Indy 200 at Walt Disney World
Race Summary: Buzz Calkins went down in history as the winner of the firs race ever sanctioned by the Indy Racing League, as well as the first professional race run on the Walt Disney World track in Florida. The field contained some names familiar from CART racing -- Arie Luyendyk, Buddy Lazier, Mike Groff -- as well as SCCA Trans-Am champ Scott Sharp, former Formula 1 driver Eddie Cheever, and a host of hot rookies from the Atlantics and various other formula car series. A curiousity was Tony Stewart, who had won the championships of all three of USAC's short-track divisions (Midget, Sprint, and Silver Crown) the previous year; he was the first young driver from the Sprint car ranks to advance to Indycar racing in years, and everyone was keen to see him race. The front rows belonged to the Indycar veterans, with Lazier grabbing the pole, Menard driver Scott Brayton outside of him (this race marked the first-ever Indy car event other than the Indy 500 for John Menard's team), and Luyendyk and Sharp taking the second row. Rookie Buzz Calkins surprised everyone by qualifying fifth. On the start, Brayton had problems right away and Lazier got away in the lead followed by Luyendyk; Stewart showed what kind of Indycar driver he would be by starting a march that would see him in third by lap 20. Another rookie, Ritchie Hearn, was also on a charge and advanced from 19th to seventh before losing it in turn 2 and crashing on lap 18. Brayton pitted early with handling problems, which continued to get worse; he would retire after a black flag on lap 127 for being too slow. Lazier led until Stewart overtook him on lap 29, after which he proceeded to drive away. Shortly after, Lazier had to pit with a front suspension problem (loose upright) which essentially ended his day, although he would continue until eventually retiring due to a brake problem. Meanwhile, Calkins moved up and took second from Luyendyk on lap 51; he then reeled in Stewart and took the lead for the first time on lap 66. Luyendyk stalled his engine during a pit stop on lap 72, due to gearbox problems that would eventually put him out. After a round of pit stops, Calkins resumed the lead on lap 77 and would not be surpassed thereafter. Rookie Stan Wattles, who ran well and led briefly during pit stops, spun exiting the pits and crashed on lap 147. Later were other caution flags for a crash by Hamilton and a late one involving Cheever and Sharp; during the latter Stewart had to make an evasive maneuver and ran over debris, cracking a front wing. After the green on lap 194, Stewart was unable to catch Calkins, and the red car won the race by slightly less than a second. In an after-race interview, Calkins and a reporter engaged in a spontaneous takeoff on a popular Disney World advertising tactic of the time, which seemed to sum up the hopes and aspirations for the IRL: the reporter asked Calkins, "Buzz Calkins -- you just won the Indy 200 at Disney World. What are you going to do next?" Calkins: "I'm going to Indianapolis!" (from IRL Underground)
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