| Race details | |
|---|---|
| 2nd round of the1996 Indy Racing League season | |
 | |
| Date | March 24, 1996 |
| Official name | Dura Lube 200 |
| Location | Phoenix International Raceway |
| Course | Permanent racing facility 1.000 mi / 1.609 km |
| Distance | 200 laps 200.000 mi / 321.869 km |
| Weather | Dry with temperatures reaching up to 79 °F (26 °C); wind speeds reaching up to 19.8 miles per hour (31.9 km/h)[1] |
| Pole position | |
| Driver |  Arie Luyendyk (Byrd/Treadway Racing) |
| Time | 19.608 |
| Fastest lap | |
| Driver | Arie Luyendyk (Byrd/Treadway Racing) |
| Time | 20.791 (on lap 11 of 200) |
| Podium | |
| First | Arie Luyendyk (Byrd/Treadway Racing) |
| Second |  Scott Sharp (A. J. Foyt Enterprises) |
| Third | Mike Groff (A. J. Foyt Enterprises) |
The1996 Dura Lube 200 was the second round of the1996 Indy Racing League. The race was held on March 24, 1996, at the 1.000 mi (1.609 km)Phoenix International Raceway inAvondale, Arizona.
After the first event atWalt Disney World Speedway, a two-month gap followed until the next race atPhoenix International Raceway, which was a trend for 1996 as the rest of the races were spread out in a similar fashion. In the meantime, some IRL competitors kept on racing: on February 4,Scott Sharp scored the overall win at the24 Hours of Daytona in aRiley & Scott Mk III, whileJohnny O'Connell andJohn Paul Jr. finished on the podium of the GTS-1 and GTS-2 class, respectively.Michele Alboreto also competed in the race, and would finish 2nd overall in the12 Hours of Sebring a month later. Also,Tony Stewart started his part-timeNASCAR Busch Series deal at theDaytona opener, finishing 21st in his first-everNASCAR race, whileScott Sharp andStan Wattles got on with their parallelTrans-Am andAtlantic programmes.
In preparation for the event, the IRL held a 3-day 'Test in the West' on February 26–28, with 20 drivers taking part at some point.[2]Richie Hearn led the charts and set an unofficial track record at 185.854 mph.Arie Luyendyk,Tony Stewart andRoberto Guerrero also got to beatBryan Herta's preexisting track record, which had been already beaten byBuddy Lazier in a private test.[3] Five of the drivers that competed at Orlando (Mike Groff,Lyn St. James,Eddie Cheever,Stan Wattles andScott Brayton) did not participate, but five other drivers joined the field to complete their driver's test:Jim Guthrie, confirmed by Blueprint Racing as their second driver before the test begun,[4]Fermín Vélez andMichel Jourdain Jr. withScandia/Simon Racing,Racin Gardner withTempero/Giuffre Racing andRick DeLorto, who looked for a second chance.[5] Guthrie, Vélez and Jourdain Jr. passed their tests, while Gardner, hampered by an engine failure, and DeLorto, who topped at 119 mph in 27 laps, were not approved.[6][3]
On early February,Project Indy, headed by Andreas Leberle, choose to split from his partnership with Jonathan Byrd and Rick Treadway, as Leberle desired to take part in selected events in the IndyCar World Series, while Treadway and Byrd preferred to concentrate on the IRL.[7] Starting with the Phoenix test, the team was known asByrd-Treadway Racing, switching toFirestone tires because of "performance issues", and keepingArie Luyendyk. Project Indy stayed in the IRL, but their only IndyCar World Series outing would be at theGrand Prix of Long Beach withDennis Vitolo.Team Menard also switched to Firestone tires from the "Test at the West" onwards.
On February 29 and March 1,USAC held a rookie orientation test, with six drivers coming mainly frommidget car racing.Billy Boat,Billy Roe andBrian Gerster completed his proficiency test inPDM Racing's car, whileDan Drinan andGary Peterson tested a car supplied by Blueprint Racing, on whichKevin Olson had an unsuccessful try.[8] On March 8, the Phoenix entry list was released, with the additions of Michel Jourdain Jr., Jim Guthrie and Dan Drinan with the teams they had tested for. The newly renamedTeam Scandia appointedFermín Vélez, theirIMSA GT champion, to sub forEliseo Salazar, who had not recovered in time from the injuries sustained at Walt Disney World.Bill Tempero, Rick DeLorto andButch Brickell, who remained entered despite his injuries, would be absent.[9] A few days earlier,Beck Motorsports and Zunne Group ended their partnership and Beck had to sit out the Phoenix race, as Zunne had the ownership of the cars. They allowedRobbie Buhl to compete in the No. 45 car for Zunne Group,[10][11] who hadMcCormack Motorsports run their racing activities.[12] One week later, a revised entry list featured Silver Crown competitorPaul Durant, driving for a new team, ABF Motorsports.[13]
During this hiatus, the IRL started shaping itself for the immediate future. On February 14,Nissan announced their commitment to supplyInfiniti-badged engines from 1997, joiningOldsmobile.[14] Despite this, negotiations with CART were restarted, and on February 23,IMS presidentTony George sent a memo to IRL teams, specifying that the discussions included "expanding the starting field at Indianapolis" to 42 cars to allow CART teams to qualify, while maintaining the commitment to the top 25 IRL teams. Amid reports that theU. S. 500 had been cancelled, IndyCar president Andrew Craig confirmed that the proposed terms had been dismissed by the IndyCar Board of Directors, arguing they were "not prepared to drop out plans to the U. S. 500", while proposing discussions for "a long-term solution for 1997 and beyond". On February 27, Tony George said there had been "no offer of any sort" from any part.[15]
Two further drivers were added to the field on race weekend:Johnny Unser, who had failed to qualify for the event two years earlier, was entered byProject Indy, andRacin Gardner came back onTempero/Giuffre Racing's second car. AlongsidePaul Durant, a special orientation session was arranged on Thursday to allow them to pass their driver test: while Durant passed his on Friday morning practice, Unser and Gardner, whose car stalled on Turn 1, did not complete all phases.[16][17] The session was led byTony Stewart, the only driver to go over 180 mph with a 180.144 mph lap, followed by former winnersArie Luyendyk andRoberto Guerrero,[18] two of the 12 entered drivers with previous Indy car experience at the track, and the only ones who had started the 1995 race alongsideEddie Cheever, who had finished 2nd in 1992.Buddy Lazier,John Paul Jr.,Mike Groff andScott Sharp had taken part in the 1994 edition, whileScott Brayton,Lyn St. James,Robbie Buhl andDavid Kudrave lined up in the 1993 grid.
Friday afternoon practice, affected by heavy winds, was marred by three hard crashes.[17] Nine minutes into the session,Eddie Cheever crashed between Turns 3 and 4, sustaining a concussion and pain in his shoulder. Half an hour later,Stan Wattles had another accident in Turn 2, in which he suffered a parietal lobe hematoma and an optic nerve injury.[19] Less than 20 minutes later,Buddy Lazier lost control of his car in Turn 2 after suffering a rear wing failure and crashed backwards into the wall, collectingLyn St. James, who bounced off the track and hit the retaining fence with the back end of the car. St. James was unhurt, but Lazier had to be airlifted toSt. Joseph's Hospital, being diagnosed with multiple hairline fractures in his back and two fractures in his pelvis.[20][21] The crash caused a gouge on the asphalt, bringing an early end to the session.[17] The three injured drivers were ruled out of the event on medical grounds.
On Saturday, USAC allowed the Buick and the Menard-branded engines to increase their boost pressure from 55 to 60 inches, something they had approved on some cars at Walt Disney World, to make the field more competitive, although they would have to turn it down at some stages during the race.[22] Arie Luyendyk, the most experienced driver at Phoenix alongsideScott Brayton with 11 starts, upped his speed to lead the morning practice with a 182.454 mph lap, in front ofRichie Hearn and Tony Stewart. Johnny Unser completed his refresher test, but Racin Gardner was unable to complete his driver's test after suffering an early oil leak that could not be fixed in time, being discarded from the event.[21] Also,Dan Drinan suffered mechanical issues for the second day in a row, this time with a new engine, and was not able to qualify for the race.[23]
In the qualifying session, Luyendyk went on to grab the second pole position of his career with a track record lap of 183.599 mph. Hearn got within a tenth off Luyendyk's time, placing on the front row again, while Roberto Guerrero beat Tony Stewart for the third spot by just 0.001 s. Championship leaderBuzz Calkins settled for eighth, nearing 176 mph and surrounded byFoyt's drivers, including a career-best seventh place forMike Groff.[24] Again, there were sizeable performance differentials, as sixth-placedScott Sharp had a margin of nearly half a second over Groff. At the back,Michele Alboreto had to pull-in at the end of his first lap with fuel system problems, and was the slowest qualifier.[21] Among the four newcomers,Michel Jourdain Jr. was the only one to qualify over 170 mph, in 14th place, beating Vélez, Durant and Guthrie. At 19 years, 5 months and 19 days, Jourdain would become the third-youngest driver ever to contest an Indy car race at the time, behind compatriotJosele Garza andTroy Ruttman.
Lyn St. James could not qualify due to her primary chassis being destroyed, but was able to get out on track on the afternoon practice with her back-up car, and was allowed to start the race at the back of the field despite lapping at just 150 mph. In this session,Billy Roe, who was at Phoenix trying to beat the closed-course record for an electric-powered Indy car,[16] was appointed byTempero/Giuffre to drive what had been Gardner's car, hoping they would be allowed to make the race. Roe got it up to 153 mph, but his engine let go after just 10 laps, and the team, out of powerplants and time, parked the car for good.[11][21]
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Eddie Cheever forTeam Menard (Injured)Stan WattlesR forLeigh Miller Racing (Injured)Buddy Lazier forHemelgarn Racing (Injured)Dan DrinanR forBlueprint RacingRacin GardnerR forTempero/Giuffre Racing (Incomplete rookie drivers test)Billy RoeR forTempero/Giuffre Racing (Out of engines)Having lost a total of 5 entries since practice began, 22 cars took the green flag in front of 32,000 spectators.[25]Arie Luyendyk held onto the lead, whileRichie Hearn was surpassed by bothRoberto Guerrero andTony Stewart. The race was first neutralized on Lap 3, when the championship leaderBuzz Calkins, running in 11th place, spun at Turn 2. After the restart, Luyendyk was unable to open a gap, his car reportedly being loose, which allowed the top 4 to run closely for a few laps. By Lap 27,Tony Stewart andRichie Hearn had overtaken Luyendyk and Guerrero, who would also pass the Dutch shortly after, despite an issue with the brake cooling.[25]
On Lap 33,Michel Jourdain Jr., taking the inside lane of Turn 3 in heavy traffic, lost control of the car and crashed, bringing out the second yellow. In the aftermath, first-timerFermín Vélez failed to judge the braking distance and rammed into Guerrero, who had slowed down to avoid the wreck.[25] Guerrero had to enter the pits to repair the damage and was not a factor for the remainder of the race, retiring after 89 laps. During the caution, Stewart completed his first stop, but the air jack hose malfunctioned, and the race leader was overtaken by Luyendyk, fourth placedScott Brayton and sixth placedRobbie Buhl, who had also pitted.
Richie Hearn elected not to pit, as well asScott Sharp,Johnny O'Connell,Mike Groff andDavey Hamilton, and tried to lead the field to a restart on Lap 43, but he spun on Turn 3, delaying the green flag for six laps, with O'Connell pitting in between.[25] That left the top 3 positions dominated byFoyt drivers, although Hamilton would lose four positions after the race was resumed. Stewart started climbing back, overtaking Hamilton, Brayton and Buhl in less than 15 laps, and catching Luyendyk. On Lap 73, Brayton, running seventh, crashed heavily on Turn 4, and required the use of a stretcher to get into an ambulance, but he suffered no major injuries. Pit stops under caution followed for the Foyt trio and Stewart, who stalled his car and fell to sixth place, as the last driver on the lead lap. He recovered one position when Hamilton entered the pits for a second time, with electronic issues that led to his retirement from the race.
Luyendyk and Buhl, by not pitting, claimed the top 2 spots for the Lap 81 restart, on which Groff had already gained the position on Sharp by pitting a lap earlier than him. Eleven laps later, Stewart passed both Sharp and Groff, who also lost position to his teammate, before going one lap down a few minutes later. Buhl managed to stay within two seconds of Luyendyk and, when handling issues reappeared for the Dutchman, took the lead on Lap 103. Stewart would also catch and pass Luyendyk on Lap 106, but he immediately slowed down on the dogleg with a punctured right front tyre.[25] He emerged from the pits in seventh place, one lap down. Buhl, who had opened a 6 second-gap, made his second pit stop on Lap 118, being on the edge of needing a late splash, and Luyendyk, who lost second place to Sharp on Lap 120, followed suit 7 laps later.
Jim Guthrie, running in 15th and last place at the time, had a sizeable crash exiting Turn 2 on Lap 128, bringing a caution that would determine the fate of the race. Despite the fact that the pits were closed, with the signalling lights at the entry switched on, Sharp and Groff went in for their final pit stop. Both gained a lap over the field in the process, even with Sharp stalling his car before being push-started by his crew and teammate Hamilton. The stewards, subsequently, decided to punish both drivers with a one-lap penalty. Team ownerA. J. Foyt argued that other drivers had been serviced in closed pits in an earlier caution, but the protest was to no avail.[25]
Buhl also entered the (now open) pits on Lap 133 to top off on fuel, falling to third place behind Luyendyk and Sharp. Being one lap down again, Groff had retained the fourth spot in front of Stewart. When the race was restarted on Lap 136, Luyendyk's car finally had a good balance, which helped him to slowly open an 8-second lead over Sharp. Buhl could not follow suit, and eventually dropped out of the race on Lap 149 when his engine expired. Stewart was set for a top-3 result after passing Groff, but he also had to retire on Lap 168 with a valve train problem.
Luyendyk kept a gap of around five to ten seconds for the remainder of the race, and went on to grab the fourth win of his Indy car career, the second at Phoenix and the first since the 1991 Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix atNazareth. For Sharp, who ended up completing 201 race laps, and Groff, it was the first podium of their careers, while Hearn got to finish in fourth place. In his second Indy car race,Johnny O'Connell had a steady drive, and finished in the top 5 despite serving a Stop & Go on Lap 138 for running over a fuel hose. Albeit seven laps down,Buzz Calkins' sixth-place finish allowed him to remain as the Indy Racing League points leader heading to the season ending Indianapolis 500.
| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Chassis | Engine | Tire | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Laps Led | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Arie LuyendykW | Byrd/Treadway Racing | Reynard 95I | Ford Cosworth XB | F | 200 | 1:42:14.000 | 1 | 122 | 35 |
| 2 | 11 | Scott Sharp | A. J. Foyt Enterprises | Lola T9400 | Ford Cosworth XB | G | 200* | + 8.896 | 6 | 40 | 33 |
| 3 | 41 | Mike Groff | A. J. Foyt Enterprises | Lola T9500 | Ford Cosworth XB | G | 199* | + 1 lap | 7 | 0 | 32 |
| 4 | 4 | Richie HearnR | Della Penna Motorsports | Reynard 95I | Ford Cosworth XB | G | 198 | + 2 laps | 2 | 7 | 31 |
| 5 | 75 | Johnny O'ConnellR | Cunningham Racing | Reynard 95I | Ford Cosworth XB | F | 197 | + 3 laps | 10 | 0 | 30 |
| 6 | 12 | Buzz CalkinsR | Bradley Motorsports | Reynard 95I | Ford Cosworth XB | F | 193 | + 7 laps | 8 | 0 | 29 |
| 7 | 9 |  Stéphan GrégoireR | Hemelgarn Racing | Reynard 95I | Ford Cosworth XB | F | 190 | + 10 laps | 12 | 0 | 28 |
| 8 | 33 |  Michele AlboretoR | Team Scandia | Lola T9500 | Ford Cosworth XB | G | 187 | + 13 laps | 21 | 0 | 27 |
| 9 | 64 | Johnny Unser | Project Indy | Reynard 94I | Ford Cosworth XB | G | 185 | + 15 laps | 19 | 0 | 26 |
| 10 | 15 | David Kudrave | Tempero/Giuffre Racing | Lola T9300 | Buick Indy V-6 | G | 168 | Out of Fuel | 20 | 0 | 25 |
| 11 | 20 | Tony StewartR | Team Menard | Lola T9500 | Menard Indy V-6 | F | 165 | Electrical | 4 | 11 | 24 |
| 12 | 16 | Johnny Parsons | Blueprint Racing | Lola T9300 | Menard Indy V-6 | F | 149 | Fuel pump | 17 | 0 | 23 |
| 13 | 45 | Robbie Buhl | Zunne Group Racing | Lola T9400 | Ford Cosworth XB | F | 148 | Header | 11 | 20 | 22 |
| 14 | 18 | John Paul Jr. | PDM Racing | Lola T9300 | Menard Indy V-6 | G | 116 | Engine | 13 | 0 | 21 |
| 15 | 27 | Jim GuthrieR | Blueprint Racing | Lola T9300 | Menard Indy V-6 | F | 115 | Accident | 18 | 0 | 20 |
| 16 | 21 |  Roberto GuerreroW | Pagan Racing | Reynard 94I | Ford Cosworth XB | G | 89 | CV Joint | 3 | 0 | 19 |
| 17 | 14 | Davey HamiltonR | A. J. Foyt Enterprises | Lola T9500 | Ford Cosworth XB | G | 77 | Electrical | 9 | 0 | 18 |
| 18 | 2 | Scott Brayton | Team Menard | Lola T9500 | Menard Indy V-6 | F | 70 | Accident | 5 | 0 | 17 |
| 19 | 7 |  Fermín VélezR | Team Scandia | Lola T9500 | Ford Cosworth XB | G | 32 | Accident | 15 | 0 | 16 |
| 20 | 22 |  Michel Jourdain Jr.R | Team Scandia | Lola T9500 | Ford Cosworth XB | G | 31 | Accident | 14 | 0 | 15 |
| 21 | 90 | Lyn St. James | Team Scandia | Lola T9400 | Ford Cosworth XB | G | 11 | Electrical | 22 | 0 | 14 |
| 22 | 96 | Paul DurantR | ABF Motorsports | Lola T9200 | Buick Indy V-6 | G | 1 | Nose cone | 16 | 0 | 13 |
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| Pos | Driver | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Buzz Calkins | 128 |
| 2 | Mike Groff | 122 |
| 3= | Johnny O'Connell | 116 |
| 3= | Michele Alboreto | 116 |
| 5= | Scott Sharp | 114 |
| 5= | Tony Stewart | 114 |
The second race as part of theIndy Racing League was carried live on theIMS Radio Network. Gary Lee served as chief announcer. In the booth with Lee was Chris McClure.
Mike King and Dave Calabro were the pit reporters.
| Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network | ||
|---|---|---|
| Booth Announcers | Pit/garage reporters | |
Chief Announcer:Gary Lee | Mike King Dave Calabro | |
| sources:[28] | ||
| Previous race: 1996 Indy 200 at Walt Disney World | Indy Racing League 1996 season | Next race: 1996 Indianapolis 500 |
| Previous race: 1995 Slick 50 200 (IndyCar) | Dura Lube 200 | Next race: 1997 Phoenix 200 |