|
Sunday, July, 28, 2002
Hearn Continues Top-Ten Streak
Brooklyn,MI: Richie Hearn made a charge for the lead from his fourth place track position in the final 15 laps of the inaugural Michigan INDY 400 from the Michigan International Speedway before being shuffled back to finish tenth. Hearn started 21st in his #20 Sam Schmidt Motorsports entry and made his way through the field to be in a position to contend for the win late in the race for the second week in a row.
“The weekend actually went better than I thought,” said Hearn. “Michigan is a pure horsepower track and we know we are giving up 20 horsepower to the Infiniti’s and GM factory teams. Tim Neff and the crew gave me a great car and we had great strategy to help us get through the field. We picked up a few spots on the final pit stop to put us in a position to run with the leaders, but we just didn’t have the horsepower to keep up. The motor was going sour at the end as well and the engine temperatures were really hot which cost us some additional power as well. The chemistry of this team is really coming together and I hope we can find a way to keep it all together next year.”
This was Hearn’s 6th top-ten in eight races for Sam Schmidt Motorsports. Sam Schmidt Motorsports remains 8th in overall entrant points. The team will test in Kentucky Wednesday in preparation for the Belterra Casino Indy 300 on August 11th. The race can be seen on ABC television at 1:30 p.m. (EDT).
|
