Motorsports

Pole-sitter's hopes dashed by wreck

By BRANT JAMES
Published March 7, 2005

HOMESTEAD - Tomas Scheckter 's Panther Racing Chevrolet began Sunday's Toyota Indy 300 on the pole with a serious chance of giving the American manufacturer its first win in 18 races. When it ended the race on a wrecker after 158 of 200 laps, the pole-sitter blamed Kosuke Matsuura for starting a seven-car melee that knocked him out of fifth place and dropped him to 11th.

"It's ridiculous, what happened," said Scheckter, who is with his third team in four seasons.

"If the IRL doesn't do something about it, I will. The IRL has to do something about these idiots."

The accident began with a chain reaction on a restart when several cars bunched between Turns 1 and 2. Matsuura created a three-wide situation attempting to pass high when Ed Carpenter was slow in front of him, then got loose on cold tires among the tire debris high in the banking. Matsuura slid into Scott Sharp 's Honda and collected Scheckter.

Danica Patrick collided with Carpenter attempting to cut under the scene and Bryan Herta and Scott Dixon also were sent spinning out of the race.

Debris and cars went flying past Patrick Carpentier , who was running 14th, but the Champ Car veteran escaped to finish seventh in his IRL debut.

"I saw Scott (Sharp) go sideways, then a couple of other cars go with Danica," he said.

"I guess they touched, and they all started coming toward me. It was close."

All drivers involved were evaluated and released from the infield care center, except Patrick, who was released from Baptist Hospital of Miami after suffering what IRL officials described as a minor concussion. She will be re-evaluated before being allowed to race on March 19 at Phoenix.

WOE IS US: Dario Franchitti 's engine malady appeared to signal an ominous tone for the entire Andretti Green team when his No. 27 Honda began trailing smoke on Lap 12, but none of his teammates experienced mechanical problems. Fellow Honda driver and Indianapolis 500 winner Buddy Rice dropped out after 92 laps when he lost fifth and sixth gear.

SPARK PLUGS: Tony Kanaan led once for eight laps, setting an IRL record for running in front in his 11th straight race. Sam Hornish and Tony Stewart each led 10 straight. ... Kanaan's third-place finish extended his streak of finishing in the top five to 16 straight races. ... Ten drivers running at the finish set a Homestead record, breaking last year's mark (14). The attrition greatly benefited the ethanol-using, underpowered No. 91 Toyota driven by rookie Paul Dana . Except for the first lap of the race and 41 revolutions when Tomas Enge pitted numerous times before dropping out with gear problems, Dana's car was the lowest scoring running car. Accidents and breakdowns allowed Dana to finish 10th although eight laps down. ... Ryan Briscoe 's rookie debut for Ganassi Racing came to a smashing conclusion when he spun 61 laps into the race and backed hard into the Turn 4 wall. The Australian had the same sort of accident with his primary car during qualifying. ... A.J. Foyt IV 's ninth-place finish was his best in IndyCars.

[Last modified March 7, 2005, 01:58:12]