INDIANAPOLIS 500 / DAILY REPORT : Brayton Has Inflated View of Brickyard

Indianapolis Motor Speedway was closed Friday, but pole-sitter Scott Brayton drove a couple of laps over the track--in the Goodyear blimp.

Brayton took the controls from pilot John Moran and circled the Spirit of Akron around the track, taking a close look at what he will be racing on in Sunday’s 500-mile race.

“It’s nice up here,” he told a couple of writers and photographers along to record the feat. “The walls aren’t nearly as close. And you can see the bumps, especially the bad one in the third turn, a lot easier at 35 m.p.h. up here than you can down there at 230.”

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Lyn St. James is not satisfied with being the only woman in the 500. With her husband, Roger Lessman, she is preparing to challenge the world wheel-driven land speed record of 409.277 m.p.h., set in 1965 by the Sommers brothers.

The attempt is scheduled Sept. 14-18 at Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. To officially set the record, she must exceed 413.370 in the Lessman Racing Streamliner.

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Rookies Eliseo Salazar of Chile and Carlos Guerrero of Mexico are rookies in name only. Salazar, 39, began driving Formula One in 1981 and last year won three consecutive IMSA World Sportscar races at Lime Rock, Conn.; Watkins Glen, N.Y., and Indianapolis Speedway Park. Guerrero, 37, was an international karting champion before twice winning the Mexican Formula 3 championship.