1999 Indy Racing League season

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1999 Indy Racing League season
1999 Indy Racing League
Pep Boys Indy Racing League
Season
Races 10
Start date January 24
End date October 17
Awards
Drivers' champion United States Greg Ray
Indianapolis 500 winner Sweden Kenny Bräck
Chronology
Previous season Next season
1998 2000

The 1999 Pep Boys Indy Racing League season was highly competitive and parity was the order of the year. Team Menard had a very good season with their driver Greg Ray capturing 3 race wins in a row and the series championship. This was the last year before CART teams began to break ranks and jump to the IRL.

Calendar

All races running on Oval/Speedway.

Rnd Date Race Name Track Location Laps Distance Time Speed
(km/h)
Winner Pole Position Most Laps Led Fastest Lap
1 January 24 TransWorld Diversified Services Indy 200 Walt Disney World Speedway Bay Lake, Florida 200 200 mi (320 km) 1'41:14.800 190.738 United States Eddie Cheever United States Scott Sharp United States Scott Sharp United States Scott Sharp
2 March 28 MCI WorldCom 200 Phoenix International Raceway Avondale, Arizona 200 200 mi (320 km) 1'56:40.052 165.527 Canada Scott Goodyear United States Greg Ray Canada Scott Goodyear Canada Scott Goodyear
C May 1 VisionAire 500K Lowe's Motor Speedway Concord, North Carolina 79 118.5 mi (190.7 km) N/A N/A United States Greg RayA United States Greg Ray United States Greg Ray N/A
3 May 30 Indianapolis 500 Indianapolis Motor Speedway Speedway, Indiana 200 500 mi (800 km) 3'15:51.182 245.506 Sweden Kenny Bräck Netherlands Arie Luyendyk Sweden Kenny Bräck United States Greg Ray
4 June 12 Longhorn 500 Texas Motor Speedway Fort Worth, Texas 208 312 mi (502 km) 2'00:06.816 250.813 Canada Scott Goodyear United States Mark Dismore United States Greg Ray United States Sam Schmidt
5 June 27 Radisson 200 Pikes Peak International Raceway Fountain, Colorado 200 200 mi (320 km) 1'29:28.676 215.825 United States Greg Ray United States Greg Ray United States Greg Ray United States Mark Dismore
6 July 17 Kobalt Mechanics Tools 500 Atlanta Motor Speedway Hampton, Georgia 200 308 mi (496 km) 2'12:15.235 233.864 United States Scott Sharp United States Billy Boat Canada Scott Goodyear United States Jaques Lazier
7 August 1 MBNA Mid-Atlantic 200 Dover International Speedway Dover, Delaware 200 200 mi (320 km) 1'45:01.503 183.876 United States Greg Ray United States Mark Dismore United States Mark Dismore United States Mark Dismore
8 August 29 Colorado Indy 200 Pikes Peak International Raceway Fountain, Colorado 200 200 mi (320 km) 1'28:35.633 217.979 United States Greg Ray United States Greg Ray United States Greg Ray United States Buddy Lazier
9 September 26 Vegas.com 500 Las Vegas Motor Speedway Las Vegas, Nevada 208 312 mi (502 km) 2'29:50.204 201.059 United States Sam Schmidt United States Sam Schmidt Sweden Kenny Bräck United States Tyce Carlson
10 October 17 Mall.com 500 Texas Motor Speedway Fort Worth, Texas 208 312 mi (502 km) 2'14:15.722 224.383 United States Mark Dismore United States Greg Ray Canada Scott Goodyear Canada Scott Goodyear
  Abandoned race. IRL declares a race official after 50% of the race has been completed, unlike the FIA Code which makes races official after three completed laps.
^A Leader when race was abandoned after 79 laps, 25 laps before it would be declared official.

Race summaries

TransWorld Diversified Services Indy 200

This race was held January 24 at Walt Disney World Speedway. Scott Sharp won the pole.

Top ten results

  1. 51- Eddie Cheever
  2. 4- Scott Goodyear
  3. 35- Jeff Ward
  4. 8- Scott Sharp
  5. 30- Raul Boesel
  6. 28- Mark Dismore
  7. 18- Steve Knapp
  8. 9- Davey Hamilton
  9. 11- Billy Boat
  10. 91- Buddy Lazier

MCI WorldCom 200

This race was held March 28 at Phoenix International Raceway. Greg Ray won the pole.

Top ten results

  1. 4- Scott Goodyear
  2. 21- Jeff Ward
  3. 44- Robbie Buhl
  4. 11- Billy Boat
  5. 66- Scott Harrington
  6. 33- Roberto Moreno
  7. 28- Mark Dismore
  8. 8- Scott Sharp
  9. 99- Sam Schmidt
  10. 7- Stephan Gregoire

Visionaire 500k

This race was held May 1 at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Greg Ray won the pole.

With crowds estimated at 50,000, the track opened extra sections of track to accommodate the additional spectators. As reported on the radio broadcast, sections of Turn 1 and Turn 4, and the first eight rows of all open grandstands, were closed by the track for safety. At 8:50 p.m. during lap 59 of the race, Stan Wattles suffered a suspension failure that shot his car into the wall, shearing both right wheels off the car. John Paul, Jr.'s car subsequently hit the debris field and the contact sent Wattles' right rear wheel and tire assembly over the catch fence. Three spectators in the vicinity of the section which had been opened for the overflow crowd were killed from the flying tire debris. Scott Harrington spun to miss the debris field and the accident is often described as a 3-car crash, however, Harrington's car made no contact with the wall or other cars and was undamaged.[1]

Buddy Lazier was leading the race at the time of the caution. He pitted a few laps later to change tires because of a puncture. Greg Ray then took over the lead. A long caution resulted from the lap 62 crash. After 25 minutes under yellow, race officials brought out the red flag, and stopped the cars in the pit area. Medical helicopters needed space to land to aid the injured spectators. At 9:15 p.m., the halted race was scored through 79 laps. Shortly after the red flag was put out, track and series officials announced the fatalities had occurred, and cancelled the remainder of the race.

It should be noted the Indy Racing League does not use the FIA Code on abandoning a race where a race is official on the start of the fourth lap, as the 1991 Australian Grand Prix is the most notable "abandoned race," having been abandoned on Lap 14 of 82 with half points awarded. Instead, the sanctioning body uses the traditional North American standard, similar to a rain situation in that more than one-half of the distance, rounded up, plus one lap, determines an official race (105 laps). As the race was stopped on Lap 79, the race was declared abandoned and all statistics were scratched from official record. Spectators were offered ticket refunds, and participants were reimbursed entry fees and selected travel costs. The league does not recognize the race in its historical archives, and omitted the event in it count for the 100th race celebration in 2004.

From the IRL radio broadcast, and consistent with the television broadcast on Speedvision, this was the leaderboard at the time of the abandonment of the race on lap 79:

  1. 2- Greg Ray
  2. 4- Scott Goodyear
  3. 51- Eddie Cheever
  4. 99- Sam Schmidt
  5. 98- Donnie Beechler
  6. 8- Scott Sharp
  7. 91- Buddy Lazier
  8. 28- Mark Dismore
  9. 55- Robby McGehee
  10. 14- Kenny Bräck

83rd Indianapolis 500

The Indy 500 was held May 30 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Arie Luyendyk sat on pole.

Top ten results

  1. 14- Kenny Bräck
  2. 21- Jeff Ward
  3. 11- Billy Boat
  4. 32- Robby Gordon
  5. 55- Robby McGehee
  6. 84- Robbie Buhl
  7. 91- Buddy Lazier
  8. 81- Robby Unser
  9. 22- Tony Stewart
  10. 54- Hideshi Matsuda

Longhorn 500

This race was held June 12 at Texas Motor Speedway. Mark Dismore won the pole.

Top ten results

  1. 4- Scott Goodyear
  2. 2- Greg Ray
  3. 99- Sam Schmidt
  4. 7- Stephan Gregoire
  5. 6- Eliseo Salazar
  6. 81- Robby Unser
  7. 9- Davey Hamilton
  8. 28- Mark Dismore
  9. 12- Buzz Calkins
  10. 8- Scott Sharp

Radisson 200

This race was held June 27 at Pikes Peak International Raceway. Greg Ray won the pole.

Top ten results

  1. 2- Greg Ray
  2. 99- Sam Schmidt
  3. 9- Davey Hamilton
  4. 51- Eddie Cheever
  5. 91- Buddy Lazier
  6. 81- Robby Unser
  7. 14- Kenny Bräck
  8. 8- Scott Sharp
  9. 21- Jeff Ward
  10. 33- Jaques Lazier

Kobalt Mechanics Tools 500

This race was held July 17 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Billy Boat won the pole.

Top ten results

  1. 8- Scott Sharp
  2. 81- Robby Unser
  3. 14- Kenny Bräck
  4. 6- Eliseo Salazar
  5. 12- Buzz Calkins
  6. 51- Eddie Cheever
  7. 9- Davey Hamilton
  8. 98- Donnie Beechler
  9. 30- Jimmy Kite
  10. 11- Billy Boat

MBNA Mid-Atlantic 200

This race was held August 1 at Dover International Speedway. Mark Dismore won the pole.

Top ten results

  1. 2- Greg Ray
  2. 91- Buddy Lazier
  3. 14- Kenny Bräck
  4. 11- Billy Boat
  5. 99- Sam Schmidt
  6. 66- Scott Harrington
  7. 33- Jaques Lazier
  8. 12- Buzz Calkins
  9. 55- Robby McGehee
  10. 98- Donnie Beechler

Colorado Indy 200

This race was held August 29 at Pikes Peak International Raceway. Greg Ray won the pole.

Top ten results

  1. 2- Greg Ray
  2. 9- Davey Hamilton
  3. 28- Mark Dismore
  4. 91- Buddy Lazier
  5. 99- Sam Schmidt
  6. 66- Scott Harrington
  7. 55- Robby McGehee
  8. 30- Jimmy Kite
  9. 81- Robby Unser
  10. 14- Kenny Bräck

Vegas.com 500

This race was held September 26 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Sam Schmidt won the pole.

Top ten results

  1. 99- Sam Schmidt
  2. 14- Kenny Bräck
  3. 22- Robbie Buhl
  4. 8- Scott Sharp
  5. 12- Buzz Calkins
  6. 55- Robby McGehee
  7. 33- Jaques Lazier
  8. 7- Stephan Gregoire
  9. 20- Tyce Carlson
  10. 21- Jeff Ward

Mall.com 500

This race was held October 17 at Texas Motor Speedway. Greg Ray won the pole.

Top ten results

  1. 28- Mark Dismore
  2. 9- Davey Hamilton
  3. 2- Greg Ray
  4. 51- Eddie Cheever
  5. 42- John Hollansworth, Jr.
  6. 66- Scott Harrington
  7. 33- Jaques Lazier
  8. 12- Buzz Calkins
  9. 11- Billy Boat
  10. 91- Buddy Lazier

Final points standings

Pos Driver WDW
PHX
INDY
TXS
PIK
ATL
DOV
PIK
LSV
TXS
Pts
1 United States Greg Ray 21 21 21 2* 1* 23 1 1* 21 3 293
2 Sweden Kenny Bräck 22 24 1* 13 7 3 3 10 2* 16 256
3 United States Mark Dismore 6 7 16 8 21 17 15* 3 20 1 240
4 United States Davey Hamilton 8 27 11 7 3 7 23 2 13 2 237
5 United States Sam Schmidt 27 9 30 3 2 22 5 5 1 22 233
6 United States Buddy Lazier 10 18 7 14 5 21 2 4 11 10 224
7 United States Eddie Cheever 1 17 18 16 4 6 21 11 17 4 222
8 United States Scott Sharp 4* 8 28 10 8 1 22 22 4 19 220
9 Canada Scott Goodyear 2 1* 27 1 12 16* 17 21 25 23* 217
10 United States Robby Unser 15 26 8 6 6 2 12 9 16 14 209
11 United States Jeff Ward 3 2 2 18 9 26 13 23 10 21 206
12 United States Billy Boat 9 4 3 24 24 10 4 13 22 9 204
13 United States Buzz Calkins 17 14 19 9 14 5 8 15 5 8 201
14 United States Scott Harrington 25 5 DNQ DNS 19 15 6 6 14 6 165
15 France Stéphane Grégoire 16 10 DNQ 4 11 24 14 14 8 15 162
16 United States Robby McGehee 5 19 DNS 14 9 7 6 12 156
17 United States John Hollansworth, Jr. 19 15 13 20 16 19 19 16 19 5 146
18 United States Jaques Lazier DNS DNQ 22 10 12 7 12 7 7 144
19 United States Tyce Carlson 12 23 14 21 23 20 11 17 9 13 139
20 Chile Eliseo Salazar DNQ 20 33 5 20 4 18 19 12 17 137
21 United States Donnie Beechler 26 11 29 17 22 8 10 20 18 11 130
22 United States Robbie Buhl 20 3 6 3 24 114
23 Brazil Raul Boesel 5 19 12 23 18 11 98
24 United States Jimmy Kite 24 25 15 9 16 8 86
25 United States Steve Knapp 7 25 26 12 17 27 69
26 United States Ronnie Johncox DNQ 11 25 20 24 15 26 59
27 United States Johnny Unser 32 15 13 13 23 DNP 57
28 United States John Paul, Jr. 11 22 DNQ 18 39
29 Brazil Roberto Moreno 6 20 38
30 Colombia Roberto Guerrero 13 16 25 DNP 36
31 United States Robby Gordon 4 32
32 United States Andy Michner 18 13 DNQ 29
33 United States Tony Stewart 9 22
34 Japan Hideshi Matsuda 10 20
35 United States Stan Wattles 24 17 DNP 19
36 Brazil Marco Greco 12 18
37 United States Brian Tyler 14 DNQ 16
38 United States Jeret Schroeder 15 15
39 United States Dr. Jack Miller 31 18 13
40 United States Bobby Regester 18 12
41 Netherlands Arie Luyendyk 22 11
42 Canada Doug Didero 20 10
43 Sweden Niclas Jönsson 24 DNS 9
44 Brazil Gualter Salles 23 7
45 Belgium Wim Eyckmans 23 7
46 United States Sarah Fisher 25 5
47 United States Willy T. Ribbs 26 4
48 United States Jason Leffler 28 2
- United States Mike Borkowski DNQ 0
- United States Nick Firestone DNQ 0
- United States Mike Groff DNQ 0
- United States Jim Guthrie DNQ 0
- Italy Vincenzo Sospiri DNQ 0
- United States Lyn St. James DNQ 0
- United States Dave Steele DNQ 0
- United States Troy Reiger DNP 0
Pos Driver WDW
PHX
INDY
TXS
PIK
ATL
DOV
PIK
LSV
TXS
Pts
Color Result
Gold Winner
Silver 2nd place
Bronze 3rd place
Green 4th & 5th place
Light Blue 6th-10th place
Dark Blue Finished
(Outside Top 10)
Purple Did not finish
(Ret)
Red Did not qualify
(DNQ)
Brown Withdrawn
(Wth)
Black Disqualified
(DSQ)
White Did not start
(DNS)
Blank Did not
participate
(DNP)
Not competing
In-line notation
Bold Pole position
(3 points)
Italics Ran fastest race lap
* Led most race laps
(2 points)
DNS Any driver who qualifies
but does not start (DNS),
earns all the points
had they taken part.
Rookie of the Year
Rookie

In every race, points are awarded to drivers on the following basis:

Position 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33
Points 50 40 35 32 30 28 26 24 22 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 1 1 1 1
  • Ties in points broken by number of wins, followed by number of 2nds, 3rds, etc., and then by number of pole positions, followed by number of times qualified 2nd, etc.

Additional points were awarded to the pole winner (3 points), the second best qualifier (2 points), the third best qualifier (1 point) and to the driver leading the most laps (2 point).

References

  1. Preliminary Charlotte Crash Details Outlined, The Auto Channel, May 15, 1999

See also