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IRL: Texas Aurora post race report
Contact: Rick Voegelin High Performance Communications 408-761-2201 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE AURORA V8 WINS IN TEXAS Oldsmobile Powers Top Nine Finishers, Leads Every Lap, and Notches Fourth ...
Edited: Mar 27, 2008, 5:47 AM
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Contact: Rick Voegelin High Performance Communications 408-761-2201
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
AURORA V8 WINS IN TEXAS
Oldsmobile Powers Top Nine Finishers, Leads Every Lap, and Notches Fourth Straight Victory at Texas Motor Speedway
Fort Worth, Texas; June 7, 1997 -- The eyes of 128,000 racing fans were on the Indy Racing League's debut under the lights at Texas Motor Speedway. Indy 500 winner Arie scored his second consecutive IRL victory and led an Oldsmobile sweep of the top nine spots in the True Value 500. Teammates Billy Boat and Davey Hamilton were second and third respectively in cars owned by A.J. Foyt, Jr. of Houston, followed by Aurora racers Scott Goodyear, Tony Stewart, Eddie Cheever, Jr., Eliseo Salazar, Greg Ray, and Vincenzo Sospiri.
The official results were released at 9:00 a.m. on the morning following the race after USAC officials upheld a protest by Treadway Racing and revised the finishing positions for Luyendyk and Goodyear.
Oldsmobile's production-based Indy Aurora V8 dominated the 500-kilometer (312-mile) race on the high-banked 1.5-mile Texas oval, leading all 208 laps. Pole winner Tony Stewart led a total of 100 laps in Team Menard's entry and appeared to be on course for his first Indy car victory when he lost an engine two laps from the finish.
Davey Hamilton took the lead in the IRL championship race with his third-place finish. "I ran wide open all day long," said Hamilton, who graduated to Indy cars after a successful career in short-track racing. "We're looking at the championship. I get better every race, and I hope I can pull off a win soon."
The True Value 500 victory extended the Indy Aurora V8's perfect record in Indy Racing League competition. Oldsmobile engines have won all four IRL events, won all four poles, and led every racing lap since the series introduced its new engine formula in January. Oldsmobile leads the IRL Manufacturers Championship with 44 points.
Twenty-three of the 26 starters used Indy Aurora V8 engines. Thirteen cars were running at the finish -- 11 with Aurora V8s and two with Infiniti engines. Seven cars retired with engine-related problems, and three were eliminated in accidents. The highest finishing driver with an Infiniti engine was Johnny Unser in tenth place.
The next event for the Indy Aurora V8 will be the inaugural Samsonite 200 at Pikes Peak International Raceway in Fountain, Colo., on June 29, 1997.
TRUE VALUE 500 RESULTS
Driver Entrant Engine Laps Status
1. Arie Luyendyk Treadway Racing Aurora 208 Running
2. Billy Boat A.J. Foyt Ent. Aurora 207 Running
3. Davey Hamilton A.J. Foyt Ent. Aurora 207 Running
4. Scott Goodyear Treadway Racing Aurora 207 Running
5. Tony Stewart Team Menard Aurora 206 Engine
6. Eddie Cheever Team Cheever Aurora 206 Running
7. Eliseo Salazar Team Scandia Aurora 205 Running
8. Greg Ray Knapp Motorsport Aurora 204 Running
9. V. Sospiri Team Scandia Aurora 204 Running
10. Johnny Unser Byrd-Cunningham Infiniti 203 Running
11. Mark Dismore Kelley Auto Grp. Aurora 203 Running
12. A. Zampedri Team Scandia Aurora 201 Running
13. R. Guerrero Pagan Racing Infiniti 201 Running
14. Tyce Carlson PDM Racing Aurora 184 Running
15. Robbie Groff McCormack Aurora 173 Engine
16. Robbie Buhl Team Menard Aurora 167 Engine
17. Buddy Lazier Hemelgarn Racing Aurora 157 Engine
18. Kenny Brack Galles Racing Aurora 118 Water pump
19. Buzz Calkins Bradley Motorsports Aurora 98 Gasket
20. A. Giaffone Chitwood Motorsports Aurora 82 Engine fire
21. Jim Guthrie Blueprint Racing Aurora 81 Accident
22. Allen May Sinden Racing Service Aurora 36 Accident
23. Sam Schmidt Blueprint Racing Aurora 36 Accident
24. Jack Miller Arizona Motorsports Infiniti 24 Electrical
25. Fermin Velez Team Scandia Aurora 1 Driver illness
26. Marco Greco Team Scandia Aurora 0 Engine
# # #
E-mail from: Rick Voegelin, 08-Jun-1997
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