Race Trophy Dedicated To Brayton

Scott Brayton will always have a place in the Indianapolis 500.

The trophy given to the pole winner will now be presented in Brayton’s memory, said Rich Zahren, vice president of PPG Industries, which gives the award. Brayton won this year’s pole for the second consecutive year, but was killed May 17 after crashing into the second turn while practicing.

The 33 drivers stood with fans to applaud Zahren’s announcement Saturday.

Rookie Tony Stewart, who raced with Brayton for Team Menard, is now on the pole. Menard teammate Danny Ongais will start from the 33rd spot in Brayton’s car.

PPG also gave Brayton’s brother, Todd, the ring given to all drivers. Pendant replicas of the ring were given to Brayton’s wife, Becky, and his mother, Jean.

“I’m both honored and saddened to accept this ring,” Todd Brayton said. “Scott loved to go fast and was very proud of the pole positions.”

Speedway officials plan to remember Brayton before the start of today’s race, probably during the invocation.

“We’re all very mindful of the loss of Scott Brayton,” speedway president Tony George said. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to Scotty Brayton and his family.”

New job

Colorado football coach Rick Neuheisel has a new job.

Neuheisel will be a tire man in rookie Buzz Calkins’ pit crew during the Indianapolis 500. An offhand remark by Calkins’ father, Brad, during last year’s race led to Neuheisel’s up-close look at the race.

“He said, ‘Someday, Buzz is going to race here, and when he does I want you in the pits.’ I replied, ‘Absolutely,’ not knowing that just 12 months later I’d be back here working,” Neuheisel said.

Calkins, an Indy-car rookie, qualified at 229.013 mph and is starting ninth. The Colorado native leads the Indy Racing League standings, and won the IRL’s first race at Orlando.

This is Neuheisel’s first time working the pits and he’s slowly getting the hang of it. The 35-year-old coach says he was only trying to help when a fire broke out in Calkins’ pit Thursday during Carburetion Day.

“Two minutes before this incident occurred, a crew guy asked me, ‘Do you know what to do when there’s a methanol fire?’ He said, ‘Throw water on it.’

“So when they started yelling fire, I thought they were testing me,” Neuheisel said. “I picked up a bucket to douse the fire and the two guys in front of me took it and threw it on Buzz.”

Family tradition

Al Unser Jr. may be in Michigan for the rival U.S. 500, but the famous racing family will still be represented in this year’s Indianapolis 500.

Johnny Unser, 37, has spent plenty of time at the speedway, working in the pits and watching his father, uncles and cousin drive. But this is the first time behind the wheel at Indy for Unser, who will start 16th.

Unser’s father, Jerry, was killed at the speedway in 1959. His uncles are Indy winners Al and Bobby Unser, and his cousin is Indy winner Al Unser Jr.

“It’s such a special place for me to come here, it really means a lot to me,” Johnny Unser said Saturday. “It’s just so important for me to be able to come here and continue where (my father) left off.”

Different look

Fans who turned out for Saturday’s drivers meeting needed a scorecard. There are 17 rookies in this year’s field - the biggest group of first-year starters since 1930.

The 33 drivers have a total of 75 previous Indy starts and three drivers have never even raced an Indy car before.

Arie Luyendyk (1990) is the only previous winner in the field.