"GOODYEAR WANTS INDY            
WIN, SCOUT'S HONOR"                   

Published in the Johnson County (Ind.) Daily Journal, May 16, 1998 ©

         Scott Goodyear has one of those round, Boy Scout faces that seldom need more than a spark to ignite a smile warm enough to toast mashmallows over.

         His uniform is more eye-catching than the drab green that Scouts wear, almost blinding in its yellow and set off with swatches of black trim and a chest full of sponsor patches.

         And, of course, he is always prepared, even more so this year at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where he and 40-some other drivers will be trying to earn their 500-starter merit badges in time trials today and Sunday.

         "I think the key thing this probably is that it's become very important to make sure you have a spare car up to speed," the transplanted Canadian said, his smile still just two dry twigs, as the first -- and, now, the only -- weekend of Indy qualifications raced up on him this week.

         "Because," he went on, "if you do have any problems with your primary car, like I did in 1992, you don't have that next weekend to rely on.

         "Here you have to be prepared with a spare car. You don't just pull out of line and say, 'Well, we'll do some more testing and get ready for next weekend.'"

         The 500 speedway cut back on qualifying opportunities this May, packing all its qualifying runs into one weekend, instead of the traditional two. That change has forced Goodyear and his fellow racers to be even better Scouts than in the past.

         "Last year, that many teams didn't have spare cars," said the driver who has seen the biggest prize at Indy slip away from him like a big fish off a hook three times this decade.

         "Most teams have spares this time. They have to, because anything can happen. You could slip on oil in the morning. You could have a motor blow or anything go wrong."

         So, down in garages 24C and 25C, where Goodyear hangs out between outings onto the big track, sit two identical Pennzoil G Force-Auroras, the No. 4 prominent on the blinding yellow side of each.

         Goodyear, who finished a close second in last year's Indy race, an even closer in 1992 and crossed the line first in 1995 when it didn't count, clearly is no tenderfoot at the 200-mph hiking that is the 500. But his team is.

         The 37-year-old driver, who now lives in Carmel, Ind., is driving for Panther Racing, a new team put together by former Colts quarterback Jim Harbaugh and five other men. Their first week camping out together at Indy in May has been an education for the team and a readjustment for Goodyear.

         "This week has been a mixture of trying to get prepared for qualifying and also do some race trimming, getting ready for the race itself," Goodyear reported. "We've done a bit of both."

         That routine has been dictated by the new speedway calendar, too. The weekend itself will modify the best behavior of the entire Scout pack of race teams.

         "If the rain holds off and we get qualified Saturday, then Sunday will be set strictly for getting ready for the race," Goodyear said, the well-rounded smile starting to spark up on his face.

         Where the yellow No. 4 will put the round-faced driver who drove from dead-last to second six years ago will be determined this weekend. While his 1992 storm toward the front ranks as racing's version of one of co-owner Harbaught's fabled comebacks, Goodyear would prefer a calmer race day.

         "Starting from the front is the best way to do it, when you're up there in the clean air," he said, "but we've not gone as fast as we'd like to go this week, to be honest. We're only at 220 (mph), but we are the fastest G Force chassis right now.

         "The Dallaras (chassis) seem to be very strong, but, if we're not up front, I'm not going to get too worried about it. We'll make do on race day."

         The smile finally flames up across the face of the driver who has three badges of Indy frustration that he would willingly trade in May 24 for his likeness engraved on the speedway's Borg-Warner Trophy, the Indy equivalent of making Eagle Scout.

         He lost the closest Indy 500 in history when he finished just a nose short of Al Unser Jr.'s car in 1992. Three years later, he saw the checkered flag first, but he had already been disqualified for disobediently passing a sluggish pace car.

         Last year, he was just behind then-teammate Arie Luyendyk when the wires got crossed between the speedway's flagman and its caution lights.

         Goodyear made it clear that he won't settle for second in line at Indy again. He doesn't want another inverted picture on the wall at his Carmel home.

         He had hung the familiar shot of the 1992 finish that way, like a merit badge sewn upside-down on a Scout uniform. "It's right-side-up now," he reported, the smile flaming up like a full-fledged bonfire. "But it was beautiful, with the blue-and-silver car (Goodyear's) beating the blue-and-white car (Unser's).

         "I had it up for about a year like that, more for fun than anything."

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 Copyright 1998 by Jerry Miller ©

 Color photo courtesy of Pennzoil Racing

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