Ward Looks Like Wheel Deal

PHOENIX —  Jeff Ward continued to make his transition from motocross to Indy car racing a successful one as he qualified Saturday for the pole in today’s Dura-Lube 200, the second event of the Pep Boys Indy Racing League season.

Ward ran a record 172.753 mph around Phoenix International Raceway’s mile oval in ISM Racing’s Aurora-powered G Force to earn a $20,000 PPG bonus for his 20.839 second lap.

The margin between Ward and hometown Phoenix favorite Billy Boat was .028 second, or 0.232 mph.

Before moving from two wheels to four, Ward won seven national championships with Kawasaki and was the first rider in history to win every major AMA motocross championship. Ward retired in 1992 and drove Indy Lights before moving up to Indy cars last season.

“I’ve won a couple of supercrosses at Sun Devil Stadium [in Phoenix] when it was really hot over here,” Ward said. “I love the heat. I hope it’s really hot tomorrow.”

The temperature is expected to be to Ward’s liking: The forecast is for 90 degrees.

Meanwhile, Ward’s teammate and defending race champion, Jim Guthrie, failed to qualify with a lap of 164.399.

“Jim has been running comparable times to me, but he blew an engine yesterday and had oil pressure problems today,” Ward said. “It could’ve just as easily went Jim’s way as it did my way.”

Not only did Guthrie fail to make the race, so did the car he drove to victory. Robbie Groff, in last year’s winning Blueprint Racing entry, managed only 163.957.

Less than a second separated Ward from Mike Groff, the 24th qualifier, and the times of the first three rows were within two-tenths of a second. It is the closest lineup for a Phoenix race since 1965.

“Look at the way the cars are bunched, you’d think it was a NASCAR field,” said pre-race pole favorite Tony Stewart, who wound up third at 172.505 mph.

Ten cars, including rookie J.J. Yeley, a sprint car driver from Phoenix, bettered Stewart’s year-old qualifying record of 170.010.

Boat, who drives for A. J. Foyt, said the tight field will create a “200 mile sprint” with engine reliability a major factor in the race. “With so many drivers right on the limit, I expect to see a lot of broken engines when they push past the limit during the race.”

Ward, who was rookie of the year at the Indianapolis 500 last year after finishing third, made a turnabout from his qualifying performance last month at Orlando, Fla., where he started 22nd.

“This will be a nice change from Orlando where I dodged bullets all day long,” Ward said. “I don’t want to do that again.”

The field, which offers an indication of what cars and drivers to expect for the Indy 500, is quite different from last year when the IRL was starting a series with new cars and new engines--all in short supply. Only 22 cars were here for last year’s race, while there were 32 this year, enough for four to be bumped.

The last driver bumped was Jack Miller, the racing dentist from Indianapolis who was in the only Nissan Infiniti-powered car entered. All the qualifiers have Olds Aurora engines.

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Phoenix 200

Facts

* When: Today 1 p.m. Channel 7 (delayed).

* Where: Phoenix International Raceway (mile oval, 11 degrees banking in turns 1 and 2, and 9 degrees in turns 3 and 4).

* Last year: Jim Guthrie, racing with enough money for only one engine, held off Tony Stewart by 0.854 seconds in the accident-marred race.