Local CART, IRL, drivers fare well

Davey Hamilton said before the Indy Racing League's Radisson 200 at Pikes Peak International Raceway that he felt he was on the verge of picking up his first win in the series.

For a while Sunday, the Las Vegas resident appeared headed for his maiden victory in the IRL. Hamilton led for 38 laps late in the race before his Nienhouse Dallara/Aurora went away from him with 35 laps remaining.

"The car was really fast but I guess we were fast when we didn't need to be and we were not fast when we needed to be," Hamilton said after his fourth-place finish. "We were leading then, suddenly, we were fifth. That's the way it goes, I guess.

"It was a great race and we had a good car. Unfortunately, the car started to slow down and we lost some positions."

With three races remaining in the 11-race series, Hamilton is fourth in points -- only 23 behind series leader Tony Stewart.

"We are still in it for the points," Hamilton, who finished second to Stewart for the drivers title in 1997, said. "I don't know another crew out there that is more hungry for a win than my crew. We will focus on Atlanta ... and keep doing what we have been doing."

Southern Nevada's other entrant in the IRL, Henderson's Sam Schmidt, improved six spots from his 19th starting position with a 13th-place finish.

In the rival CART FedEx Championship Series, Las Vegas resident Paul Tracy's day was one of mixed emotions.

The driver of the No. 26 Team Kool Green Reynard/Honda learned prior to Sunday's Texaco/Havoline 200 at Road America that he had been removed from probation for taking an "unjustifiable risk" that caused a crash in the June 7 race in Detroit.

On the track, Tracy battled an ill-handling car and had to settle for a sixth-place finish -- his seventh top-10 of the season -- after starting 17th. Tracy's teammate, Dario Franchitti, won the race.

"I was just hanging on the last 10 laps," Tracy said. "My drink dispenser didn't work the whole race and the handling of the car wasn't that good. But, we finished sixth and we picked up some points.

"And, I'm really happy for Dario because he certainly deserves (the win)."

Jimmy Vasser, another Las Vegas resident, finished ninth and lost ground in his quest to catch Target/Ganassi Racing teammate Alex Zanardi in the PPG Cup point standings.

Vasser entered the race trailing Zanardi by 68 points but the defending series champion finished second Sunday and increased his lead over Vasser, the 1996 champion, to 80 points.

Richie Hearn of Henderson finished 13th after starting 26th in his Budweiser-sponsored Swift/Ford.

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