Simmons will replace Unser Jr.
Jeff Simmons, a two-time champion in the Barber Dodge Pro Series, was tapped Friday to replace the retired Al Unser Jr. for Sunday’s Indy Racing League event at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kan.
Patrick Racing owner Pat Patrick wouldn’t commit to any plans for the No. 20 Dallara-Chevrolet beyond Sunday’s Argent Mortgage 300, however.
“After careful consideration and extensive research, we made the decision that the best thing for our team was to go with a young, aggressive driver,” Patrick said in a news release. “Following the Kansas race, we will evaluate all of our options and make a decision for the future.”
Former CART driver Townsend Bell will make his IRL debut Sunday for Panther Racing, which parted ways with rookie Mark Taylor earlier this week.
“I’m not going to say how long it’s for, but the intention is to build a future with the team,” Bell said Friday.
The spot at Patrick Racing opened Wednesday with the retirement of Unser, a two-time winner of the Indianapolis 500. He is staying on as a consultant.
“You can’t replace a legend,” Simmons said. “The legend always lives on. I’m fortunate to have the chance to benefit from being able to work with him and learn from him.
“I obviously want to establish myself, but to get some help from Al will be great.”
Simmons won his Dodge Pro Series titles in 1998 and 1999 and is that circuit’s only two-time champion. Last year, he finished second in the developmental Menards Infiniti Pro Series.
“I’m just thrilled to be working with Pat Patrick and with Patrick Racing,” he said. “They’ve been around for decades. They were winning the Indianapolis 500 before I was born.”
Waltrip, Earnhardt ones to beat
Greg Biffle is the defending race champion and Jeff Gordon will start from the pole.
But Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Michael Waltrip, teammates at Dale Earnhardt Inc. and winners of five of the last seven races at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla., are heavy favorites in tonight’s Pepsi 400.
“You know going in that the two DEI guys are going to be tough,” Gordon said. “I want to win and I’ll do everything I can to keep the competition behind me, but we can all be pretty confident that the No. 15 (Waltrip) and the No. 8 (Earnhardt) will be the guys to beat.”
Waltrip, the 2002 Pepsi winner, is a powerhouse on the 2 1/2 -mile oval, where he also has two Daytona 500 victories. But Earnhardt is most feared here and at Talladega Superspeedway, the only tracks where NASCAR requires horsepower-sapping carburetor restrictor plates to keep the cars under 200 mph.
Waltrip will start alongside Gordon’s Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet after qualifying second. Earnhardt will start from the fifth spot in the 43-car field.
Waltrip is one of the hottest drivers on the circuit right now. He has five top-10 finishes in his last six starts.
And don’t count out Biffle, who won the race last July by stretching his final tank of gas to the checkered flag while everyone else ran dry or had to stop for a splash.
“Yeah, I think we’re going to be able to compete with them this weekend,” said Biffle, the Roush Racing driver who will start ninth. “Our engines have been getting better and better and our bodies are really good, so I think we’ve got a pretty good car.”
Tracy wins Champ Car pole
Paul Tracy”s morning spin didn’t scare or even slow him down.
Just a few hours after he made two full rotations at more than 140 mph, Tracy captured the pole for the Cleveland Grand Prix — the position he won from in 1993.
Tracy blasted around the bumpy 2.106-mile runway course at Burke Lakefront Airport in 57.546 seconds (131.749 mph) on Friday to win his first pole this season.
“It feels great,” said Tracy, the defending series champion. “We’ve had a real good weekend so far.”
And a lucky one.
Tracy’s pole win came one day after he was awarded the provisional pole by Champ Car officials, who ruled that last year’s winner, Sebastien Bourdais, blocked cars during Thursday’s qualifying.
Rookie Justin Wilson had the second fastest qualifying time — 57.954 seconds (130.821 mph) — and will start on the front row along with Tracy, who has 20 career pole wins.
Bourdais will start in the second row after posting a time of 58.034 seconds (130.641 mph).
Truck series qualifying cancelled
NASCAR truck series points leader Dennis Setzer was given the pole for the O’Reilly Auto Parts 350 when rain caused cancellation of qualifying at Kansas Speedway.
Setzer’s Chevrolet will start inside the Ford of Carl Edwards, second in the Craftsman series standings. Setzer has victories this year at Texas and Lowe’s Motor Speedway.
He took the pole for the first truck race at Kansas in 2001 and has three top-three finishes — but no victories — on the 1 1/2 -mile tri-oval.
“Somebody has just been faster than us each year,” he said. “But we’ve been real fortunate to have two seconds and a third.”
Edwards, who won the season opener at Daytona, was second here last year. He trails Setzer by 131 points and leads third-place Bobby Hamilton by 22.
Hamilton’s Dodge will start on the inside of the second row, with Rick Crawford on the outside in a Ford. All positions were set on the basis of points.