethington said.

"The bottom line is that the system is basically sound," said Buddy Lindblom, assistant manager for Luyendyk's team, Treadway Racing. "It's a well-proven system. Just like everybody's computer at home, or electronics, they're subject to having problems."

Representatives for Foyt and Team Menard did not return telephone calls seeking comment on the meeting.

Ward acknowledged the botched scoring was making it more difficult for the IRL, in its second year, to establish a solid reputation.

"Ever since the Indy Racing League started, there's an awful lot of people that try to find negatives with regards to this series and what the series stands for and so forth, and when you provide people with additional fodder to throw the negative light on, sure it hurts," Ward said. Send a Letter to the Editor about This Story | Start or Join A Discussion about This Story
Send the URL (Address) of This Story to A Friend: