Recovery Keeps Lazier From Cashing In

The pain Buddy Lazier felt in the Indianapolis 500 is still with him as he tries to become the first driver in 26 years to successfully defend his title.

Should he do so, Lazier would like a few of the spoils that eluded him over the last 12 months as he healed a shattered lower back.

“Ninety percent of my time has been centered around recovery and managing the pain that is still with me,” he said Wednesday. “It’s frustrating because there’s so much opportunity as an Indy 500 winner, especially when there’s a good story to it.”

There was, considering he drove to a surprising victory nine weeks after breaking his back in a crash at Phoenix International Raceway. He came away from the accident with a smashed sacrum, 15 other fractures and virtually no time to promote himself.

“I would have liked to have taken better advantage of it, and I hope I can take more advantage of it as time goes on,” he said.

But Lazier had his priorities, and at 29, a bright future in auto racing ranked well ahead of a celebration. Perhaps there will be plenty of that should he become the first repeat winner of the race since Al Unser in 1971.

Before accepting the Borg Warner Trophy on Wednesday for his victory last year, Lazier was thinking about being in that place he feels most comfortable.

“When I’m in the race car, it doesn’t affect me at all,” he said. “But I’m still in a lot of pain when I’m outside of the race car.”

Luyendyk fastest again

Arie Luyendyk, the track record-holder, raised this year’s top speed in Indianapolis 500 practice to 220.297 mph Wednesday.

“This morning was a little warm, then it cooled off. It was a good day for speed,” the 1990 Indy champion said. “The car was handling good. We didn’t change much from yesterday. There’s still a little more, I believe.”

Luyendyk set a record with a lap of more than 237 mph last year, but all speeds are down because of the new cars being used by the Indy Racing League. His best speed on Tuesday, the first day of practice for veterans, was 218.707.

“The speed is coming from the whole package,” he said. “A year from now, with the development of the engines, you’re going to see speeds increase a bunch.”

Second-fastest Wednesday was Scott Sharp, who crashed moments after he completed a lap at 217.402.

Driving makes LeMond a wreck

Greg LeMond is finding life tougher on four wheels than it was on two.

The retired three-time world cycling champion and Tour de France winner is now driving race cars - but not yet with the same level of success he enjoyed on bikes.

Four races into his professional auto racing career in the USAC Formula Ford 2000 series, LeMond has crashed four times.

“I want to learn properly. I’m still green,” LeMond said. “But I only had three weekends of racing before jumping into this pro series. I’m not past that learning curve yet.”