Hornish, Lazier Put U.S. Drivers on IRL Podium

One of the reasons Tony George formed the Indy Racing League was to showcase American drivers, and with Sam Hornish Jr. and Jaques Lazier finishing first and second Sunday in the Yamaha Indy 400 at California Speedway, it was the best showing on the podium this season by American drivers. There were 18 Americans in the field of 27, but foreign drivers took four of the top six positions.

Through three races, foreign drivers have dominated, accounting for five of the possible nine podium positions. Among top four finishers, foreign drivers have had seven of 12. Among the top five, it has been nine of 15. And among the top six it has been 11 of 18.

“This is America, and anyone can prosper in the U.S.,” said team owner Ron Hemelgarn, whose driver, Buddy Lazier, finished seventh in his backup car.

“This league has a tremendous number of American drivers. It’s hard for the Americans to raise the dollars [for sponsorship] because our sports marketing is fragmented with 15 different sports, and in other countries, maybe there’s just racing and soccer.

“We’re fortunate because Buddy’s a paid driver. He doesn’t bring money, he brings talent.”

Lazier started 26th because of a Sunday practice accident that destroyed the primary car. His backup was last year’s car, and he ran it without the 2002 aero kit.

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Doug Goad passed for the lead with 19 minutes remaining in the shortened two-hour Grand-Am Cup Street Stock Series to give the Powell Motorsports Corvette the Grand Sport I and overall victory on the 2.8-mile, 21-turn road course.

Goad, of Farmington Hills, Mich., and Devon Powell of Port Perry, Canada, finished six seconds ahead of two Speedsource Porsches in the 61-lap event, their decisive pass coming on Lap 50. Paul Mears Jr. and David Haskell, and Sylvain Tremblay and John Sturm, were second and third in Porsche 993s. The race was scheduled for three hours, but shortened because of weather.

Terry Borcheller and Forest Barber, driving a BMW M3 for Bell Motorsports, were 13th overall but won the GS II class when the two cars racing for the lead crashed into each other. A Mustang driven by Snipes Ford Motorsports’ Charles Snipes tried to pass Max Q Motorsports’ Nick Longhi in a Mustang Cobra R with three laps remaining, but initiated contact that dropped the Max Q car to sixth in class and the Snipes car to seventh.

Mike Van Sicklen and San Pedro’s Bob Endicott won the Sports Touring I class and were 18th overall in an Acura Integra R. William Fenton and Bob Beede, in an Acura Integra LS, were first in ST II and 33rd overall in the 54-car field.

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Robby Gordon could be announced any day as a driver in the Indianapolis 500 for IRL team owner John Menard.

“There’s a strong possibility that’s going to happen,” said Menard, who had Gordon drive for him in 1999 and 2000.

It is expected that backing will come from Gordon’s Winston Cup sponsor, Cingular.

Team Rahal came to the speedway to race an IRL car for the first time in preparation for the Indy 500. Jimmy Vasser qualified 16th and finished ninth in his Chevrolet Dallara.

“We learned about some areas that we are quite deficient,” Vasser said. “But it is better to learn that situation here than at Indy. It was definitely a successful fact-finding tour for us.”

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Robbie Buhl, who qualified fourth Saturday but crashed during his cool-down lap, is expected to be released from Loma Linda University Medical Center today. He suffered a concussion and was replaced by Memo Gidley, who drove the backup car for the 30-minute practice session before taking the green flag.

Gidley, recognized as a super-sub in the rival Championship Auto Racing Teams series, started 27th and finished 21st, 16 laps behind the winner.

“It’s tough to hop into a car in even a perfect situation, and even tougher to adapt during a race,” Gidley said. “We didn’t have many laps in the car ... but we took the checkered [flag], which was important for the team.”

Hideki Noda ran into the back of Tomas Scheckter on Lap 164 in the race’s only crash. Scheckter was fine but Noda was transported by ambulance to Loma Linda after complaining of back pain, then released.