IRL: WDW Friday notes

Lake Buena Vista, Fla., 1/26/96 --

Eliseo Salazar hit the wall hard in turn 3 during practice for the WDW 200 today. The car made initial contact with the wall in turn three and continued along the outside wall before sliding across the track and making contact with the inside wall. The car slid back through the racing line and made contact with the outside wall in turn one.

Salazar was airlifted from the track to Orlando Regional Medical Center and immediately entered surgery to remove a stabilizing rod that had penetrated his leg. He was listed in serious but stable condition.

Interested spectators over the weekend have included John Andretti, Gary Nelson of NASCAR, former NBA player Larry Bird, and Jim Rathman.

Sam Schmidt of Long Beach, CA., won the USAC FF 2000 race today. He started third. Schmidt started racing in the SCCA Spec Racer class and raced the entire Hooters FF series last year.

John Paul Jr. is unhappy with his car as he has been unable to get it up to speed. The car had been a show car up until a few weeks ago.

True Value has been named as the sponsor for the New Hampshire round of the IRL series on August 18. The race will be known as the True Value 200.

__ David Reininger's Paper Race http://www.motorsport.com/paper-race