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IRL: Las Vegas testing 96-06-27 PM

IRL TESTING AT LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY TRACKSIDE REPORT, THURSDAY, JUNE 27, 1996 At 11:17 a.m., Richie Hearn in the ...

Edited: Mar 27, 2008, 5:47 AM

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IRL TESTING AT LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY TRACKSIDE REPORT, THURSDAY, JUNE 27, 1996

At 11:17 a.m., Richie Hearn in the #4 Della Penna Motorsports car became the first driver to exceed 220 miles per hour at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Hearn ran consecutive laps at 220.507 miles per hour, 222.359, 203.038 (when he slowed to pass #27 Billy Roe) and 221.230. He then pitted, came back out and ran laps of 220.112 and 220.832. His lap of 222.359 is the fastest of the week. At 2:10 p.m., Eliseo Salazar in the #7 Team Scandia car became second fastest of the week with a lap at 219.673.

POST-TESTING QUOTES:

RICHIE HEARN: "I'm sure it'll be a little faster for (qualifying for) the race...not much faster...225 would be the absolute maximum, depending on conditions. (The fast lap of 222-plus) is kind of a false reading. If it's hotter for the race...if it goes up 10 degrees, it'll make a difference in horsepower and tire wear, for sure. It's almost too nice today." (about the track): "I've run up behind a couple of people and the track, with its banking, produces a lot of mechanical grip. You can run up behind people and the aerodynamics are not the same factor as elsewhere." (about his speeds): "My speeds went up in big increments today -- from 214 to 218 and from 218 to 222. The track's got some heat in it but the air's still cool If you could go out and qualify right now, you could run fast." (about his fast run): "We just trimmed it out. We made some pretty big changes to the rear wing. For testing purposes, I'm good. For qualifying (for the Sept. 15 race), I can get a little bit more."

ROBERTO GUERRERO: "There's a lot more to come. The cars now have way too much downforce for this track. We have a lot of short track pieces on the car and with the gear we're running, we're at the limit on revs. I was guessing yesterday maybe 218. We did that and I guessed 222. I'm saying 225 now but maybe later I'll be saying 228. I don't know."

BUDDY LAZIER: "It all depends on conditions (for qualifying in September). It seems like 225 would be close to (a good estimate). When we saw the track...with the banking, the width and the texture of the pavement were conducive to speeds."

ELISEO SALAZAR: (about hinking speeds would be this high): "Never in my wildest dreams...I thought maybe 205 would be the best of the week. With this (Hearn's) speed, we would meet the minimum to qualify (220) for the Indy 500...in Las Vegas. It's amazing you can go that fast. This (track) is absolutely unique. It has its own character. The importance of this test is that come racee weekend, you're 95 percent 'there.' You can't test on a race weekend. I hope the IRL keeps doing this in the future. Also, you can weigh yourself against your rivals and know how good you are."

   Car                                                    ------Best------
   Num  Driver               Team                     Laps    Time   Speed
 1  4   RICHIE HEARN         Della Penna Motorsports    26  24.285 222.359
 2  7   ELISEO SALAZAR       Team Scandia               76  24.582 219.673
 3  1   SCOTT SHARP          A.J. Foyt Enterprises     104  24.657 219.005
 4 21   ROBERTO GUERRERO     Pagan Racing               31  24.691 218.703
 5 91   BUDDY LAZIER         Hemelgarn Racing           40  24.759 218.103
 6 30   TONY STEWART         Team Menard                39  25.083 215.288
 7 33   MICHELE ALBORETO     Team Scandia               85  25.557 211.292
 8 54   ROBBIE BUHL          Beck Motorsports           57  25.832 209.043
 9 27   JIM GUTHRIE          Blueprint Racing           35  25.984 207.820
10 27   BILLY ROE            Blueprint Racing           70  26.291 205.393
11 27   JOHNNY PARSONS       Blueprint Racing           17  26.331 205.081
12 14   DAVEY HAMILTON       A.J Foyt Enterprises        8  26.593 203.061
13 14   ROB WILSON           A.J. Foyt Enterprises      70  26.922 200.578
14 10   BRAD MURPHEY         Hemelgarn Racing           26  27.211 198.449
15 24   RANDY TOLSMA         McCormack Racing           36  27.848 193.910
16 28   DAVE BLANEY          PDM/Brickell Racing        80  28.569 189.016
                                               Total:  800

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