A single week in April 1995 separates the street race at Surfers Paradise from the awkwardly named Slick 50 200 at Phoenix International Raceway. The conceivably-jetlagged Indycar circus arrives at the track that custom and geography oblige us to call “the one-mile oval in the desert” with the mental image of Chip Ganassi’s aged parent massaging his aching muscles into submission with the shower head he swiped from his en suite at the Surfers Paradise Marriott. Or is that just me? In any case, there will almost certainly be no shower-related discussion from Paul, Sam and Bobby because we have an intriguing and action-packed race ahead of us and it may be possible for Bobby Unser to travel from Albuquerque to Phoenix in one day. And why would he talk about the shower he has at home? To recap: short oval, fast cars, lots of traffic, cacti, no shower heads. You got me?
What’s Phoenix like?
Phoenix is an anticlockwise one-mile oval track but no two oval tracks are the same. Phoenix’s unique thing is two distinct turns (a wider and shallower bend at one end and a tighter and steeper bend at the other) and, because the circuit has to add up to 360 degrees, a bent but flat-out back straight. Does being in the desert make a difference? I dunno. We can’t possibly know this in 1995, but this will in fact be the last race CART ever holds at Phoenix, as the track joined New Hampshire and Indianapolis in defecting to the Indy Racing League for 1996. So enjoy it while you can!
The last two races at Phoenix have been dominated by Team Penske, with 1994 starting the way it went on with an Emmo and Al Junior 1-2 and Paul Tracy in the wall. 1993 saw Paul Tracy sprinting away into a two-lap lead, and a first-ever Indycar victory, before losing the rear trying to put another lap on Jimmy Vasser and handing a last-ever Indycar victory to Mario Andretti instead. Phoenix has events! We’ll probably have some events this time!
What happened in qualifying?
Hold onto your hats: Michael Andretti is not on pole. He lines up on the inside of the third row, one position behind his newly-heroic teammate Paul Tracy. Occupying Mikey’s normal pole position is near-rookie Bryan Herta, who blew away the competition with a qualifying time a full mile-and-a-half-an-hour faster than 1994 winner Emerson Fittipaldi in second. (Speaking of 1994 you will definitely see Jacques Villeneuve cutting Hiro Matsushita’s Lola in half at least once during the broadcast.)
1. Bryan Herta 19.785, Ganassi R/F/G
2. Emerson Fittipaldi +0.172, Team Penske P/M/G
3. Jacques Villeneuve +0.209, Team Green R/F/G
4. Paul Tracy +0.264, Newman-Haas + L/F/G
5. Michael Andretti +0.269, Newman-Haas L/F/G
6. Scott Pruett +0.331, Patrick Racing L/F/F
7. Jimmy Vasser +0.333, Ganassi R/F/G
8. Raul Boesel +0.342, Rahal-Hogan L/M/G
9. Robby Gordon +0.337, Walker Racing R/F/G
10. Gil de Ferran R +0.353, Hall R/M/G
11. Mo Gugelmin +0.392, PacWest R/F/G
12. Adrian Fernandez +0.412, Galles L/M/G
Stefan Johansson, who could’ve won last time out, starts 13th. Bobby Rahal is a stealth-ready 15th, and Al Unser Jr a classic Al Unser Jr 17th. 1987 winner Roberto Guerrero returns with Pagan Racing but starts in p25 of 27.
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We’ll get underway at the earlier time of 6pm BST Sunday. Clocks are changing in Europe overnight so I propose we figure out what 6pm is tomorrow morning. Enjoy!
