Defending champion Greg Ray took advantage of pole position and won his first Indy Racing League event of the season Saturday at the Atlanta 500.
Ray, starting from the pole for the fifth time in seven races this season, led 150 of 208 laps at the 1.544-mile oval on the way to his fourth career victory, the first by an IRL pole-sitter this season.
About 35,000 watched Ray finish 3.05 seconds ahead of Buddy Lazier with Al Uner Jnr third to complete an all-American podium.
"We have been working so hard all year long," Ray said. "We were working on small things and execution. The big things will take care of themselves. We decided to lay all our eggs in one basket and go for it ... The car was a missile tonight."
As Ray crossed the checkered flag, his wife, Angela, excitedly pumped her arms in victory and team manager Thomas Knapp radioed to Ray, saying, "That's a great win."
Lazier took the overall points lead with 208 as Eddie Cheever dropped to second on 185 and Scott Goodyear of Canada moved into third place with 175.
Cheever did not add to his points tally, because his engine blew up in lap 96 and his next stop was the garage and out of the race.
Lazier said he was happy about finishing second and the tactics revolved around "defending second place" because Ray had positioned himself to win.
Ray took the lead at the green flag and stretched it until the first caution flag when Brazil's Airton Dare spun on lap 14. Dare's engine blew up and he slid across the grass.
Defending champion Scott Sharp suffered gearbox problems on the first lap and had to pull into the pits for repairs.
Ray sped away from the field when the green flag waved on lap 19. He was followed by Beechler, Jeret Schroeder, Robbie Buhl and Chile's Eliseo Salazar.
Unser, forced to start 24th in the 25-car field when his engine quit on his qualification lap Friday, moved up 12 spots in the first 20 laps.
Scott Harrington's stalled car brought out another caution on lap 39 with Ray still in the lead. But when the leaders pitted, Beechler was the first car out, and Ray dropped to sixth.
The green flag waved on lap 45 with Beechler in front, but he was caught by Mark Dismore by the end of the lap. On lap 52, Ray and Dismore raced side-by-side until Ray was able to take the lead in the third turn.
There was a 12-car line at the front of the field with side-by-side racing six rows deep. Ray was able to pull ahead and began to open a wide lead.
Dismore's engine erupted in a huge plume of smoke on lap 147 to bring out another caution. Following a lengthy clean-up for the oil that was left on the track, the race restarted on lap 165.
Ray went three-wide into the third turn to pass Sharp's lapped car and led Unser, Lazier, McGehee and Scott Goodyear.
Ray had opened a big lead, leaving the rest to battle for position. Lazier pulled alongside Unser on lap 176 and they ran side-by-side for one lap until Lazier made the pass for second at the start-finish line.
Unser did not throw in the towel and pulled alongside Lazier on lap 180 but could not overtake the 1996 Indianapolis 500 winner.
Goodyear pulled into the pits on lap 189 and hit crew member Scott Merryman, flipping him into the air and breaking his leg.
On lap 194, 19-year-old rookie Sarah Fisher wiped out in the second turn for the race's only crash. She was not hurt. Her third-row starting spot was the highest ever for a woman in Indy-car racing – (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
