AIS: Ft. Collins report

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE JULY 14, 196

JACQUES LAZIER AND KEN PETRIE WINNERS

FT COLLINS, COLORADO - Ken Petrie drove to his second victory of the season in the opening race of the American IndyCar Series Miller Genuine Light Colorado IndyCar Grand Prix.

While battling for the lead early in the race, Greg Gorden and Jimmy Santos came together in turn four as Jaques Lazier and Ken Petrie pursued the leaders. Gorden suffered suspension damage in the incident and retired from the race. Lazier, attempting a pass on Santos, made contact and both cars were sidelined from the race as Petrie took the lead and came home with the victory.

Bill Tempero and Bob Lazier were engaged in their own battle for third when Tempero spun near the end of the race and came home fifth in front of his hometown crowd giving him the lead in the championship points by one point over Petrie. Bob, looking to move up, passed Shawn Schmidt on the inside of turn three with ten laps remaining for second place honors with Schmidt finishing third.

Hoping for a double win for the weekend, Petrie started from the pole for Sunday's race with Greg Gorden on the outside. Jaques Lazier and Shawn Schmidt filled row two with Bill Tempero and Bob Lazier ready to fight it out again from row three.

As the green flag dropped, a three-way battle developed between Petrie, Gorden and Lazier with Petrie assuming the lead. Gorden's pursuit was deterred by gearbox problems, and he pulled off the course. Petrie could find no breathing room as Lazier stayed with him as they worked their way through traffic. Midway through the race, Lazier made his move on Petrie and then stretched out his lead to take his first win the American IndyCar Series. Petrie finished second with Dale Buckley third on the podium.

"This car was hooked up today," said an ecstatic Lazier. "It was flying!" Petrie stated in a post- race interview, "Jaques worked the traffic beautifully today. We had a great race." With Saturday's win and Sunday's second, Petrie now leads the championship point standings over Tempero by seven points.

Petrie will defend his title at I-94 Speedway, Sauk Centre, Minnesota, on August 4 as the AIS drivers hit the oval..

OFFICIAL RACE RESULTS ROUND 4 - COLORADO INDYCAR GRAND PRIX FT COLLINS, CO - JULY 13, 1996

FP CAR # DRIVER TEAM

   1      2         Ken Petrie, Parker, CO        Precision Racing
   2    33          Bob Lazier, Vail, CO               Loophole Racing
   3      5         Shawn Schmidt, Omaha, NE      Red Shark Racing
   4    88          Keith Betchley, Folsom, CA         Betchley Motorsports
   5    15          Bill Tempero, Ft. Collins, CO Bill Tempero Racing
   6      3         John McDonald, Simi, CA       McDonald Racing
   7    21          Ed Eide, Troutdale, OR        E.A.E. Racing
   8    48          Dale Buckley, Commerce City, CO    Buckley Racing Ent.
   9      1         Jaques Lazier, Vail, CO       Bill Tempero Racing
 10     25          Jimmy Santos, San Mateo, CA   Jimmy Santos Racing
 11     34          Bret Decker, Salt Lake City, UT    Vision/Decker Racing
 12     37          Greg Gorden, Colorado Springs, C   Gorden Motorsports
 13     18          Dave Adamson, Salt Lake City, UT   Streeter Racing
 14     59          Frank Coombes, Aurora, CO          Precision Racing
 15     95          Arlon Koops, Elbert, CO       Precision Racing
 16     28          Joe Simmons, North Hills, CA  S.V.S. Motorsports

AMERICAN INDYCAR SERIES 1996 POINT STANDINGS (After Round 4 - Colorado)

DRIVER POINT STANDINGS TEAM POINT STANDINGS

   1 - Bill Tempero      69                1 - Bill Tempero Racing    106
   2 - Ken Petrie        68                2 - Precision Racing    95
   3 - Jimmy Santos      67                3 - Red Shark Racing    63
   4 - Shawn Schmidt          63                4 - Jimmy Santos Racing   61
   5 - Dave Adamson      57                5 - Streeter Racing          56
   6 - John McDonald          53                6 - E.A.E. Racing         53
         Ed Eide              53                      McDonald Motorsports 53
   8 - Greg Gorden       52                8 - Vision/Decker Racing     52
         Bret Decker          52                       Loophole Racing    52
 10 - Jaques Lazier      47              10 - Betchley Motorsports      45
 11 - Keith Betchley          45              11 - Gorden Motorsports   44
 12 - Frank Coombes      24              12 - Black Shark Racing   22
 13 - Curtis Spicer      22                      Buckley Racing Ent.    22
         Jim Bryant      22              14 - S.V.S. Racing        14
         Dale Buckley         22              15 - Wells/Van Siclen     11
 16 - Bob Lazier         19
 17 - Joe Simmons        14
 18 - Scott Knudsen      11
 19 - Jeff Nish                 8
 20 - Jim Webb        7

ROOKIE POINT STANDINGS

   1 - Dave Adamson      56
   2 - Jaques Lazier          45
   3 - Keith Betchley         45
   4 - Jim Webb            7
  

Jon Payne AIS Freelance Writer