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Friday, February 04, 2000
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
IRL gets major financial boost from Internet search engine
By Jeff Wolf
Review-Journal
The Indy Racing League found the light, hours before its season opener last week. The glow was about 50 million watts.
Two days before the race near Orlando, Fla., an announcement of what was to be Northern Light's $1 million involvement in the season championship points grew 50 fold into a major five-year agreement that gives Northern Light title-rights to the IRL series.
"Everything happened pretty fast, and we couldn't be happier," said Fred Nation, vice president of communications for the IRL.
Northern Light is an Internet search engine that claims to be the world's most powerful.
David Seuss, chief executive for Northern Light Technology, is a former Trans-Am racer.
-- HAMILTON, SCHMIDT UPDATES -- Las Vegan Indy car drivers received good news from doctors this week.
Hamilton, who fractured a lower vertebra in a one-car crash Saturday in an IRL race, is sore and will be sidelined for a couple months but will not suffer any lasting injuries.
Schmidt, who remains paralyzed from the neck down after a preseason crash near Orlando, Fla., while testing his IRL car in early January, is able to breathe without a ventilator. He began aggressive therapy at a rehabilitation center in St. Louis on Thursday.
-- PRUETT HOT, KIDS WIN -- Scott Pruett turned the hottest lap of this week's testing at Las Vegas Motor Speedway when he had an unofficial lap of 31.802 seconds for an average speed of 169.811 mph driving for the new PPI Motorsports Ford owned by Cal Wells.
The three-day event also raised $10,000 for Speedway Children's Charities.
-- MORE PRUETT -- Pruett will do double-duty this month in Daytona, Fla.
In addition to the Feb. 20 Daytona 500, Pruett will drive for teammate Anthony Lazzaro in next weekend's Busch Series race. Lazarro, the defending champion in the Formula Atlantic open-wheel series, didn't run enough Busch races last season to earn approval from NASCAR to compete on one of its biggest tracks.
-- NO CHIEF -- Breaking away from traditional NASCAR team structure, the performance of the Bill Elliott-driven McDonald's Ford Taurus will be managed by a "communication triangle," replacing the conventional crew-chief role.
The trio of Kevin Cram (performance enhancement director), Mike Ford (car chief) and Troy Raker (engineer) will make joint decisions regarding the setup, chassis, tuning and overall performance of the No. 94 McDonald's Ford.
The three, new to Bill Elliott Racing, were hired since the end of the 1999 season.
-- AUTO CROSS -- The Sports Car Club of America -- Las Vegas Region has scheduled Rounds 3 and 4 of its Auto-X calendar for Saturday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway beginning at 7:30 a.m. each day. Call 258-4799 for information.
-- FORCE GOES FOR ESPY -- John Force, who last season drove his Castrol GTX Nitro Funny Car to the NHRA Winston championship for the seventh straight year, is one of three finalists for the ESPN Espy Award as 1999 Auto Racer of the Year.
Force, the first drag racer ever included in the sports awards show that will be at the MGM on Feb. 14, will join Dale Jarrett, the 1999 NASCAR Winston Cup Champion, and Juan Montoya, the 1999 CART Champion.
-- FISHER TO IRL, CART -- Team owner Derrick Walker announced Saturday that he will field an IRL team this season for driver Sarah Fisher with primary sponsorship from Cummins.
The Walker Racing team will make its debut at the MCI WorldCom 200 on March 19 at Phoenix. Walker Racing also will continue to field its CART team.
-- SPEEDWAY ADDS RACE -- The NASCAR Featherlite Southwest Series will return in the fall to the renovated 3/8-mile paved oval. The Star Nursery 100 will be Sept. 23.
-- LAS VEGAN TO DAYTONA -- Las Vegan John Williams will be in Daytona Beach, Fla., on Feb. 20 for the Daytona 500, and he could return with $1 million.
Williams was selected in a national contest to participate in the Winston No Bull 5 that will pair him with either Dale Earnhardt, Dale Jarrett, Ricky Rudd, Ward Burton or Kenny Wallace.
If one of those drivers wins the season opener, he will receive a $1 million bonus. Williams also will earn $1 million if he is paired with the winner.
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