Not Up to Speed in Orlando

ORLANDO, Fla. — Only 16 cars were able to qualify Friday for today’s historic Indy Racing League race at Walt Disney World Speedway involving entirely new chassis-engine combinations that will be the cars of choice at the Indianapolis 500.

Instead of using turbocharged engines, which have been a staple of Indy car racing since 1962, a new set of IRL rules called for normally aspirated V-8 engines based on production passenger sedan power plants. The result was a dramatic lowering of speeds--and a strange new stock car sound.

Tony Stewart, pole-sitter in last year’s Indy 500, was the fastest qualifier for the Indy 200 with a lap of 166.013 mph around the one-mile tri-oval in his G Force-Oldsmobile Aurora. The speed was more than 15 mph off the 181.388-mph pole speed by Buddy Lazier last year with a turbocharged Ford Cosworth engine.

“This wasn’t quite what we were looking for, but we’ll take it,” said Stewart, who plans to split his time this year between the IRL and the Busch Grand National stock car series. “I guess we should be pretty happy, though, considering how much warmer it was when we qualified.”

Fourteen of the qualifiers were powered by the Olds Aurora, with the Nissan Infiniti getting only two positions in the field.

Lazier, the Indy 500 winner last year, drove the fastest Nissan at 161.341, good for 11th position.

“Obviously, we’re disappointed with the qualifying effort,” Lazier said. “We broke a gearbox this morning and just haven’t had any time. The bottom line is that we’re 16 days behind [the Olds teams] on testing. You can tell in the way the cars qualified, the ones that tested the most were the fastest.”

Stewart logged 659 laps during winter testing, the most by any driver, and 1990 Indy 500 winner Arie Luyendyk, who will start alongside Stewart on the front row, had the second most, 486.

The day’s most surprising showing was by seven-time national motocross champion Jeff Ward of San Juan Capistrano, who replaced injured Davy Jones in Rick Galles’ backup car. Ward, who had not even sat in the car before Friday, took 68 practice laps in the morning and qualified eighth at 162.660.

Today’s race will be Ward’s first in an Indy car. After two years in Indy Lights, he tried to qualify for the Indy 500 last year but failed.

“I just came down here hoping to find a ride,” Ward said Thursday, before Jones suffered head injuries when he hit the wall during practice. Jones remained in Orlando Regional Medical Center, where tests indicated he has a neck injury, according to Henry Bock, track medical director. Jones’ condition remained serious.

Indy 200 Notes

Arie Luyendyk’s No. 5 will carry GREEN BAY on its sides. Car owner Fred Treadway, whose team is not sponsored, wanted to plug the New England Patriots, but Luyendyk, a former Wisconsin resident, insisted on the Packers. . . . Defending Disney World winner Buzz Calkins had a close call when his crew had to change engines after morning practice because of a fuel-pressure problem. There was less than a minute left for qualifying when his crew pushed the car to the starting line with some of his mechanics buttoning up the engine as they pushed. . . . Roberto Guerrero may be added to the back of the field after the Pagan Racing team received another Nissan engine late Friday afternoon from Ed Pink’s shop in Los Angeles. After installing it overnight, Guerrero will give it a check this morning, and if all goes well he will start 17th.

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Race at a Glance

* WHAT: IRL Indy 200.

* WHERE: Walt Disney World Speedway, Orlando, Fla.

* WHEN: 9:30 a.m. PST.

* TELEVISION: 12:30 p.m., Channel 7.