Thursday, May 23, 2002
Luyendyk's place in car, not booth
48-year-old driver has 1-race schedule: Indy 500
The Associated Press
INDIANAPOLIS — A short-lived retirement two years ago made it clear to Arie Luyendyk that he still needed to race in the Indianapolis 500.
The two-time winner stepped out of the cockpit, supposedly for good, following the 1999 season, and spent the next year working as a consultant to longtime car-owner Fred Treadway and as a racing analyst for ABC Sports.
Watching the buildup to the 2000 race was agonizing.
“I just kept thinking I was in the wrong place, that I was supposed to be on the track, not up in a TV booth,” he said.
He decided to return to driving, but only for the Memorial Day weekend event. Now Luyendyk figures he'll keep racing here until he no longer has the urge or can't get a competitive ride.
The Flying Dutchman, who won in 1990 and 1997, will be making his 17th Indy start Sunday and, at 48, will be the oldest driver in the 33-car field for the second straight time.
Luyendyk spent most of last May with a smile on his face as he qualified sixth and drove to a 13-place finish in the race. He said only a bad clutch, causing him to stall twice in the pits, kept him from running with the leaders.
Even as he drove past the checkered flag, Luyendyk already was thinking about coming back this year.
“This is a race you can do one-off because you get so much time on the track,” Luyendyk said. “You get into a rhythm and then slowly find that groove that you have when you're racing the whole year.
“I do believe, though, even with all the testing I do, I'm a little bit at a disadvantage over these guys that are racing each other all year. You can't say it doesn't matter. It does.”
Still, Luyendyk, who qualified at 228.848 mph and will start 24th on Sunday, is considered one of the favorites in the fastest and most competitive Indy field ever.
“He's still a very good race driver,” said Eddie Cheever Jr., a contemporary of Luyendyk's at 44. “He's fast, he's smart and he's experienced.
“As long as Arie has the desire and the physical conditioning to race, there's no reason he can't come out here and be competitive,” added Cheever, who will start sixth.
A key to Luyendyk's Indy preparation is driving shifter karts — go-karts with gears — with Arie Jr., who is 20 and trying to get his own racing career started.
“When I'm done out there, I'm totally wasted, but the cars get up to 90 mph at the end of the straight at the track we run on, and that's good for the reflexes,” the elder Luyendyk said.
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Luyendyk's place in car, not booth
