1996 True Value 200

  1996 True Value 200

Race details
Race 1 of 10 in the 1996–1997 Indy Racing League season
Date	August 18, 1996
Official name	True Value 200
Location	New Hampshire Motor Speedway
Course	Permanent racing facility 1.058 mi / 1.703 km
Distance	200 laps, 211.6 mi / 340.5 km
Weather	Temperatures reaching up to 82.9 °F (28.3 °C); wind speeds up to 8.9 miles per hour (14.3 km/h)[1]
Pole position
Driver	Richie Hearn	Della Penna Motorsports
Time	21.719
Fastest lap
Driver	Tony Stewart	Team Menard
Time	22.884 (on lap 179 of 200)
Podium
First	Scott Sharp	A. J. Foyt Enterprises
Second	Buzz Calkins	Bradley Motorsports
Third	Michele Alboreto	Team Scandia

The 1996 True Value 200 was the first round of the 1996–1997 Indy Racing League season.^[2] The race was held on August 18, 1996 at the 1.058-mile (1.703 km) New Hampshire International Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire.

Report

Qualifying

Pos	No.	Name	Lap 1	Lap 2	Best (in mph)
1	4	Richie Hearn R	21.729	21.719	175.367
2	33	Michele Alboreto R	21.749	21.776	175.125
3	5	Arie Luyendyk	21.836	21.809	174.643
4	91	Buddy Lazier	22.059	22.402	172.664
5	3	Mark Dismore	22.175	22.137	172.056
6	7	Eliseo Salazar	22.767	22.248	171.197
7	2	Tony Stewart R	22.249	22.457	171.190
8	51	Eddie Cheever	22.293	22.326	170.852
9	10	Mike Groff	22.321	22.325	170.638
10	12	Buzz Calkins R	22.464	22.427	169.831
11	18	John Paul, Jr.	22.482	22.802	169.416
12	1	Scott Sharp	22.654	22.555	168.867
13	54	Robbie Buhl	22.962	22.576	168.710
14	22	Stephan Gregoire R	22.769	22.628	168.322
15	40	Marco Greco	22.989	22.905	166.287
16	28	Tyce Carlson R	Waved off	22.948	165.975
17	14	Davey Hamilton R	22.958	23.093	165.903
18	21	Roberto Guerrero	23.184	23.157	164.477
19	27	Jim Guthrie R	23.629	23.220	164.031
20	30	Stan Wattles R	23.534	23.559	161.842
21	96	Joe Gosek R	24.701	24.881	154.196
22	15	David Kudrave	25.246	25.408	150.867
23	9	Brad Murphey† R	Didn't qualify		No speed

• † Murphey didn't qualify, but was allowed to start the race at the back of the field.

Failed to qualify or withdrew

• Johnny Unser for Project Indy - Crashed in Friday practice and the car was not repairable
• Johnny O'Connell R for Treadway Racing - Withdrew entry before the start of practice
• Randy Tolsma R for McCormack Motorsports - Withdrew when his car was sold to Tempero-Giuffre Racing.
• Mike Ordway R for ABF Motorsports - His team withdrew him and was replaced by Joe Gosek.
• Jon Field R for Tempero/Giuffre Racing - His team withdrew him and was not replaced.

Race

This race was dominated, but not won, by Tony Stewart, who passed Arie Luyendyk on lap 15 and led most of the rest of the way. A starting-line crash eliminated contender Robbie Buhl and rookie Jim Guthrie. Buddy Lazier, who was still competing with the back injuries that he had suffered at Phoenix, crashed hard early, but fortunately did not worsen his existing injuries. Tyce Carlson had an ignition problem right off and ran most of the first 120 laps on seven cylinders, a problem that was fixed during a red-flag period.

Luyendyk, polesitter Richie Hearn, Scott Sharp, and Buzz Calkins contended for second; however, they and everyone else ran behind Stewart, who had a lap on the field by the time the race was briefly halted for rain on lap 123. The stoppage did several engines no good, among then that of Hearn, who had his engine go sour after the restart; it eventually blew on lap 170.

The shocker came eleven laps after that. Stewart had led 165 laps and had a nearly three-lap lead over second placed Sharp but, with 18 laps to go, he suffered an engine computer failure and abruptly shut off as he entered turn 3. Stewart was scheduled to make a brief fuel stop that lap, but TV Crew communication with John Menard, his team owner, revealed a "timing" problem, later diagnosed as a "crank trigger" failure.^[3]

This in turn handed to race lead to Sharp, who stretched his fuel to the finish and won with nearly a one-lap advantage over Calkins and Michele Alboreto. Sharp's win was the first for him, the Lola chassis and Goodyear tires in the IRL, and the first for A.J. Foyt as a car owner since Pocono in 1981.

Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Laps Led	Points
1	1	Scott Sharp	A. J. Foyt Enterprises	200	1:36:57.912	12	18	35
2	12	Buzz Calkins R	Bradley Motorsports	200	+ 20.480	10	0	33
3	33	Michele Alboreto R	Team Scandia	200	+ 20.732	2	0	32
4	10	Mike Groff	Byrd–Cunningham Racing	199	+ 1 lap	9	0	31
5	14	Davey Hamilton R	A. J. Foyt Enterprises	196	+ 4 laps	17	0	30
6	21	Roberto Guerrero	Pagan Racing	196	+ 4 laps	18	0	29
7	40	Marco Greco	Team Scandia-Arizona	196	+ 4 laps	15	0	28
8	22	Stephan Gregoire R	Team Scandia	192	+ 8 laps	14	0	27
9	7	Eliseo Salazar	Team Scandia	190	+ 10 laps	6	0	26
10	18	John Paul Jr.	PDM Racing	190	+ 10 laps	11	0	25
11	28	Tyce Carlson R	PDM Racing	187	+ 13 laps	16	0	24
12	2	Tony Stewart R	Team Menard	182	Electrical	7	165	23
13	5	Arie Luyendyk	Treadway Racing	170	+ 30 laps	3	11	22
14	4	Richie Hearn R	Della Penna Motorsports	166	Engine	1	6	21
15	51	Eddie Cheever	Team Cheever	166	+ 34 laps	8	0	20
16	30	Stan Wattles R	McCormack Motorsports	163	Fuel pressure	20	0	19
17	15	Dave Kudrave	Tempero/Giuffre Racing	118	Clutch	22	0	18
18	9	Brad Murphey R	Hemelgarn Racing	79	Handling	23	0	17
19	91	Buddy Lazier	Hemelgarn Racing	66	Accident	4	0	16
20	3	Mark Dismore	Team Menard	43	Clutch	5	0	15
21	96	Joe Gosek R	ABF Motorsports	30	Accident	21	0	14
22	54	Robbie Buhl	Beck Motorsports	0	Accident	13	0	13
23	27	Jim Guthrie R	Blueprint Racing	0	Accident	19	0	12

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Scott Sharp 35 2 Buzz Calkins 33 3 Michele Alboreto 32 4 Mike Groff 31 5 Davey Hamilton 30 Note: Only the top five positions are included for the standings. References ↑ "1996 True Value 200 weather information". Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2013-10-26.  ↑ "IRL: Loudon prize money awarded". Motorsport.com. Archived from the original on 2009-07-21. Retrieved 2009-07-02.  ↑ Stewart, Tony; Bourcier, Bones (2002). True Speed: My Racing Life. New York: HarperEntertainment. p. 190. ISBN 0-06-103166-6.  Previous race: none Indy Racing League 1996–1997 season Next race: 1996 Las Vegas 500K Previous race: 1995 New England 200 (CART) True Value 200 Next race: 1997 Pennzoil 200