4 replies to this topic

[Rainer Nyberg]

The original Riley & Scott MkV first ran late in '97 and would go on to race also during 1998 and 1999 under the IRL three-year chassis stability rule.

For 2000 the next generation of the Riley & Scott IRL car appeared. After '97-'99 brought meagre results, Buddy Lazier took a fine win for R&S at Phoenix in March 2000. It would become the only win for the Riley & Scott IRL car.

Now, my question is, does anyone know the designation of this second generation IRL car from Riley & Scott? A Mk VI maybe? Or did it retain the MkV tag?

[Don Capps]

Return to the IRL, 2000
Riley & Scott produced the Mk VIII IRL racing car in 1999 and 2000. The first customer, Hemelgarn Racing, had finished 3d in the IRL championship in 1999 (the team, with driver Buddy Lazier, won the Indianapolis 500 in 1996). Other Mk VII customers included Walker Racing (for driver Sarah Fisher) and Team Cheever (1998 Indy 500 winner Eddie Cheever).

At the opening race of the 2000 championship at Orlando, Buddy and Eddie were running 1-2 with 5 laps remaining. An historic debut was spoiled by backmarkers, as Robby Buhl expertly used traffic to pass both R&S cars.

That misfortune was righted at the next race in Phoenix. After an unsatisfying qualifying effort, Hemelgarn elected to withdraw its primary car and start Buddy in the backup R&S from the very back of the grid. Buddy carved his way through the field to win the race, the first and only time an IRL driver has gone "worst to first".

Although Buddy went on to win the championship, the R&S proved insufficiently developed for the Speedway. The teams shelved their R&S chassis, qualified for the 500 in other cars, and R&S was once more out of the IRL.

[Rainer Nyberg]

Thanks Don, I was unable to access the Riley & Scott website earlier today so I thought it was closed.

So it was the Mk VIII or was it?

The website is slightly confusing on http://www.rileyscot.../MkVIIIT_A.html they also call a TransAm design for Mk VIII. Maybe I should try an e-mail and see if they can sort it out.

However, it is a shame that they weren't able to continue in IRL, and the cars were always good looking too.

[Don Capps]

I was under the impression that it was the Mark VII so I was a bit taken back when I saw it listed as the Mark VIII - the Trans Am chassis.

[Leo]

While we're at it, could someone fill in the blanks?

Riley & Scott
Mk I: 1990 Trans Am chassis (Chevrolet body)
Mk II: Hunter road car
Mk III: 1996 Sportscar
Mk IV: ?
Mk V: 1997 IRL chassis
Mk VI: ? (see note 1)
Mk VII: 2000 IRL chassis
Mk VIII: 2001 Trans Am chassis (Qvale body)
Mk IX: ? (see note 2)
Mk X: ? (see note 2)
Mk XI: 2003 Daytona Prototype

Notes:
1. My guess is that this is the first version of the Cadillac Northstar LMP R&S built in 1999/2000.
2. Mk IX or X is probably the proposed TRAC car.