Sharp Survives Texas

When you've got the pole at the Indianapolis 500 and can't make it past the second turn, there's only one thing that will help to take away the hurt. That, of course, is a trip to victory lane in the next race. Luckily for Scott Sharp, that's what happened at Texas Motor Speedway on June 9, as he dueled with Greg Ray and Eddie Cheever, Jr. at 215 mph at the Casino Magic 500.

In some of the most exciting side-by-side racing seen in years, the trio of veteran drivers ran neck and neck for the final 39 laps of the race, until Ray, Robbie McGhee and Cheever got together, bringing out the yellow and giving Sharp his win. Talking about the incident, Sharp said, "I thought I’d thrown it all away... Great move by Greg. I got busy looking in my mirrors watching Eddie. Then all of a sudden, I saw this blue dart (Greg Ray) swoop underneath me. I just didn’t have enough room to run him down. He had the inside line. I thought, 'Oh, man, it’s over with.' The next thing I know, Greg tried to get underneath — which I probably would have done, you want to get underneath guys — a slower car coming off Turn 2, but that guy was already committed. Greg got in there, and I dodged it all."

In the accident, McGhee suffered leg fractures and was transported to Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas. He also was diagnosed with a concussion as a result of the accident. He was alert and talking in the ambulance on the way to the hospital according to the attending medical staff. In a similar accident on Lap 73, Jeret Schroeder and Davey Hamilton got together and ended up on the outside wall. Hamilton, like Sharp, suffered leg fractures and was transported to Parkland. Both drivers underwent surgery early Sunday morning to repair the damage. It is not known how many races each will miss as a result of their injuries.

As a result of the late race accident, Sam Hornish, Jr. finished in second place. Hornish told reporters, "We just stayed patient all night... I was along for the ride. I wasn’t fast enough to really be in it. We’re real happy, and we’ll move on to the next race at Pikes Peak. Championship teams are made from being out there and staying patient." Sam's patience paid off in the end and helped him increase his lead for the Northern Light Cup. After the Texas event, he held a 56 point lead over second place Eliseo Salazar and a 58 point lead over third place Sharp.

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